OBJECT DOSSIER · SMITHSONIAN OPEN ACCESS

Early primate — Notharctus tenebrosus

SAGE Museum Deep Time scientific dossier

Date / Period

Middle Eocene — Bridgerian · Eocene, Bridgerian.

Object Type

skull

Medium

representative_scientific_visual

About This Object

Geologic period: Middle Eocene — Bridgerian

Age: Eocene, Bridgerian.

Evidence: The skull and teeth are direct evidence. Diet and behavior are reconstructed by comparison with other primates.

Why it matters: Notharctus helps reconstruct early primate diversity before the evolution of monkeys, apes and humans.

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

What You Are Looking At: A fossil skull of Notharctus tenebrosus.

Ecosystem: Eocene warm terrestrial ecosystem of Wyoming.

Source Urls: https://naturalhistory.si.edu/visit/virtual-tour/current-exhibits/deep-time-virtual-tour-fossil-list; https://www.si.edu/object/nmnhpaleobiology_3591015

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: Notharctus tenebrosus

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

Notharctus tenebrosus Middle Eocene — Bridgerian skull 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.