<P> The evolutionary history of the primates can be traced back 65 million years . One of the oldest known primate - like mammal species , the Plesiadapis , came from North America ; another , Archicebus , came from China . Other similar basal primates were widespread in Eurasia and Africa during the tropical conditions of the Paleocene and Eocene . Purgatorius is the genus of the four extinct species believed to be the earliest example of a primate or a proto - primate , a primatomorph precursor to the Plesiadapiformes , dating to as old as 66 million years ago . </P>
<P> The evolutionary history of the primates can be traced back 65 million years . One of the oldest known primate - like mammal species , the Plesiadapis , came from North America ; another , Archicebus , came from China . Other similar basal primates were widespread in Eurasia and Africa during the tropical conditions of the Paleocene and Eocene . Purgatorius is the genus of the four extinct species believed to be the earliest example of a primate or a proto - primate , a primatomorph precursor to the Plesiadapiformes , dating to as old as 66 million years ago . </P>
when did the first primates appear on earth
when did the first primates appear on earth
66 million years ago
66 million years ago