Purgatorius is an extinct genus of small primates that lived during the Paleocene epoch. The only known species is Purgatorius unio, which was first discovered in 1966 in the United States.
Purgatorius was a small primate, with an estimated body mass of around 100 grams. It had a long tail and small hands and feet, with nails instead of claws. Its most distinctive feature was its large eyes, which suggest that it was nocturnal or crepuscular.
Purgatorius is thought to be the earliest known member of the order Primates. It is also the earliest known mammal to have possessed many of the features associated with primates, such as binocular vision and opposable thumbs. These features suggest that Purgatorius was an agile climber, able to move through trees quickly and easily.
The diet of Purgatorius is unknown, but it is thought to have been omnivorous. Its teeth are similar to those of other early primates, such as Teilhardina and Notharctus, suggesting that it may have eaten insects and other small animals as well as fruits and leaves.
Purgatorius probably went extinct during the Eocene-Oligocene boundary around 34 million years ago, along with many other early mammals. This event has been linked to a major cooling event known as the Grande Coupure, which caused drastic changes in global climate and resulted in the loss of many tropical ecosystems where early mammals like Purgatorius thrived.