The first species to be named, Afrotarsius chatrathi, was named in 1985 on the basis of a single lower jaw from the
Oligocene of
Fayum, Egypt, and tentatively referred to the
tarsier family (Tarsiidae).[1] However, this relationship immediately proved controversial, and in 1987 the animal was placed in a separate family
Afrotarsiidae related to
simians.[2] A tarsier-like
tibiofibula was allocated to Afrotarsius in 1998,[3] but the identity of this bone is controversial.[4] In 2010, a second species of the genus, Afrotarsius libycus, was named from the
Eocene of
Dur At-Talah, Libya, on the basis of isolated upper and lower teeth. Features of these teeth were interpreted as additional evidence for a relationship between Afrotarsius and anthropoids.[5] A second afrotarsiid genus, Afrasia, was named in 2012 from the Eocene
Pondaung Formation of Myanmar. In the same paper, Afrotarsiidae was placed together with the Asian
Eosimiidae in an infraorder
Eosimiiformes, in the simians.[6][7] However, some studies indicate that it should be placed in
Tarsiiformes.
According to Chaimanee et al. 2012, the close relationship between Afrasia djijidae from Southeast Asia and Afrotarsius libycus from North Africa demonstrates one of at least two dispersals of stem simians from Asia to Africa during the middle Eocene.
Ginsburg, L.; Mein, P. (1987). "Tarsius thailandica nov. sp., premier Tarsiidae (Primates, Mammalia) fossile d'Asie". Comptes Rendus de l'Académie des Sciences. 304 (19): 1213–1215.
Godinot, M. (2010). "Chapter 19: Paleogene Prosimians". In Werdelin, L.; Sanders, W.J (eds.). Cenozoic Mammals of Africa. University of California Press.
ISBN978-0-520-25721-4.