Primates once lived in the Arctic

Comparison of I1 wear patterns in Arctic Ignacius dawsonae and mid-latitude Ignacius frugivorus.

Fossils found on Ellesmere Island, Nunavut have identified new species previously undiscovered.

According to research in the journal PLOS ONE, the boreal ecosystem, now extinct, hosted a diversity of early Cenozoic vertebrates, including thermophilic taxa such as crocodilians and tapiroid perissodactyls.

Two of the new species have been named Ignacius mckennai and Ignacius dawsonae. These creatures lived about 52 million years ago.

These creatures are the first primate relatives to have lived in latitudes north of the Arctic Circle.