Early Primates Thrived in Cold Climates, Study Finds

A new study led by the University of Reading challenges long-held assumptions about primate origins. For decades, scientists believed primates, including humans, emerged from warm, humid tropical forests. However, reanalysis of paleoclimate data suggests the earliest primates actually evolved in cool—even cold—environments.

Researchers reconstructed climate conditions from 56 million years ago using fossil pollen and other geological evidence from early primate fossil sites. Their findings indicate that the evolutionary cradle of primates was not the tropics, but higher-latitude regions such as North America, which were cold and arid at the time.

To survive such harsh conditions, early primates like Teilhardina may have adopted survival strategies similar to modern mouse lemurs—lowering metabolism or entering torpor during food-scarce winters. The study emphasizes that rapid climate fluctuations, such as alternating wet and dry periods, rather than simple global warming, were the key drivers behind primates' adaptability and dispersal. This explains why today's surviving primates descend from highly mobile ancestors.

The research not only rewrites part of evolutionary history but also offers valuable insights into modern conservation, highlighting how species evolve strategies to withstand dramatic climate shifts.