Nosmips

Nosmips aenigmaticus is a rare fossil primate known only from 12 teeth. Most teeth were found at a site in the Fayum Depression about 40 miles (64 km) outside Cairo, Egypt.^[3]

Nosmips Temporal range: 38.0–33.9 Ma PreꞒ Ꞓ O S D C P T J K Pg N ↓ Late Eocene[1]
Scientific classification
Domain:	Eukaryota
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Mammalia
Order:	Primates
Family:	incertae sedis
Genus:	†Nosmips Seiffert, 2010
Species:	†N. aenigmaticus
Binomial name
†Nosmips aenigmaticus Seiffert, 2010[2]

Nosmips aenigmaticus probably lived 37 million years ago in Africa and has not been successfully classified within any group of primates.^[4] In particular, it is distinct from the three main branches of primate found in Africa at the time - anthropoids, adapiforms and lemuriforms. It is weakly associated with the Eosimiidae. Its premolars are specialised and the tooth enamel displays extensive signs of pitting, which would appear to be consistent with a diet of either seeds or fruits with hard pits.^[5]

Name

Nosmips is an anagram of Simpson. The name was chosen to honour paleontologist and anagram enthusiast George Gaylord Simpson.