Omomyid

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. Any member of an extinct family of small primate-like mammals from the Eocene epoch, closely related to modern tarsiers
2. An extinct early primate of the Eocene, a small arboreal mammal considered a close relative of today's tarsiers
3. A fossil primate from the Eocene period, belonging to a group of tiny tree-dwelling animals related to tarsiers

Etymology: Omomyids are a family of small, extinct primates, and the name points straight at its type genus, "Omomys." That genus was named in 1873 by the American paleontologist Edward Drinker Cope, who based it on fossils from the Eocene epoch, roughly 56 to 34 million years ago, found in North America. The name combines the Greek "ōmos," meaning "shoulder," with "mys," meaning "mouse," a reference to the animal's small size. In this case the shoulder is not the body part the name describes directly; it refers to the shoulder bone features that Cope noticed in the fossils. The family name is formed by adding the standard zoological suffix "-id," which marks a family, to the genus name. Scientists use the same pattern throughout biological classification, so the family name is a regular derivative of the genus rather than a separate coinage.

Synonyms: omomyid primate, early primate, fossil primate