Ancient Fossils of South America's Oldest Monkeys Reveal Evolutionary Origins in Africa

For millions of years, South America was isolated from the rest of the world-a type of island continent. Despite its isolation, animals managed to arrive on the landmass, such as monkeys and rodents. Now, scientists have discovered the origins of monkeys in South America.

The evolutionary history of monkeys in South America has long remained a mystery. Although monkeys were thought to have somehow managed a long transatlantic journey from Africa, evidence for this hypothesis has been in short supply.

"Fossils are scarce and limited to only a few exposed banks along rivers during the dry seasons," said Ken Campbell, one of the researchers, in a news release. "For much of the year high water levels make paleontological exploration impossible."

Now, a new discovery sheds light on this history. Deep within the Peruvian Amazon, researchers discovered three new extinct monkeys. These fossils, in particular, have hinted that South American monkeys have an African ancestry.

The oldest fossil records of monkeys found in South America and Central America date back 26 million years. These new fossils, though, indicate that monkeys first arrived in South America at least 36 million years ago. This pushes back the colonization of this land mass by 10 million years. Not only that, but the teeth on the fossils indicate that the monkeys had their origins in Africa.

The findings reveal a bit more about the evolutionary history of New World monkeys. Not only that, but it provides evidence for the theory that these monkeys did have their origins in Africa.

The findings are published in the journal Nature.

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