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Chaimanee Y, Chavasseau O, Lazzari V, Soe AN, Sein C, Jaeger JJ. Early anthropoid primates: New data and new questions. Evol Anthropol 2024:e22022. [PMID: 38270328 DOI: 10.1002/evan.22022] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/08/2023] [Revised: 11/29/2023] [Accepted: 01/11/2024] [Indexed: 01/26/2024]
Abstract
Although the evolutionary history of anthropoid primates (monkeys, apes, and humans) appears relatively well-documented, there is limited data available regarding their origins and early evolution. We review and discuss here the earliest records of anthropoid primates from Asia, Africa, and South America. New fossils provide strong support for the Asian origin of anthropoid primates. However, the earliest recorded anthropoids from Africa and South America are still subject to debate, and the early evolution and dispersal of platyrhines to South America remain unclear. Because of the rarity and incomplete nature of many stem anthropoid taxa, establishing the phylogenetic relationships among the earliest anthropoids remains challenging. Nonetheless, by examining evidence from anthropoids and other mammalian groups, we demonstrate that several dispersal events occurred between South Asia and Afro-Arabia during the middle Eocene to the early Oligocene. It is possible that a microplate situated in the middle of the Neotethys Ocean significantly reduced the distance of overseas dispersal.
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Affiliation(s)
- Yaowalak Chaimanee
- Laboratory PALEVOPRIM, UMR 7262 CNRS, University of Poitiers, Poitiers, France
| | - Olivier Chavasseau
- Laboratory PALEVOPRIM, UMR 7262 CNRS, University of Poitiers, Poitiers, France
| | - Vincent Lazzari
- Laboratory PALEVOPRIM, UMR 7262 CNRS, University of Poitiers, Poitiers, France
| | - Aung N Soe
- University of Distance Education, Mandalay, Myanmar
| | - Chit Sein
- University of Distance Education, Yangon, Myanmar
| | - Jean-Jacques Jaeger
- Laboratory PALEVOPRIM, UMR 7262 CNRS, University of Poitiers, Poitiers, France
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Jaeger JJ, Sein C, Gebo DL, Chaimanee Y, Nyein MT, Oo TZ, Aung MM, Suraprasit K, Rugbumrung M, Lazzari V, Soe AN, Chavasseau O. Amphipithecine primates are stem anthropoids: cranial and postcranial evidence. Proc Biol Sci 2020; 287:20202129. [PMID: 33171091 DOI: 10.1098/rspb.2020.2129] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/12/2022] Open
Abstract
Since their discovery in 1927, the phylogenetic status of the Myanmar amphipithecines has been highly debated. These fossil primates are recognized either as anthropoids or as adapiform strepsirrhines. This uncertainty was largely the consequence of a limited fossil record consisting mostly of jaw fragments but lacking the critical cranial elements that might resolve this debate. We report here cranial remains associated with an ulna from a single individual pertaining to the amphipithecine Ganlea megacanina. In addition to anthropoid-like dentognathic characters, Ganlea displays several ulna and skull features that testify to its anthropoid affinities (e.g. short subvertically oriented lacrimal duct, lacrimal foramen and bone inside the orbit, maxillary contribution to the lower orbital rim, fused metopic suture). By contrast to crown anthropoids, however, Ganlea lacks postorbital closure, confirming that postorbital closure appeared later than many anthropoid dentognathic characters and evolved convergently in extant tarsiers and anthropoids. Thus, amphipithecines must now be recognized as stem anthropoids offering a unique window on the early evolution of cranial and skeletal features in anthropoids, and reinforcing the hypothesis of an origin and early diversification of anthropoids in Asia.
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Affiliation(s)
- J-J Jaeger
- Laboratory PALEVOPRIM, UMR CNRS 7262, University of Poitiers, 6 Rue Michel Brunet, 86073 Poitiers Cedex 9, France
| | - C Sein
- Department of Higher Education, Ministry of Education, Naypyitaw 15011, Myanmar
| | - D L Gebo
- Department of Anthropology, Northern Illinois University, DeKalb, IL 60115, USA
| | - Y Chaimanee
- Laboratory PALEVOPRIM, UMR CNRS 7262, University of Poitiers, 6 Rue Michel Brunet, 86073 Poitiers Cedex 9, France
| | - M T Nyein
- Department of Underwater Archaeology, Field School of Archaeology, Pyay Township, Bago Region, Myanmar
| | - T Z Oo
- Department of Geology, East Yangon University, Thanlyin Township, Yangon, Myanmar
| | - M M Aung
- Department of Geology, East Yangon University, Thanlyin Township, Yangon, Myanmar
| | - K Suraprasit
- Department of Geology, Faculty of Science, Chulalongkorn University, Bangkok 10330, Thailand
| | - M Rugbumrung
- Department of Mineral Resources, Rama VI Road, Bangkok 10400, Thailand
| | - V Lazzari
- Laboratory PALEVOPRIM, UMR CNRS 7262, University of Poitiers, 6 Rue Michel Brunet, 86073 Poitiers Cedex 9, France
| | - A N Soe
- University of Distance Education, Mandalay 05023, Myanmar
| | - O Chavasseau
- Laboratory PALEVOPRIM, UMR CNRS 7262, University of Poitiers, 6 Rue Michel Brunet, 86073 Poitiers Cedex 9, France
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3
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A comparative analysis of infraorbital foramen size in Paleogene euarchontans. J Hum Evol 2017; 105:57-68. [DOI: 10.1016/j.jhevol.2017.01.017] [Citation(s) in RCA: 42] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/27/2016] [Revised: 01/19/2017] [Accepted: 01/26/2017] [Indexed: 11/21/2022]
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Marivaux L, Essid EM, Marzougui W, Khayati Ammar H, Adnet S, Marandat B, Merzeraud G, Ramdarshan A, Tabuce R, Vianey-Liaud M, Yans J. A morphological intermediate between eosimiiform and simiiform primates from the late middle Eocene of Tunisia: Macroevolutionary and paleobiogeographic implications of early anthropoids. AMERICAN JOURNAL OF PHYSICAL ANTHROPOLOGY 2014; 154:387-401. [DOI: 10.1002/ajpa.22523] [Citation(s) in RCA: 19] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/28/2014] [Accepted: 04/18/2014] [Indexed: 11/10/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Laurent Marivaux
- Laboratoire de Paléontologie; Institut des Sciences de l'Évolution de Montpellier (ISE-M, UMR 5554, CNRS, UM2, IRD), c.c. 064, Université Montpellier 2; F-34095 Montpellier Cedex 05 France
| | - El Mabrouk Essid
- Office National des Mines (ONM); Tunis BP: 215 - 1080 Tunis Tunisia
| | - Wissem Marzougui
- Office National des Mines (ONM); Tunis BP: 215 - 1080 Tunis Tunisia
| | | | - Sylvain Adnet
- Laboratoire de Paléontologie; Institut des Sciences de l'Évolution de Montpellier (ISE-M, UMR 5554, CNRS, UM2, IRD), c.c. 064, Université Montpellier 2; F-34095 Montpellier Cedex 05 France
| | - Bernard Marandat
- Laboratoire de Paléontologie; Institut des Sciences de l'Évolution de Montpellier (ISE-M, UMR 5554, CNRS, UM2, IRD), c.c. 064, Université Montpellier 2; F-34095 Montpellier Cedex 05 France
| | - Gilles Merzeraud
- Géosciences Montpellier (UMR-CNRS 5243); c.c. 060, Université Montpellier 2; F-34095 Montpellier Cedex 05 France
| | - Anusha Ramdarshan
- Laboratoire de Paléontologie; Institut des Sciences de l'Évolution de Montpellier (ISE-M, UMR 5554, CNRS, UM2, IRD), c.c. 064, Université Montpellier 2; F-34095 Montpellier Cedex 05 France
| | - Rodolphe Tabuce
- Laboratoire de Paléontologie; Institut des Sciences de l'Évolution de Montpellier (ISE-M, UMR 5554, CNRS, UM2, IRD), c.c. 064, Université Montpellier 2; F-34095 Montpellier Cedex 05 France
| | - Monique Vianey-Liaud
- Laboratoire de Paléontologie; Institut des Sciences de l'Évolution de Montpellier (ISE-M, UMR 5554, CNRS, UM2, IRD), c.c. 064, Université Montpellier 2; F-34095 Montpellier Cedex 05 France
| | - Johan Yans
- Department of Geology; University of Namur; NaGRIDD B-5000 Namur Belgium
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Coster P, Beard KC, Soe AN, Sein C, Chaimanee Y, Lazzari V, Valentin X, Jaeger JJ. Uniquely derived upper molar morphology of Eocene Amphipithecidae (Primates: Anthropoidea): Homology and phylogeny. J Hum Evol 2013; 65:143-55. [PMID: 23823753 DOI: 10.1016/j.jhevol.2013.04.009] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/04/2013] [Revised: 04/26/2013] [Accepted: 04/27/2013] [Indexed: 10/26/2022]
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Marivaux L, Beard KC, Chaimanee Y, Dagosto M, Gebo DL, Guy F, Marandat B, Khaing K, Kyaw AA, Oo M, Sein C, Soe AN, Swe M, Jaeger JJ. Talar morphology, phylogenetic affinities, and locomotor adaptation of a large-bodied amphipithecid primate from the late middle eocene of Myanmar. AMERICAN JOURNAL OF PHYSICAL ANTHROPOLOGY 2010; 143:208-22. [DOI: 10.1002/ajpa.21307] [Citation(s) in RCA: 25] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/05/2022]
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Zollikofer CPE, Ponce De León MS, Chaimanee Y, Lebrun R, Tafforeau P, Khansubhaand S, Jaeger JJ. The face of Siamopithecus: new geometric-morphometric evidence for its anthropoid status. Anat Rec (Hoboken) 2010; 292:1734-44. [PMID: 19718713 DOI: 10.1002/ar.20998] [Citation(s) in RCA: 10] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/10/2022]
Abstract
Amphipithecids assume a key position in early primate evolution in Asia. Here we report on new maxillofacial and associated mandibular remains of Siamopithecus eocaenus, an amphipithecid primate from the Late Eocene of Krabi (Thailand) that currently represents the most complete specimen belonging to this group. We used synchrotron microtomography and techniques of virtual reconstruction to recover the three-dimensional morphology of the specimen. Geometric-morphometric analysis of the reconstructed specimen within a comparative sample of recent and fossil primates clearly associates Siamopithecus with the anthropoids. Like modern anthropoids, Siamopithecus displays a relatively short face and highly convergent and frontated orbits, the lower rim of which lies well above the alveolar plane. The cooccurrence of spatially correlated anthropoid features and classical anthropoid dental characters in one individual represents a strong argument to support the anthropoid status of Siamopithecus. It is, thus, highly unlikely that amphipithecids are specialized adapiforms exhibiting complete convergence with anthropoids.
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Beard KC, Marivaux L, Chaimanee Y, Jaeger JJ, Marandat B, Tafforeau P, Soe AN, Tun ST, Kyaw AA. A new primate from the Eocene Pondaung Formation of Myanmar and the monophyly of Burmese amphipithecids. Proc Biol Sci 2009; 276:3285-94. [PMID: 19570790 DOI: 10.1098/rspb.2009.0836] [Citation(s) in RCA: 29] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/12/2022] Open
Abstract
The family Amphipithecidae is one of the two fossil primate taxa from Asia that appear to be early members of the anthropoid clade. Ganlea megacanina, gen. et sp. nov., is a new amphipithecid from the late middle Eocene Pondaung Formation of central Myanmar. The holotype of Ganlea is distinctive in having a relatively enormous lower canine showing heavy apical wear, indicating an important functional role of the lower canine in food preparation and ingestion. A phylogenetic analysis of amphipithecid relationships suggests that Ganlea is the sister taxon of Myanmarpithecus, a relatively small-bodied taxon that has often, but not always, been included in Amphipithecidae. Pondaungia is the sister taxon of the Ganlea + Myanmarpithecus clade. All three Pondaung amphipithecid genera are monophyletic with respect to Siamopithecus, which is the most basal amphipithecid currently known. The inclusion of Myanmarpithecus in Amphipithecidae diminishes the likelihood that amphipithecids are specially related to adapiform primates. Extremely heavy apical wear has been documented on the lower canines of all three genera of Burmese amphipithecids. This distinctive wear pattern suggests that Burmese amphipithecids were an endemic radiation of hard object feeders that may have been ecological analogues of living New World pitheciin monkeys.
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Affiliation(s)
- K Christopher Beard
- Section of Vertebrate Paleontology, Carnegie Museum of Natural History, Pittsburgh, PA 15213, USA.
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9
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Muchlinski MN. The Relationship Between the Infraorbital Foramen, Infraorbital Nerve, and Maxillary Mechanoreception: Implications for Interpreting the Paleoecology of Fossil Mammals Based on Infraorbital Foramen Size. Anat Rec (Hoboken) 2008; 291:1221-6. [DOI: 10.1002/ar.20742] [Citation(s) in RCA: 77] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/12/2022]
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Beard KC, Marivaux L, Tun ST, Soe AN, Chaimanee Y, Htoon W, Marandat B, Aung HH, Jaeger JJ. New Sivaladapid Primates from the Eocene Pondaung Formation of Myanmar and the Anthropoid Status of Amphipithecidae. ACTA ACUST UNITED AC 2007. [DOI: 10.2992/0145-9058(2007)39[67:nspfte]2.0.co;2] [Citation(s) in RCA: 36] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/10/2022]
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11
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Marivaux L, Beard KC, Chaimanee Y, Jaeger JJ, Marandat B, Soe AN, Tun ST, Aung HH, Htoon W. Anatomy of the bony pelvis of a relatively large-bodied strepsirrhine primate from the late middle Eocene Pondaung Formation (central Myanmar). J Hum Evol 2007; 54:391-404. [PMID: 17996275 DOI: 10.1016/j.jhevol.2007.09.007] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/16/2006] [Revised: 07/16/2007] [Accepted: 09/16/2007] [Indexed: 10/22/2022]
Abstract
Recent survey of the fossiliferous variegated mudstones of the PK1 locality (Sabapondaung) in the late middle Eocene Pondaung Formation (central Myanmar) has led to the recovery of a partial right innominate of a relatively large-bodied primate. Given its size and provenance, this bone probably belongs to the same individual represented by the NMMP 20 primate partial skeleton described previously from the same locality. The new fossil, which preserves the region around the acetabulum and the adjacent part of the ilium, clearly exhibits strepsirrhine rather than anthropoid affinities. This addition to our knowledge of the NMMP 20 partial skeleton allows us to reassess the different locomotor interpretations that have been proposed for this specimen. Aspects of pelvic morphology suggest that the NMMP 20 partial skeleton documents a primate that probably engaged in active arboreal quadrupedalism similar to that practiced by medium-sized Malagasy lemurids rather than lorislike slow moving and climbing. Given the conflicting phylogenetic signals provided by NMMP 39 (a talus showing anthropoid affinities) and NMMP 20 (a partial skeleton bearing adapiform affinities), it appears that two higher-level taxonomic groups of relatively large-bodied primates are documented in the Pondaung Formation. The recent discovery of two taxa of sivaladapid adapiforms from the Pondaung Formation indicates that the assumption that the NMMP 20 partial skeleton belongs to an amphipithecid can no longer be sustained. Instead, this specimen apparently documents a third large-bodied sivaladapid species in the Pondaung Formation.
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Affiliation(s)
- Laurent Marivaux
- Laboratoire de Paléontologie, Institut des Sciences de l'Evolution (ISE-M, UMR - CNRS 5554), c.c. 64, Université Montpellier II, Place Eugène Bataillon, F-34095 Montpellier Cedex 05, France.
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Beard KC, Jaeger JJ, Chaimanee Y, Rossie JB, Soe AN, Tun ST, Marivaux L, Marandat B. Taxonomic status of purported primate frontal bones from the Eocene Pondaung Formation of Myanmar. J Hum Evol 2006; 49:468-81. [PMID: 16054194 DOI: 10.1016/j.jhevol.2005.05.008] [Citation(s) in RCA: 13] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/29/2004] [Revised: 05/16/2005] [Accepted: 05/30/2005] [Indexed: 10/25/2022]
Abstract
Two isolated cranial fragments from the late middle Eocene Pondaung Formation of central Myanmar have previously been interpreted as frontal bones of the amphipithecid primate Amphipithecus mogaungensis. Aside from a few maxillary fragments, these specimens provide the only potential source of information currently available regarding the cranial anatomy of Amphipithecidae. Were this taxonomic attribution correct, these specimens would indicate that amphipithecids retained numerous primitive skull features, including the absence of a postorbital septum, the retention of a voluminous olfactory chamber, and strong separation between the forebrain and the orbital fossa. However, several anatomical details observable on these specimens are incompatible with their attribution to any primate and strongly suggest that they cannot be ascribed to Mammalia. Particularly problematic in this regard are the extreme thickness of the dermal bone, the odd structure of the alleged "frontal trigon," and the mediolateral orientation and uniquely robust construction of the descending process of the frontal bone (which partially segregates the orbital and temporal fossae). Because these isolated elements can no longer be attributed to Amphipithecus, the anatomical, phylogenetic, and behavioral inferences regarding amphipithecid paleobiology that have been drawn from these specimens can no longer be sustained.
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Affiliation(s)
- K Christopher Beard
- Section of Vertebrate Paleontology, Carnegie Museum of Natural History, 4400 Forbes Avenue, Pittsburgh, PA 15213, USA.
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Seiffert ER, Simons EL, Clyde WC, Rossie JB, Attia Y, Bown TM, Chatrath P, Mathison ME. Basal Anthropoids from Egypt and the Antiquity of Africa's Higher Primate Radiation. Science 2005; 310:300-4. [PMID: 16224019 DOI: 10.1126/science.1116569] [Citation(s) in RCA: 90] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/02/2022]
Abstract
Early anthropoid evolution in Afro-Arabia is poorly documented, with only a few isolated teeth known from before approximately 35 million years ago. Here we describe craniodental remains of the primitive anthropoid Biretia from approximately 37-million-year-old rocks in Egypt. Biretia is unique among early anthropoids in exhibiting evidence for nocturnality, but derived dental features shared with younger parapithecids draw this genus, and possibly >45-million-year-old Algeripithecus, into a morphologically and behaviorally diverse parapithecoid clade of great antiquity.
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Affiliation(s)
- Erik R Seiffert
- Department of Earth Sciences, University of Oxford, and Oxford University Museum of Natural History, Parks Road, Oxford, OX1 3PW, UK.
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Egi N, Takai M, Tsubamoto T, Shigehara N. Additional materials of Myanmarpithecus yarshensis (Amphipithecidae, Primates) from the middle Eocene Pondaung Formation. Primates 2005; 47:123-30. [PMID: 16215774 DOI: 10.1007/s10329-005-0159-3] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/03/2005] [Accepted: 07/23/2005] [Indexed: 11/25/2022]
Abstract
Myanmarpithecus yarshensis is an amphipithecid primate from the middle Eocene Pondaung Formation in Myanmar. It was previously known based on maxillary fragments with P(4)-M(3) and mandibular fragments with C-P(3) and M(2-3). This study reports new materials for the genus, including a humeral head fragment, a lingual fragment of the right M(2), a lingual fragment of the right M(3), and a left I(1). These new materials were collected from approximately the same point, and likely belonged to the same individual. The upper molar morphology and size of the new materials show similarity to those of the type specimen, indicating that the new materials can be assigned to M. yarshensis. The humeral head is the first postcranial element that is associated with dental materials for amphipithecids. The morphological similarity between the previously reported larger humerus and this specimen confirms the assignment of the former specimen to Amphipithecidae and suggests common locomotor adaptations in the family. The upper central incisor is large relative to the molar fragments, but is within the variation among extant platyrrhines. The tooth is spatulate-shaped and high crowned, and lacks the mesial process, indicating similarity to I(1) of haplorhines and clear differences from that of adapoids. It has been suggested that amphipithecids, including Myanmarpithecus, have affinities with notharctine adapoids, but the morphology of I(1) does not support the notharctine hypothesis of the Amphipithecidae.
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Affiliation(s)
- Naoko Egi
- Department of Zoology, Graduate School of Science, Kyoto University, Kyoto 606-8502, Japan.
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Seiffert ER, Simons EL, Ryan TM, Attia Y. Additional remains of Wadilemur elegans, a primitive stem galagid from the late Eocene of Egypt. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A 2005; 102:11396-401. [PMID: 16087891 PMCID: PMC1183603 DOI: 10.1073/pnas.0505310102] [Citation(s) in RCA: 40] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/18/2022] Open
Abstract
The late Eocene prosimian Wadilemur elegans from the Jebel Qatrani Formation, northern Egypt, was originally interpreted as an anchomomyin adapiform primate based on limited information from the lower molars and distal premolars. Recently recovered fossils attributable to this species, including a proximal femur, the fourth upper premolar and first and second upper molars, and a mandible preserving the lower second premolar and lower canine and incisor alveoli, reveal a number of derived morphological similarities shared with crown strepsirrhines and, in particular, Miocene-to-Recent stem and crown galagids, to the exclusion of known adapiforms. Phylogenetic analysis of 359 morphological features scored across 95 living and extinct crown primate taxa supports a stem galagid placement for Wadilemur and older Saharagalago, and a close relationship between crown strepsirrhines and the Eocene African taxa "Anchomomys" milleri, Djebelemur, and Plesiopithecus (none of which appear to be closely related to European anchomomyins). This scheme of relationships supports the hypothesis that crown Strepsirrhini is of Afro-Arabian origin and that lemuriforms likely colonized Madagascar by crossing the Mozambique Channel. Wadilemur's known dental and postcranial morphology provides additional support for the hypothesis that galagids and lorisids had diverged by the close of the middle Eocene, and, by bolstering the approximately 37 million-year-old calibration point for crown lorisiform origins provided by Saharagalago, indirect support for the hypothesis of an ancient origin of crown Strepsirrhini and crown Primates.
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Affiliation(s)
- Erik R Seiffert
- Department of Earth Sciences, University of Oxford, and Oxford University Museum of Natural History, Parks Road, Oxford OX1 3PR, United Kingdom.
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16
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Smith TD, Rossie JB, Cooper GM, Mooney MP, Siegel MI. Secondary pneumatization of the maxillary sinus in callitrichid primates: Insights from immunohistochemistry and bone cell distribution. ACTA ACUST UNITED AC 2005; 285:677-89. [PMID: 15983987 DOI: 10.1002/ar.a.20209] [Citation(s) in RCA: 38] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/07/2022]
Abstract
The paranasal sinuses remain elusive both in terms of function and in the proximate mechanism of their development. The present study sought to describe the maxillary sinuses (MSs) in three species of callitrichid primates at birth, a time when secondary pneumatization occurs rapidly in humans. The MSs were examined in serially sectioned and stained slides from the heads of two Callithrix jacchus, one Leontopithecus rosalia, and two Saguinus geoffroyi. Specimens were examined microscopically regarding the distribution of osteoclasts and osteoblasts along the osseous boundaries of the MS and other parts of the maxillary bone. Selected sections were immunohistochemically evaluated for the distribution of osteopontin (OPN), which facilitates osteoclast binding. Taken together, OPN immunoreactivity and bone cell distribution suggested trends of bone resorption/deposition that were consistent among species for the superior (roof) and inferior (floor) boundaries of the MS. Expansion at the roof and floor of the MS appeared to correspond to overall vertical midfacial growth in callitrichids. Much more variability was noted for the lateral (alveolar) and medial (nasal walls) of the MS. Unlike the other species, the nasal wall of Saguinus was static and mostly composed of inferior portions of the nasal capsule that were undergoing endochondral ossification. The variation seen in the alveolar walls may relate to the presence or absence of adjacent structures, although it was noted that adjacency of deciduous molars influenced medial drift of the alveolar wall in Saguinus but not Leontopithecus. The results of this study are largely consistent with the "structural" or "architectural" hypothesis of sinus formation with respect to vertical MS enlargement, and the variable cellular/OPN distribution found along the nasal and alveolar walls was evocative of Witmer's (J Vert Paleontol 1997;17:1-73) epithelial hypothesis in revealing that most expansion occurred in regions unopposed by adjacent structures.
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Affiliation(s)
- Timothy D Smith
- School of Physical Therapy, Slippery Rock University, Slippery Rock, PA 16057, USA.
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TABUCE RODOLPHE, MARIVAUX LAURENT. Mammalian interchanges between Africa and Eurasia: an analysis of temporal constraints on plausible anthropoid dispersals during the Paleogene. ANTHROPOL SCI 2005. [DOI: 10.1537/ase.04s004] [Citation(s) in RCA: 22] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/01/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- RODOLPHE TABUCE
- Laboratoire de Paléontologie, Institut des Sciences de l’Évolution (ISEM, CNRS-UMR 5554), C.C. 064, Université Montpellier II
| | - LAURENT MARIVAUX
- Laboratoire de Paléontologie, Institut des Sciences de l’Évolution (ISEM, CNRS-UMR 5554), C.C. 064, Université Montpellier II
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Miller ER, Gunnell GF, Martin RD. Deep Time and the Search for Anthropoid Origins. AMERICAN JOURNAL OF PHYSICAL ANTHROPOLOGY 2005; Suppl 41:60-95. [PMID: 16369958 DOI: 10.1002/ajpa.20352] [Citation(s) in RCA: 32] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/09/2022]
Abstract
Recent fossil discoveries, phylogenetic analyses, revised reconstructions of continental drift, and accumulating molecular evidence have all yielded new information relating to anthropoid origins within the broader context of primate evolution. There is an emerging consensus among molecular studies that four superorders of eutherian mammals can be recognized: Afrotheria, Euarchontoglires (to which primates belong), Laurasiatheria, and Xenarthra. Overall, molecular phylogenies for mammals agree with some statistical analyses of the primate fossil record in indicating an early origin for primates around 85 Ma ago, and the divergence of haplorhines and strepsirrhines at ca. 77 Ma. Such an ancient date for the origin of haplorhines is some 17 Ma prior to the first known possible primate, and some 22 Ma before the earliest fossil evidence of undoubted euprimates. Because anthropoid fossils date back at least to the late Eocene and perhaps to the middle Eocene, and given indications of an early origin for primates, it is unlikely that ancestral anthropoids arose within any other currently known clade of fossil primates (adapiforms, omomyiforms, strepsirrhines, or tarsiiforms). Implications of new molecular, morphological, and biogeographic lines of evidence are explored with respect to the likely time and place of the origin of anthropoids. Four competing, testable hypotheses are reviewed in detail: 1) the Paratethyan hypothesis, 2) the continental Asian hypothesis, 3) the Indo-Madagascar hypothesis, and 4) the African hypothesis. A case is made that current evidence best supports a relatively ancient Gondwanan origin for primates, as well as a Gondwanan (African or Indo-Madagascan) origin for anthropoids at least as old as that of any other currently documented major primate clade. Available fossil evidence at present seems to be most compatible with the African hypothesis, but it is noteworthy that primates are included not in Afrotheria but in Euarchontoglires.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ellen R Miller
- Department of Anthropology, Wake Forest University, Winston-Salem, North Carolina 27109-7807, USA.
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MAUNG MAUNG, HTIKE THAUNG, TSUBAMOTO TAKEHISA, SUZUKI HISASHI, SEIN CHIT, EGI NAOKO, WIN ZAW, THEIN ZINMAUNGMAUNG, AUNG AYEKO. Stratigraphy of the primate-bearing beds of the Eocene Pondaung Formation at Paukkaung area, Myanmar. ANTHROPOL SCI 2005. [DOI: 10.1537/ase.04s002] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/01/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- MAUNG MAUNG
- Department of Geology, University of Mandalay
| | - THAUNG HTIKE
- Department of Biosphere-Geosphere System Science, Graduate School of Informatics, Okayama University of Science
| | | | | | - CHIT SEIN
- Department of Geology, University of Yangon
| | - NAOKO EGI
- Laboratory of Physical Anthropology, Graduate School of Science, Kyoto University
| | - ZAW WIN
- Department of Geology, University of Mandalay
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Kay RF, Schmitt D, Vinyard CJ, Perry JMG, Shigehara N, Takai M, Egi N. The paleobiology of Amphipithecidae, South Asian late Eocene primates. J Hum Evol 2004; 46:3-25. [PMID: 14698683 DOI: 10.1016/j.jhevol.2003.09.009] [Citation(s) in RCA: 32] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/26/2022]
Abstract
Analysis of the teeth, orbital, and gnathic regions of the skull, and fragmentary postcranial bones provides evidence for reconstructing a behavioral profile of Amphipithecidae: Pondaungia, Amphipithecus, Myanmarpithecus (late middle Eocene, Myanmar) and Siamopithecus (late Eocene, Thailand). At 5-8 kg, Pondaungia, Amphipithecus, and Siamopithecus are perhaps the largest known Eocene primates. The dental and mandibular anatomy suggest that large-bodied amphipithecids were hard-object feeders. The shape of the mandibular corpus and stiffened symphysis suggest an ability to resist large internal loads during chewing and to recruit significant amounts of muscle forces from both the chewing and non-chewing sides of the jaw so as to increase bite force during mastication. The large spatulate upper central incisor of Pondaungia and projecting robust canines of all the larger amphipithecids suggest that incisal food preparation was important. The molars of Siamopithecus, Amphipithecus, and Pondaungia have weak shearing crests. This, and the thick molar enamel found in Pondaungia, suggests a diet of seeds and other hard objects low in fiber. In contrast, Myanmarpithecus was smaller, about 1-2 kg; its cheek teeth suggest a frugivorous diet and do not imply seed eating. Postcranial bones (humerus, ulna, and calcaneus) of a single large amphipithecid individual from Myanmar suggest an arboreal quadrupedal locomotor style like that of howler monkeys or lorises. The humeral head is rounded, proximally oriented, and the tuberosities are low indicating an extremely mobile glenohumeral joint. The great thickness of the midshaft cortical bone of the humerus implies enhanced ability to resist bending and torsion, as seen among slow moving primate quadrupeds. The elbow joint exhibits articular features for enhanced stability in habitually flexed positions, features also commonly found in slow moving arboreal quadrupeds. The short distal load arm of the calcaneus is consistent with, but not exclusive to, slow, arboreal quadrupedalism, and suggests no reliance on habitual leaping.
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Affiliation(s)
- Richard F Kay
- Department of Biological Anthropology and Anatomy, Duke University Medical Center, Durham NC 27710, USA.
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Marivaux L, Chaimanee Y, Ducrocq S, Marandat B, Sudre J, Soe AN, Tun ST, Htoon W, Jaeger JJ. The anthropoid status of a primate from the late middle Eocene Pondaung Formation (Central Myanmar): tarsal evidence. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A 2003; 100:13173-8. [PMID: 14595009 PMCID: PMC263736 DOI: 10.1073/pnas.2332542100] [Citation(s) in RCA: 34] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/18/2022] Open
Abstract
Primate dental and postcranial remains from the Eocene Pondaung Formation (Myanmar) have been the subject of considerable confusion since their initial discoveries, and their anthropoid status has been widely debated. We report here a well preserved primate talus discovered in the Segyauk locality near Mogaung that displays derived anatomical features typical of haplorhines, notably anthropoids, and lacks strepsirhine synapomorphies. Linear discriminant and parsimony analyses indicate that the talus from Myanmar is more similar structurally to those of living and extinct anthropoids than to those of adapiforms, and its overall osteological characteristics further point to arboreal quadrupedalism. Regressions of talar dimensions versus body mass in living primates indicate that this foot bone might have belonged to Amphipithecus. This evidence supports hypotheses favoring anthropoid affinities for the large-bodied primates from Pondaung and runs contrary to the hypothesis that Pondaungia and Amphipithecus are strepsirhine adapiforms.
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Affiliation(s)
- Laurent Marivaux
- Laboratoire de Paléontologie, Institut des Sciences de l'Evolution (Unité Mixte de Recherche 5554-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique), C.C. 064, Université Montpellier II, Place Eugène Bataillon, Montpellier, France.
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Ciochon RL, Gunnell GF. Chronology of primate discoveries in Myanmar: influences on the anthropoid origins debate. AMERICAN JOURNAL OF PHYSICAL ANTHROPOLOGY 2003; Suppl 35:2-35. [PMID: 12653307 DOI: 10.1002/ajpa.10175] [Citation(s) in RCA: 20] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/09/2022]
Abstract
The history of primate paleontology in Asia is long and complex, beginning with the first discoveries of fossil primates on the Indian subcontinent in the early 1830's. The first Eocene mammals from Asia were collected in Myanmar and described in 1916, while the first primates, Pondaungia and Amphipithecus, were described in 1927 and 1937, respectively, both from the Pondaung Formation in Myanmar. For the next 60 years, these two Pondaung taxa remained as the only known Eocene primates from Myanmar and one of the few records of Eocene primates from all of Asia. Taxonomically, Pondaungia and Amphipithecus were linked with a number of different groups, including archaic, hoofed ungulates (condylarths), adapiform primates, omomyid primates, and anthropoids. While no consensus existed, Pondaungia and Amphipithecus were most commonly compared with anthropoids. Beginning in the late 1990s, new primates were discovered in Myanmar, including smaller-bodied forms such as Bahinia and Myanmarpithecus. Also, new and better specimens of the larger-bodied Pondaungia and Amphipithecus began to appear, including the first cranial and postcranial fragments. Evaluations based on these new specimens, especially the postcrania, indicate that the two larger-bodied Myanmar taxa are adapiform primates that show their closest affinities to North American notharctines. The smaller-bodied taxa remain enigmatic, but may share their closest affinities with North American and Asian omomyid primates and Asian Tarsius. None of the known Asian primate taxa appear closely related to African anthropoids, which suggests that true anthropoids did not reach Asia until the latest Oligocene or earliest Miocene. These facts make an Asian origin for Anthropoidea unlikely. Additional and earlier evidence from both Asia and Africa is required before the ultimate origin of anthropoids can be determined. It appears possible that true anthropoids were an ancient radiation that may have been part of a Gondwanan (southern hemisphere) community that is, at present, poorly sampled and little understood.
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Affiliation(s)
- Russell L Ciochon
- Department of Anthropology, University of Iowa, Iowa City, Iowa 52242-1322, USA.
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Takai M, Shigehara N, Egi N, Tsubamoto T. Endocranial cast and morphology of the olfactory bulb of Amphipithecus mogaungensis (latest middle Eocene of Myanmar). Primates 2003; 44:137-44. [PMID: 12687477 DOI: 10.1007/s10329-002-0027-3] [Citation(s) in RCA: 22] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/18/2002] [Accepted: 12/14/2002] [Indexed: 10/25/2022]
Abstract
A detailed endocranial cast of the olfactory bulb of Amphipithecus mogaungensis, a latest middle Eocene primate from the Pondaung Formation (Myanmar), was studied in comparison with some Paleogene primates, the olfactory bulb of which has been reported. The olfactory bulb of Amphipithecus is located just anterior to the postorbital constriction, that is, within the interorbital septum. It is relatively large and pedunculate, not overlapped by the frontal lobe, and consists of two parallel aligned bodies. The relative volume of the olfactory bulb shows the same pattern as in adapiforms, but the location and bilobed form are more similar to those of omomyoids than of adapiforms.
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Affiliation(s)
- Masanaru Takai
- Primate Research Institute, Kyoto University, Inuyama, Aichi 484-8506, Japan.
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TSUBAMOTO T, TAKAI M, EGI N, SHIGEHARA N. Mammalian Faunal Change in Eocene Asia and the Pondaung Mammal Fauna of Myanmar. ACTA ACUST UNITED AC 2003. [DOI: 10.2354/psj.19.43] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/23/2022]
Affiliation(s)
| | | | - Naoko EGI
- Primate Research Institute, Kyoto University
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Holroyd PA, Ciochon RL, Gunnell GF, Kay RF, Takai M, Godinot M. What's in a name? Family-group taxonomy of larger-bodied Southeast Asian Eocene primates. J Hum Evol 2002; 43:755-8. [PMID: 12457857 DOI: 10.1006/jhev.2002.0589] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/22/2022]
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