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Maybe it can be inferred from comparing the time when Antarctica broke off from the other continents to the time that primates evolved? - "From the end of the

Maybe it can be inferred from comparing the time when Antarctica broke off from the other continents to the time that primates evolved? - "From the end of the Neoproterozoic era to the Cretaceous, Antarctica was part of the supercontinent Gondwana. Modern Antarctica was formed as Gondwana gradually broke apart beginning around 183 Ma."[1] - "Primates arose 85–55 million years ago first from small terrestrial mammals, which adapted to living in the trees of tropical forests..." [2] So primates first evolved 100 million years after Antarctica became an isolated continent. For primates to have existed on Antarctica, they would have either had to evolve there independently, or be able to swim across oceans. [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Antarctica#Geologic_history https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Antarctica#Geologic_history [2] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Primate https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Primate

JoeAltmaier 4y ago
That sounds good. But animals have been spreading since then. For instance, storm rafts of natural vegetation can be huge, and often float between land masses with animals on them. It would seem extraordinary if it never happened.
dahdum 4y ago
30M years ago primates made it from Africa to South America [1]. The article also links an example of the floating vegetation that could have caused it [2]. So it seems very possible that some primates could have made it to Antarctica in the past 57-90M years of primate evolution. [1] https://www.smithsonianmag.com/science-nature/monkeys-raft-across-atlantic-twice-180974637/ https://www.smithsonianmag.com/science-nature/monkeys-raft-a... [2] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_OwfGunvPXA&t=27s https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_OwfGunvPXA&t=27s