By Matt Borths, Curator of the Duke Lemur Center’s Division of Fossil Primates. In the Division of Fossil Primates at the Duke Lemur Center, we have fossils that can be used to explore all the major branches of the primate family. These two dark specimens are from Prohylobates, an 18-million-year-old relative of Old World Monkeys, the […]
By Matt Borths, Curator of the Duke Lemur Center’s Division of Fossil Primates. Many of our lemurs love the chance to savor a chunk of ripe fruit, and you probably love a crispy apple or juicy strawberry when you can find one. Loving fruit is something that unites us as primates, and the fossil record of […]
By Matt Borths, Curator of the Duke Lemur Center’s Division of Fossil Primates. Meet Archaeolemur, a baboon-sized giant lemur that went extinct in Madagascar between 1,000 and 300 years ago! The fossils of giant lemurs are often found in caves. On the right is the upper leg bone of this Archaelemur as it was found in […]
By Matt Borths, Curator of the Duke Lemur Center’s Division of Fossil Primates. Happy Halloween from the DLC’s Division of Fossil Primates! These bats flew over the heads of extinct giant lemurs and elephant birds! Skulls, skeletons, monsters, and the bringing of things back from the dead? Every day is Halloween for a paleontologist!
“One of my favorite lemurs is this extinct giant lemur called Paleopropithecus. It’s a relative of sifakas, but it’s built in a completely different way. These animals are nicknamed sloth lemurs because they have these long limbs and claws that let them move under tree branches in Madagascar. But my favorite feature is their round, […]
By Matt Borths, Curator of the Duke Lemur Center’s Division of Fossil Primates. This Fossil Friday, meet a primate in your own family tree: Aegyptopithecus, whose name means “The Egyptian Monkey.” This 30-million-year-old face would make a great template for a jack o’ lantern! Aegyptopithecus was named by Elwyn Simons — the father of modern primate paleontology and […]
The Duke Lemur Center is delighted to announce the addition of Matt Borths, Ph.D., to the DLC staff! Matt is a paleontologist who studies the evolution of animals in Africa, particularly the evolution of carnivorous mammals – including some of the oldest meat-eaters to chase down our primate ancestors! As the new Curator of the Lemur Center’s Division […]
By Robin A. Smith. Originally published in DukeTODAY on August 21, 2018. Read the original HERE. DURHAM, N.C. — Discovered more than half a century ago in Kenya and sitting in museum storage ever since, the roughly 20-million-year-old fossil Propotto leakeyi was long classified as a fruit bat. Now, it’s helping researchers rethink the early […]
