Afradapis
Afradapis is a genus of adapiform primate that lived during the Late Eocene. The only known species, "Afradapis longicristatus", was discovered in the Birket Qarun Formation in northern Egypt in 2009. While its geographic distribution is confined to Afro-Arabia, "Afradapis" belongs to the predominately European adapiform family Caenopithecidae. This taxonomic placement is supported by recent phylogenetic analyses that recover a close evolutionary relationship between "Afradapis" and adapiforms, including Darwinius. While adapiforms have been noted for their strepsirrhine-like morphology, no adapiform fossil possesses the unique anatomical traits (i.e., synapomorphies) to establish an ancestor-descent relationship between caenopithecids and  living strepsirrhines (i.e., lemurs, lorises, and galagos). It ate leaves and moved around slowly like lorises. Etymology. Afra- (Latin) means “Africa” while -adapis refers to Adapis, as described by Cuvier, 1821. Longi- (Latin) means “long” and -cristatus (Latin) means “crested”. Taxonomy. Based on the combination of lemur-like dental and postcranial anatomy, "Afradapis" is recognized as an adapiform. The holotype specimen representing "Afradapis longicristatus" (CGM 83690) consists of a partial left mandible that preserves P4–M3 and the masseteric fossa. "Afradapis" is characterized by a suite of adapiform and anthropoid-like dental features. Despite possessing multiple anthropoid traits, phylogenetic analyses  have recovered "Afradapis" as a distant relative of anthropoids; thus, the anthropoid-like traits are the product convergent evolution. "Afradapis" belongs to the subfamily Caenopithecidae, which also includes Cernopithecus, Aframonius, and Masradapis. However, the exact relationships among these extinct taxa are still under debate. Despite similar naming, "Afradapis" is more closely related to Ceanopithecus than Aframonius, on account of the more derived 2.1.2.3 dental formula, which an anthropoid-like trait. These broader evolutionary relationships reveals an interesting biogepgrpahic history for caenopithecid adapaiforms, as the timing and placement of Afrapids in northern Africa indicates at least one dispersal event from Europe  to Africa across the Tethys Sea as early as 56 million years ago, at the end of the Paleocene. Description. Estimates of adult weight for "Afradapis" range from 2.1kg to 3.3kg. These estimates have been derived from prosimian-specific regression queations, which calaculate body mass based on the area of M1 area and length M2. Compared to other caenopithecids, "Afradapis" evolutionarily lost P2, resulting in a 2.1.2.3 lower dental formula. "Afradapis" possesses an astragulus with a strongly sloping fibular facet that resembles those of extant lorises. This morphology has been attributed to slow-climbing arboreal locomotion seen in  living lorises. Afradais also differs from other caenopithecid adapiforms in their dental anatomy in the following ways: possession of tall and trenchant upper and lower third premolars, a variably present mesoconid on lower molars (usually on M1), a lack of metastylids on M1-3, and large hypocones and prehypocristae present on all upper molars. The mandible of "Afradapis" differs from other caenopithecid adapiforms in having a deep yet short corpus, a well-developed masseteric fossa, a fused manibudlar symphysis, and a short condylar neck with a low condyle relative to the lower tooth row. Based on the known fossils of  this taxon, there is no evidence of canine dimorphism in "Afradapis", which suggests that "Afradapis" was not sexually dimorphic like some North American adapiforms. Afradpais is also characterized by elaborate shearing crests on its molars, which is indicative of a folivorous diet. Because "Afradapis" seemingly shares many traits with anthropoids, researchers initically considered it to possibly be an anthropoid during initial investigations. Nonetheless, these similarities appear to be cases of convergent evolution, confirmed by both phylogeny and niche modeling. Paleoecology and geography. "Afradapis" is considered to have existed throughout Afro-Arabia in the late Eocene after a dispersal from the  Europe via the Tethys Sea. Collectively, its elaborate shearing crests, relatively large body size, and postcranial anatomy indicative of slow-climbing all strongly suggests that "Afradapis" was nearly exclusively folivorous. Given Kay’s Threshold, which posits that living primates over 500 grams tend to be folivores, the dietary behavior and body size estimates of Afradapis collectively support the reconstruction of Afradpis as relatively large bodied folivore. Niche modeling studies also reveal that "Afradapis" was most likely diurnal that probably competed for food resources with African anthropoids.