Fossil sheds light on early primates

Partial skeleton near root of monkey, ape and human line

The oldest known primate specimen, a 55-million-year-old partial skeleton of a 1-ounce creature, was analyzed using a digital 3-D reconstruction . 

Paul Tafforeau/ESRF and X. Ni/Chinese Academy of Sciences

A palm-sized creature sporting a tail longer than its body has given scientists an unprecedented look at one of the earliest phases of primate evolution.