Primates might have evolved in the cold

The common ancestors of all modern primates — including us — might have flourished in the cold winters of North America, rather than the warmth of the jungle. Researchers combined fossil data with climate reconstructions and statistical modelling to map where our primate ancestors lived and what the climate was like at that time. “For decades, the idea that primates evolved in warm, tropical forests has gone unquestioned,” said evolutionary biologist and study co-author Jorge Avaria-Llautureo. “Our findings flip that narrative entirely.”