Oldest Plesiadapiform (Mammalia, Proprimates) from Asia and its palaeobiogeographical implications for faunal interchange with North America

Carpolestid plesiadapiforms are well known in several lineages from the North American Palaeocene, but they are absent from Europe and known, until now, by only two taxa from the Early Eocene of Asia. Here we describe a new genus of Carpolestinae from the Late Palaeocene locality of Subeng in Inner Mongolia (China). In its morphological characteristics, Subengius mengi n. gen. n. sp. is phylogenetically close to Elphidotarsius and Carpodaptes from the western interior of North America. This discovery shows that plesiadapiforms dispersed from North America to Asia long before the mammalian migration waves of the Palaeocene/Eocene boundary. To cite this article: T. Smith et al., C. R. Palevol 3 (2004).