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Early primate. Representative evidence-type visual; not the exact specimen.
OBJECT DOSSIER · SMITHSONIAN OPEN ACCESS

Early primate — Smilodectes gracilis

SAGE Museum Deep Time scientific dossier
Date / Period
Middle Eocene — Bridgerian · Eocene, Bridgerian.
Object Type
composite
Medium
representative_scientific_visual
About This Object

Geologic period: Middle Eocene — Bridgerian

Age: Eocene, Bridgerian.

Feeding: Diet reconstructed from dental anatomy.

Evidence: Skull, teeth and postcranial fossils document primate anatomy. Arboreal behavior is inferred from limb and joint morphology.

Why it matters: Smilodectes records the diversity of early primates living in warm Eocene North American ecosystems.

Plain Language Identity: An Eocene notharctid primate from North America.

What You Are Looking At: A composite reconstruction of Smilodectes gracilis.

Ecosystem: Warm Eocene terrestrial and forest ecosystem.

Source Urls: https://naturalhistory.si.edu/visit/virtual-tour/current-exhibits/deep-time-virtual-tour-fossil-list; https://www.si.edu/object/nmnhpaleobiology_3382829

Formation: Bridger Formation

Find Location: Wyoming, United States.

Enrichment Method: SAGE curated research pass; title + scientific name + source scene matched; chronology and taxonomy conflicts retained rather than silently corrected; evidence separated from inference

Scientific name: Smilodectes gracilis

Evidence / representation: Representative evidence-type visual; not the exact specimen.

Why It Is In This SAGE Exhibit

Representative evidence-type visual; not the exact specimen.

After the Dinosaurs: Mammals, Ice Ages and the World We Inherited.

Provenance
Smithsonian Deep Time source scene: Rainforests Spread Across the Globe
Exhibition History
Included in the SAGE Museum Dinosaurs & Deep Time staging exhibit.
Subjects & Themes
Smilodectes gracilis Middle Eocene — Bridgerian composite Rainforests Spread Across the Globe After the Dinosaurs
ORIGINAL COLLECTION SOURCE

This object page stays inside SAGE Museum. The Smithsonian link below is provided only as the original scholarly collection record. It opens separately.