Godinotia
Sign in to saveGodinotia is an extinct genus of strepsirrhine (wet-nosed primate) from the Eocene of Germany. It belongs to the order Adapiformes, a widespread early primate group distantly related to modern lemurs. Godinotia fossils are found in Middle Eocene strata of Geiseltal. The genus contains a single species, Godinotia neglecta, which was previously regarded as a species of Pronycticebus or Caenopithecus.
~6 min read
Encyclopedic overview
5 sectionsContents
- Description
- Discovery
- Geiseltal fossils
- Confusion with ''Darwinius''
- References
Godinotia is an extinct genus of strepsirrhine (wet-nosed primate) from the Eocene of Germany. It belongs to the order Adapiformes, a widespread early primate group distantly related to modern lemurs. Godinotia fossils are found in Middle Eocene strata of Geiseltal. The genus contains a single species, Godinotia neglecta, which was previously regarded as a species of Pronycticebus or Caenopithecus.
In 1991, a partially forged primate skeleton from the Messel Pit, supposedly representing a fossil of Godinotia, was recovered from the fossil market. However, a 2009 study noted that this skeleton was actually a different closely-related adapiform, Darwinius masillae; specifically, being the counterpart of its holotype specimen.
Excerpted from Wikipedia’s “Godinotia” article, available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 licence.