The radiation and geographic expansion of primates through diverse climates

2025/08/05 by Jorge Avaria‐Llautureo, Thomas A. Püschel, Andrew Meade +3 · 5 voices · 7 citations
Agricultural and Biological Sciences · Environmental Science · Psychology · #Arid #Bat Biology and Ecology Studies #Biological dispersal #Biology #Ecology #Evolutionary biology #Geography #Latitude #Out of africa #Population #Primate Behavior and Ecology #Species Distribution and Climate Change #Temperate climate #Tropical climate #Tropical forest #Tropics

paper · pdf · doi:10.1073/pnas.2423833122

published in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 122(32), e2423833122 (National Academy of Sciences)

openalex publication_date 2025/08/05 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/27

Abstract

One of the most influential hypotheses about primate evolution postulates that their origin, radiation, and major dispersals were associated with exceptionally warm conditions in tropical forests at northern latitudes (henceforth the warm tropical forest hypothesis ). However, this notion has proven difficult to test given the overall uncertainty about both geographic locations and paleoclimates of ancestral species. By the resolution of both challenges, we reveal that early primates dispersed and radiated in higher latitudes, through diverse climates, including cold, arid, and temperate conditions. Contrary to expectations of the warm tropical forest hypothesis, warmer global temperatures had no effect on dispersal distances or the speciation rate. Rather, the amount of change in local temperature and precipitation substantially predicted geographic and species diversity. Our results suggest that nontropical, changeable environments exerted strong selective pressures on primates with higher dispersal ability – promoting the primate radiation and their subsequent colonization of tropical climates millions of years after their origin.

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Discussions

• Early Primates Evolved in Cold Climates, Not Jungles, Study Finds [lemmy, 14 points, 0 comments]
• The drift in tectonics, climate, and distribution of niches can significantly alter our view on the evolution if only use neontological data. That's why this study of primate origins is so awesome: th [bsky, 13 points, 1 comments]
• While it is often believed early #primates dispersed and radiated in warm tropical forests, new evidence suggest they may have occupied arid, cold and temperate regions too! 🦧🦍🐒🧪 #science #primat [bsky, 7 points, 0 comments]
• 🌍❄️ New paper out! Early primates didn’t just thrive in tropical forests, they evolved and dispersed through cold & temperate climates 🐒🧊 Enjoyed being part of this collaboration led by @avaria_jor [bsky, 4 points, 1 comments]
• The radiation and geographic expansion of #primates through diverse climates 🔗 doi.org/10.1073/pnas... [bsky, 0 points, 0 comments]

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