Homunculus (genus)

Early history The holotype of Homunculus patagonicus (MACN-A 634), a partial skull, was discovered around the Río Gallegos, though more specific details of its provenance have never been given. At some point, MACN-A 634 was lost. It was, in 2008, replaced with a neotype, MACN-A 575. However, E. ceboides was treated by Ameghino as indistinguishable from Homunculus, and he opted to synonymise the two. The type specimen of E. ceboides has been lost. However, subsequent authors, like Osvaldo A. Reig, disagreed with this assessment, and 1981, Philip Hershkovitz determined that it belonged to Homunculus. Hershkovitz erected a new species, H. grandis. Even in the absence of the holotype, further specimens have been assigned to H. patagonicus. Notable among these is MACN-A 5968, the left side of a partial skull, recovered from Puesto Estancia La Costa. A 2025 study of an associated skeleton of Homunculus again concluded that Killikaike is a junior synonym of ''Homunculus patagonicus. == Description ==

H. patagonicus was a robustly built, quadrupedal primate, with body mass estimates varying between based on different techniques, with a 2025 study estimating a body mass of around , comparable to a titi monkey or a saki monkey. == Ecology ==

Its morphology suggests that Homunculus was a diurnal (day active) arboreal primate that spent a significant amount of time climbing and clinging to trees, probably occasionally leaping between them. this has been disputed, and other studies suggest the diet of Homunculus likely consisted of fruit, leaves and seeds, including relatively hard items, with the significant input of abrasive volcanic dust into the environment of the Santa Cruz Formation being the likely cause of the heavy tooth wear observed in adult Homunculus teeth. == References ==