New evidence suggests an ancient primate lineage safely traveled from Africa to South America on a raft of vegetation. It was a one-in-a-million chance—and it happened more than once
For decades, paleontologists have wondered exactly how primates made it to South America. The continent’s spider monkeys, capuchins, and marmosets form their own primate group, separate from those in Africa and Asia. The leading theory is the ancestors of these monkeys somehow rafted across the Atlantic Ocean between 40 and 32 million years ago.
The new species is not the first strange animal to show up in South America’s prehistory. In 2020 paleontologist Erik Seiffert and colleagues announced the discovery of a monkey in Peru calledthat had ancestral ties to ancient Africa, rather than being part of the modern South American lineage. Primates must have made the journey from Africa to South America at least twice, then, and the new tooth might indicate that a third group also journeyed across the ancient ocean.
And monkeys were not the only animals to make the trip. Paleontologists have also found that the ancestors of capybaras and other rodents, called hystricognaths, likely rafted from Africa to South America as well. This speculative scenario is not just conjecture, nor unique to South America’s monkeys. The lemurs and tenrecs of Madagascar, and small lizards have island hopped around the Bahamas on natural rafts, as well.
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