A new omomyid primate from the earliest Eocene of southern England: First phase of microchoerine evolution

A second species of the microchoerine omomyid genus Melaneremia, M. schrevei sp. nov. is described. It has been collected from the upper shelly clay unit of the Woolwich Formation, earliest Ypresian, Eocene, of Croydon, Greater London, UK. Phylogenetic analysis shows M. schrevei to be the most primitive member of the main clade of the Microchoerinae and demonstrates the initial dental evolution that separated this European subfamily from other omomyids. Calibration of the Woolwich upper shelly clay unit to the later part of the Paleocene–Eocene Thermal Maximum shows that speciation leading to the Microchoerinae took place within 170 ky of the beginning of the Eocene. Tentative identification of M. schrevei in the Conglomérat de Meudon of the Paris Basin suggests close time correlation with the upper part of the Woolwich Formation.