Fossil Site of Eosimias sinensis

　　    In 1985, paleoanthropologist Lin Yipu discovered some ancient mammal fossils in the fissure deposits of the Jellyfish Mountain quarry in Shanghuang Town, Shangyang County (now Liyang City), Jiangsu Province. Qi Tao identified some of the teeth as being similar to those of the ancient lagomorph-like animal found in Inner Mongolia, leading to the conclusion that the animals to which these teeth belonged lived during the Early Tertiary period (between 65 million and 24 million years ago). Starting in 1992, a joint research team was formed, consisting of renowned paleovertebrate specialist Mary Dawson from the Carnegie Museum of Natural History, paleoprimatologist Christopher Beard, and Qi Tao, Wang Banyue, Li Chuankui, and Guo Jianwei from the Institute of Vertebrate Paleontology and Paleoanthropology. The team conducted further field investigations in the Shanghuang area and surrounding regions, carrying out in-depth studies on the primate-rich Shanghuang Fauna and related faunas. Subsequent work uncovered at least four species of higher primates, one of which was named Eosimias sinensis, while the other three required further excavation and research due to insufficient material at the time. The fossil material of Eosimias sinensis consisted merely of a fragment of a right lower jaw with three teeth and some scattered teeth. However, its age—dating back to the Middle Eocene, around 45 million years ago—predates the higher primates of Fayum by nearly 10 million years. This suggests that the origin of higher primates may more likely be in the East, specifically in China. The term “Shuoyuan” (曙猿) means “the dawn of the suborder Anthropoidea.” In May 2013, it was designated as part of the seventh group of Major Historical and Cultural Sites Protected at the National Level by the State Council.