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| Hesperolemur | |
|---|---|
Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Mammalia |
| Order: | Primates |
| Suborder: | Strepsirrhini |
| Family: | †Notharctidae |
| Genus: | †Hesperolemur Gunnell, 1995 |
| Species: | †H. actius |
| Binomial name | |
| †Hesperolemur actius Gunnell, 1995 | |
Hesperolemur is a genus ofadapiformprimate that lived in the middleEocene[1] (49-37 million years ago) ofsouthern California. It is an immigranttaxa which appears to be most closely related to theearlierEuropean forms ofCantius. It was approximately 4.5 kilograms (9.9 lb) in weight and was the last survivingnotharctine species, probably because of its position in therefugia that existed insouthern California during the climate deterioration at the end of the middle Eocene. There are no later taxa that appear to have derived fromHesperolemur.
The weak but present development ofmesostyles andpseudohypocone linkHesperolemur toCantius. Morphologically,Hesperolemur is distinct from other notharctine taxa in having a partially fusedectotympanicanulus in theauditory bulla, nostapedialartery, and no lowermolarparaconids. As the specimen used to make these analyses was badly damaged, others have argued against the existence of such differences and moveHesperolemur to a species ofCantius,Cantius actius.
