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Living Fossils pp 32–37Cite as

The Tree-Shrew, Tupaia: A “Living Model” of the Ancestral Primate?

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Abstract

Although the common tree-shrew, Tupaia, does not qualify as a “living fossil” in the sense that it shows a close identity with a known ancient fossil species (indeed, the tree-shrew fossil record is exceptionally poor), over the past several decades these mammals have regularly been held up as a “living model” of the “ancestral primate.” The tree-shrews have thus been regarded widely as approximating (usually in some unspecified way or ways) the ancestral primate morphotype. Perhaps surprisingly, this viewpoint is not confined to the diminishing number of systematists and others who would admit the tree-shrews to membership in the order Primates. Hence it may be useful to evaluate the claims of the tree-shrews to living fossil status of this kind.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Anthropology, American Museum of Natural History, New York, NY, 10024, USA

    Ian Tattersall

Authors
  1. Ian Tattersall
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Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Invertebrates, The American Museum of Natural History, Central Park West at 79th Street, 10024, New York, NY, USA

    Niles Eldredge

  2. Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences, The Johns Hopkins University, 21218, Baltimore, MD, USA

    Steven M. Stanley

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© 1984 Springer-Verlag New York Inc.

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Tattersall, I. (1984). The Tree-Shrew, Tupaia: A “Living Model” of the Ancestral Primate?. In: Eldredge, N., Stanley, S.M. (eds) Living Fossils. Casebooks in Earth Sciences. Springer, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4613-8271-3_4

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4613-8271-3_4

  • Publisher Name: Springer, New York, NY

  • Print ISBN: 978-1-4613-8273-7

  • Online ISBN: 978-1-4613-8271-3

  • eBook Packages: Springer Book Archive

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