Seminar with Professor Erik Seiffert

Today the non-human species of the primate suborder Anthropoidea -- the  group that contains monkeys, apes, and humans -- are found in Africa,  Asia and South America. Where did this group first arise, and how and  when did anthropoids achieve this broad distribution?  This talk discusses three Paleogene fossil sites -- two in Africa, and  one in South America -- that bear directly on our understanding of the  origin of anthropoids, their diversification, and their broad  distribution across three continents. I will also discuss  some unexpected recent discoveries that attest to the early presence of  anthropoid-like "prosimians" in Africa, and review evidence for a  previously unrecognized mass extinction event in the Paleogene of Africa  that appears to have profoundly reshaped the  trajectory of anthropoid evolution on that continent.