.27" Eocene Primate (Necrolemur) Rooted Tooth Fossil - France

Necrolemur ("dead lemur") is a genus of extinct primate that is considered the best preserved fossil member of the tarsier group. The skeletal remains of these small omomyid primates indicate that they had large eyes and ears, enabling nocturnal hunting habits. They also had small sharp teeth that were likely used to chew through the exoskeletons of insects, its main food. Similar to modern day tarsiers, Necrolemur also had gripping pads on its long fingers and toes, a long tail that acted as a counterbalance, and long arms and legs that helped it navigate its way from branch to branch. Necrolemur fossils are primarily collected from the Middle to Late Eocene deposits of Western Europe.

The Quercy Phosphorites Formation in France is world famous for its Eocene to Miocene faunas, especially those from the upper Eocene to lower Oligocene. The latter particularly helped to understand the ‘Grande Coupure’, a dramatic faunal turnover event that occurred in Europe during the Eocene-Oligocene transition. Fossils from the Quercy Phosphorites were excavated during the mid-19th century until the early 20th century from a series of sites that are no longer accessible. These fossils have subsequently dispersed between several research institutions, unfortunately losing some temporal and geographical information in the process. This material is part of an old collection we acquired that presumably was collected along with this material in the 19th or early 20th century. A recently published paper on the mammals of the Quercy Phosphorites can be found below.

The upper Eocene-Oligocene carnivorous mammals from the Quercy Phosphorites (France) housed in Belgian collections