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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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2
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Marivaux L, Negri FR, Antoine PO, Stutz NS, Condamine FL, Kerber L, Pujos F, Ventura Santos R, Alvim AMV, Hsiou AS, Bissaro MC, Adami-Rodrigues K, Ribeiro AM. An eosimiid primate of South Asian affinities in the Paleogene of Western Amazonia and the origin of New World monkeys. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A 2023; 120:e2301338120. [PMID: 37399374 PMCID: PMC10334725 DOI: 10.1073/pnas.2301338120] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/31/2023] [Accepted: 05/22/2023] [Indexed: 07/05/2023] Open
Abstract
Recent fossil discoveries in Western Amazonia revealed that two distinct anthropoid primate clades of African origin colonized South America near the Eocene/Oligocene transition (ca. 34 Ma). Here, we describe a diminutive fossil primate from Brazilian Amazonia and suggest that, surprisingly, a third clade of anthropoids was involved in the Paleogene colonization of South America by primates. This new taxon, Ashaninkacebus simpsoni gen. et sp. nov., has strong dental affinities with Asian African stem anthropoids: the Eosimiiformes. Morphology-based phylogenetic analyses of early Old World anthropoids and extinct and extant New World monkeys (platyrrhines) support relationships of both Ashaninkacebus and Amamria (late middle Eocene, North Africa) to the South Asian Eosimiidae. Afro-Arabia, then a mega island, played the role of a biogeographic stopover between South Asia and South America for anthropoid primates and hystricognathous rodents. The earliest primates from South America bear little adaptive resemblance to later Oligocene-early Miocene platyrrhine monkeys, and the scarcity of available paleontological data precludes elucidating firmly their affinities with or within Platyrrhini. Nonetheless, these data shed light on some of their life history traits, revealing a particularly small body size and a diet consisting primarily of insects and possibly fruit, which would have increased their chances of survival on a natural floating island during this extraordinary over-water trip to South America from Africa. Divergence-time estimates between Old and New World taxa indicate that the transatlantic dispersal(s) could source in the intense flooding events associated with the late middle Eocene climatic optimum (ca. 40.5 Ma) in Western Africa.
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Affiliation(s)
- Laurent Marivaux
- Laboratoire de Paléontologie, Institut des Sciences de l’Évolution de Montpellier (UMR 5554, CNRS/Université de Montpellier/Institut de Recherche pour le Développement), Université de Montpellier, 34095Montpellier, France
| | - Francisco R. Negri
- Laboratório de Paleontologia, Universidade Federal do Acre, 69980-000Cruzeiro do Sul, Brazil
| | - Pierre-Olivier Antoine
- Laboratoire de Paléontologie, Institut des Sciences de l’Évolution de Montpellier (UMR 5554, CNRS/Université de Montpellier/Institut de Recherche pour le Développement), Université de Montpellier, 34095Montpellier, France
| | - Narla S. Stutz
- Laboratoire de Paléontologie, Institut des Sciences de l’Évolution de Montpellier (UMR 5554, CNRS/Université de Montpellier/Institut de Recherche pour le Développement), Université de Montpellier, 34095Montpellier, France
- Programa de Pós-Graduação em Geociências, Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul, 91501-970Porto Alegre, Brazil
| | - Fabien L. Condamine
- Laboratoire de Paléontologie, Institut des Sciences de l’Évolution de Montpellier (UMR 5554, CNRS/Université de Montpellier/Institut de Recherche pour le Développement), Université de Montpellier, 34095Montpellier, France
| | - Leonardo Kerber
- Centro de Apoio à Pesquisa Paleontológica da Quarta Colônia, Universidade Federal de Santa Maria, 97230-000São João do Polêsine, Brazil
| | - François Pujos
- Instituto Argentino de Nivología, Glaciología y Ciencias Ambientales, CONICET–Universidad Nacional de Cuyo-Mendoza, 5500Mendoza, Argentina
| | - Roberto Ventura Santos
- Laboratório de Geocronologia, Instituto de Geociências, Universidade de Brasília, 70910-000Brasília, Brazil
| | - André M. V. Alvim
- Laboratório de Geocronologia, Instituto de Geociências, Universidade de Brasília, 70910-000Brasília, Brazil
| | - Annie S. Hsiou
- Laboratório de Paleontologia, Universidade de São Paulo, 14040-901Ribeirão Preto, Brazil
| | - Marcos C. Bissaro
- Laboratório de Paleontologia, Universidade de São Paulo, 14040-901Ribeirão Preto, Brazil
| | - Karen Adami-Rodrigues
- Núcleo de Estudos em Paleontologia e Estratigrafia, Centro das Engenharias, Universidade Federal de Pelotas, 96010-020Pelotas, Brazil
| | - Ana Maria Ribeiro
- Programa de Pós-Graduação em Geociências, Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul, 91501-970Porto Alegre, Brazil
- Seção de Paleontologia, Museu de Ciências Naturais, Secretaria do Meio Ambiente e Infraestrutura, 90690-000Porto Alegre, Brazil
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3
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Marivaux L, Boivin M. Emergence of hystricognathous rodents: Palaeogene fossil record, phylogeny, dental evolution and historical biogeography. Zool J Linn Soc 2019. [DOI: 10.1093/zoolinnean/zlz048] [Citation(s) in RCA: 10] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/14/2022]
Abstract
AbstractAlthough phylogenetic trees imply Asia as the ancestral homeland of the Hystricognathi clade (Rodentia: Ctenohystrica), curiously the oldest known fossil occurrences of hystricognathous rodents are not from Asia, but from Africa and South America, where they appear suddenly in the fossil record of both landmasses by the Late Middle Eocene. Here we performed cladistic and Bayesian (standard and tip-dating analyses) assessments of the dental evidence documenting early ctenohystricans, including several Asian ‘ctenodactyloids’, virtually all Palaeogene Asian and African hystricognaths known thus far and two representatives of the earliest known South American hystricognaths. Our results provide a phylogenetic context of early hystricognaths (with implications on systematics) and suggest that some Eocene Asian ‘ctenodactyloids’ could be considered as stem hystricognaths and pre-hystricognaths, although they were not recognized as such originally. However, this view does not fill the gap of the Eocene Asian hystricognath record, as the proposed results imply many ghost lineages extending back to the Middle Eocene for several Asian and African taxa. They also imply a complex early historical biogeography of the group, involving multiple dispersal events from Asia to Africa (and possibly from Africa back to Asia) and then to South America sometime during the Middle Eocene. Based on these phylogenetic considerations, we discuss the emergence of hystricognathous rodents from a morpho-anatomical perspective by analysing the differentiation of their masticatory apparatus and chewing movements, notably through the evolution of their dental patterns.
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Affiliation(s)
- Laurent Marivaux
- Laboratoire de Paléontologie, Institut des Sciences de l’Évolution de Montpellier (ISE-M, UMR 5554, CNRS/UM/IRD/EPHE), c.c. 064, Université de Montpellier, place Eugène Bataillon, France
| | - Myriam Boivin
- Laboratoire de Paléontologie, Institut des Sciences de l’Évolution de Montpellier (ISE-M, UMR 5554, CNRS/UM/IRD/EPHE), c.c. 064, Université de Montpellier, place Eugène Bataillon, France
- Laboratoire de Planétologie et Géodynamique (LPG, UMR 6112 CNRS, Université de Nantes), France
- Instituto de Ecorregiones Andinas (INECOA), Universidad Nacional de Jujuy, CONICET, Argentina
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4
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Jaeger JJ, Chavasseau O, Lazzari V, Naing Soe A, Sein C, Le Maître A, Shwe H, Chaimanee Y. New Eocene primate from Myanmar shares dental characters with African Eocene crown anthropoids. Nat Commun 2019; 10:3531. [PMID: 31388005 PMCID: PMC6684601 DOI: 10.1038/s41467-019-11295-6] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/04/2018] [Accepted: 07/02/2019] [Indexed: 11/09/2022] Open
Abstract
Recent discoveries of older and phylogenetically more primitive basal anthropoids in China and Myanmar, the eosimiiforms, support the hypothesis that Asia was the place of origins of anthropoids, rather than Africa. Similar taxa of eosimiiforms have been discovered in the late middle Eocene of Myanmar and North Africa, reflecting a colonization event that occurred during the middle Eocene. However, these eosimiiforms were probably not the closest ancestors of the African crown anthropoids. Here we describe a new primate from the middle Eocene of Myanmar that documents a new clade of Asian anthropoids. It possesses several dental characters found only among the African crown anthropoids and their nearest relatives, indicating that several of these characters have appeared within Asian clades before being recorded in Africa. This reinforces the hypothesis that the African colonization of anthropoids was the result of several dispersal events, and that it involved more derived taxa than eosimiiforms.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jean-Jacques Jaeger
- Laboratory PALEVOPRIM, UMR CNRS 7262, University of Poitiers, 6 rue Michel Brunet Cedex 9, 86073, Poitiers, France.
| | - Olivier Chavasseau
- Laboratory PALEVOPRIM, UMR CNRS 7262, University of Poitiers, 6 rue Michel Brunet Cedex 9, 86073, Poitiers, France
| | - Vincent Lazzari
- Laboratory PALEVOPRIM, UMR CNRS 7262, University of Poitiers, 6 rue Michel Brunet Cedex 9, 86073, Poitiers, France
| | - Aung Naing Soe
- University of Distance Education, Mandalay, 05023, Myanmar
| | - Chit Sein
- Ministry of Education, Department of Higher Education, Naypyitaw, 15011, Myanmar
| | - Anne Le Maître
- Laboratory PALEVOPRIM, UMR CNRS 7262, University of Poitiers, 6 rue Michel Brunet Cedex 9, 86073, Poitiers, France.,Department of Theoretical Biology, University of Vienna, Althanstrasse 14, 1090, Vienna, Austria
| | - Hla Shwe
- Department of Archaeology and National Museum, Mandalay Branch, Ministry of Religious Affairs and Culture, Mandalay, 05011, Myanmar
| | - Yaowalak Chaimanee
- Laboratory PALEVOPRIM, UMR CNRS 7262, University of Poitiers, 6 rue Michel Brunet Cedex 9, 86073, Poitiers, France
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5
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Kay RF. 100 years of primate paleontology. AMERICAN JOURNAL OF PHYSICAL ANTHROPOLOGY 2018; 165:652-676. [DOI: 10.1002/ajpa.23429] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/01/2017] [Revised: 01/19/2018] [Accepted: 01/19/2018] [Indexed: 11/05/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Richard F. Kay
- Department of Evolutionary Anthropology and Division of Earth and Ocean Sciences; Duke University; Durham North Carolina 27708
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6
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Gao T, Yapuncich GS, Daubechies I, Mukherjee S, Boyer DM. Development and Assessment of Fully Automated and Globally Transitive Geometric Morphometric Methods, With Application to a Biological Comparative Dataset With High Interspecific Variation. Anat Rec (Hoboken) 2017; 301:636-658. [PMID: 29024541 DOI: 10.1002/ar.23700] [Citation(s) in RCA: 21] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/12/2017] [Revised: 07/15/2017] [Accepted: 08/07/2017] [Indexed: 11/05/2022]
Abstract
Automated geometric morphometric methods are promising tools for shape analysis in comparative biology, improving researchers' abilities to quantify variation extensively (by permitting more specimens to be analyzed) and intensively (by characterizing shapes with greater fidelity). Although use of these methods has increased, published automated methods have some notable limitations: pairwise correspondences are frequently inaccurate and pairwise mappings are not globally consistent (i.e., they lack transitivity across the full sample). Here, we reassess the accuracy of published automated methods-cPDist (Boyer et al. Proc Nat Acad Sci 108 () 18221-18226) and auto3Dgm (Boyer et al.: Anat Rec 298 () 249-276)-and evaluate several modifications to these methods. We show that a substantial percentage of alignments and pairwise maps between specimens of dissimilar geometries were inaccurate in the study of Boyer et al. (Proc Nat Acad Sci 108 () 18221-18226), despite a taxonomically partitioned variance structure of continuous Procrustes distances. We show these inaccuracies are remedied using a globally informed methodology within a collection of shapes, rather than relying on pairwise comparisons (c.f. Boyer et al.: Anat Rec 298 () 249-276). Unfortunately, while global information generally enhances maps between dissimilar objects, it can degrade the quality of correspondences between similar objects due to the accumulation of numerical error. We explore a number of approaches to mitigate this degradation, quantify their performance, and compare the generated pairwise maps (and the shape space characterized by these maps) to a "ground truth" obtained from landmarks manually collected by geometric morphometricians. Novel methods both improve the quality of the pairwise correspondences relative to cPDist and achieve a taxonomic distinctiveness comparable to auto3Dgm. Anat Rec, 301:636-658, 2018. © 2017 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
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Affiliation(s)
- Tingran Gao
- Department of Mathematics, Duke University, Durham, North Carolina
| | - Gabriel S Yapuncich
- Department of Molecular Biomedical Sciences, North Carolina State University, Raleigh, North Carolina.,Department of Evolutionary Anthropology, Duke University, Durham, North Carolina
| | | | - Sayan Mukherjee
- Departments of Statistical Science, Mathematics, and Computer Science, Duke University, Durham, North Carolina
| | - Doug M Boyer
- Department of Evolutionary Anthropology, Duke University, Durham, North Carolina
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7
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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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8
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Abstract
Anthropoid primates other than humans show a conspicuously disjunct geographic distribution today, inhabiting mostly tropical and subtropical parts of Asia, Africa, and Central and South America. During the latter part of the Eocene, early anthropoids showed a similarly disjunct distribution, although South America and Africa were both island continents then. Attempts to explain the historical biogeography of anthropoids as resulting from vicariance caused by tectonic rifting between South America and Africa conflict with both the chronology and the topology of anthropoid evolution. The only viable hypotheses that remain entail sweepstakes dispersal across marine barriers by early monkeys on natural rafts. Early anthropoids and certain Asian rodent clades seem to have been especially adept at accomplishing sweepstakes dispersal, particularly during the Eocene, although this process has classically been envisioned as highly random and extremely rare. This article identifies and discusses biological and geological factors that make sweepstakes dispersal by certain taxa at given times far less random than previously conceived.
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Affiliation(s)
- K. Christopher Beard
- Biodiversity Institute and Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of Kansas, Lawrence, Kansas 66045
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9
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A new conservation strategy for China-A model starting with primates. Am J Primatol 2016; 78:1137-1148. [DOI: 10.1002/ajp.22577] [Citation(s) in RCA: 12] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/19/2016] [Revised: 06/08/2016] [Accepted: 06/08/2016] [Indexed: 11/07/2022]
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10
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St. Clair EM, Boyer DM. Lower molar shape and size in prosimian and platyrrhine primates. AMERICAN JOURNAL OF PHYSICAL ANTHROPOLOGY 2016; 161:237-58. [DOI: 10.1002/ajpa.23021] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/05/2016] [Revised: 04/12/2016] [Accepted: 05/18/2016] [Indexed: 11/10/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Elizabeth M. St. Clair
- Center for Functional Anatomy and EvolutionJohns Hopkins UniversityBaltimore Maryland21205
| | - Doug M. Boyer
- Department of Evolutionary AnthropologyDuke UniversityDurham North Carolina27708
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11
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Ni X, Li Q, Li L, Beard KC. Oligocene primates from China reveal divergence between African and Asian primate evolution. Science 2016; 352:673-7. [PMID: 27151861 DOI: 10.1126/science.aaf2107] [Citation(s) in RCA: 34] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/07/2016] [Accepted: 03/24/2016] [Indexed: 11/02/2022]
Abstract
Profound environmental and faunal changes are associated with climatic deterioration during the Eocene-Oligocene transition (EOT) roughly 34 million years ago. Reconstructing how Asian primates responded to the EOT has been hindered by a sparse record of Oligocene primates on that continent. Here, we report the discovery of a diverse primate fauna from the early Oligocene of southern China. In marked contrast to Afro-Arabian Oligocene primate faunas, this Asian fauna is dominated by strepsirhines. There appears to be a strong break between Paleogene and Neogene Asian anthropoid assemblages. Asian and Afro-Arabian primate faunas responded differently to EOT climatic deterioration, indicating that the EOT functioned as a critical evolutionary filter constraining the subsequent course of primate evolution across the Old World.
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Affiliation(s)
- Xijun Ni
- Key Laboratory of Vertebrate Evolution and Human Origins, Institute of Vertebrate Paleontology and Paleoanthropology (IVPP), Chinese Academy of Sciences, 142 Xi Zhi Men Wai Street, Beijing, 100044, China. Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS) Center for Excellence in Tibetan Plateau Earth Sciences, Beijing, 100101, China.
| | - Qiang Li
- Key Laboratory of Vertebrate Evolution and Human Origins, Institute of Vertebrate Paleontology and Paleoanthropology (IVPP), Chinese Academy of Sciences, 142 Xi Zhi Men Wai Street, Beijing, 100044, China. Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS) Center for Excellence in Tibetan Plateau Earth Sciences, Beijing, 100101, China
| | - Lüzhou Li
- Key Laboratory of Vertebrate Evolution and Human Origins, Institute of Vertebrate Paleontology and Paleoanthropology (IVPP), Chinese Academy of Sciences, 142 Xi Zhi Men Wai Street, Beijing, 100044, China
| | - K Christopher Beard
- Biodiversity Institute, University of Kansas, 1345 Jayhawk Boulevard, Lawrence, KS 66045-7561, USA. Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of Kansas, 1345 Jayhawk Boulevard, Lawrence, KS 66045-7561, USA
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12
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Distal phalanges of Eosimias and Hoanghonius. J Hum Evol 2015; 86:92-8. [PMID: 26194032 DOI: 10.1016/j.jhevol.2015.05.014] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/23/2014] [Revised: 03/06/2015] [Accepted: 05/26/2015] [Indexed: 11/21/2022]
Abstract
Seven primate distal phalanges have been identified from two middle Eocene fossil localities (Locality 1 and Nanbaotou) in the Yuanqu Basin, China, providing the first evidence of distal phalangeal morphology in Asian Eocene adapiform and eosimiid primates. The bones are best allocated to the basal anthropoid Eosimias centennicus and to hoanghoniine adapiforms. All distal phalangeal specimens display a morphology consistent with nail-bearing fingers and toes. The hallucal distal phalanx of the basal anthropoid Eosimias is more similar to that of primitive tarsiiforms than to crown group anthropoids. The adapiform distal phalanges from Locality 1 are allocated to Hoanghonius stehlini while those from Nanbaotou are tentatively assigned to an indeterminate hoanghoniine because dental remains of adapiforms have yet to be identified from this site. The distal phalangeal anatomy of hoanghoniines differs slightly from that documented for adapines and notharctines. One distal phalanx from Locality 1 shows a second pedal digit "grooming claw" morphology as noted for notharctines by Maiolino et al. (2012) and cercamoniines by Von Koenigswald et al. (2012).
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14
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Allen KL, Cooke SB, Gonzales LA, Kay RF. Dietary inference from upper and lower molar morphology in platyrrhine primates. PLoS One 2015; 10:e0118732. [PMID: 25738266 PMCID: PMC4349698 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0118732] [Citation(s) in RCA: 27] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/15/2014] [Accepted: 01/22/2015] [Indexed: 11/24/2022] Open
Abstract
The correlation between diet and dental topography is of importance to paleontologists seeking to diagnose ecological adaptations in extinct taxa. Although the subject is well represented in the literature, few studies directly compare methods or evaluate dietary signals conveyed by both upper and lower molars. Here, we address this gap in our knowledge by comparing the efficacy of three measures of functional morphology for classifying an ecologically diverse sample of thirteen medium- to large-bodied platyrrhines by diet category (e.g., folivore, frugivore, hard object feeder). We used Shearing Quotient (SQ), an index derived from linear measurements of molar cutting edges and two indices of crown surface topography, Occlusal Relief (OR) and Relief Index (RFI). Using SQ, OR, and RFI, individuals were then classified by dietary category using Discriminate Function Analysis. Both upper and lower molar variables produce high classification rates in assigning individuals to diet categories, but lower molars are consistently more successful. SQs yield the highest classification rates. RFI and OR generally perform above chance. Upper molar RFI has a success rate below the level of chance. Adding molar length enhances the discriminatory power for all variables. We conclude that upper molar SQs are useful for dietary reconstruction, especially when combined with body size information. Additionally, we find that among our sample of platyrrhines, SQ remains the strongest predictor of diet, while RFI is less useful at signaling dietary differences in absence of body size information. The study demonstrates new ways for inferring the diets of extinct platyrrhine primates when both upper and lower molars are available, or, for taxa known only from upper molars. The techniques are useful in reconstructing diet in stem representatives of anthropoid clade, who share key aspects of molar morphology with extant platyrrhines.
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Affiliation(s)
- Kari L. Allen
- Department of Anatomy & Neurobiology, Washington University Medical School, 660 S. Euclid Ave., Box 8108, St. Louis, Missouri 63110, United States of America
| | - Siobhán B. Cooke
- Department of Anthropology, Northeastern Illinois University, 5500 N. St. Louis Avenue Chicago, Illinois 60625, United States of America
| | - Lauren A. Gonzales
- Department of Evolutionary Anthropology, Duke University, Box 90383, Durham, North Carolina 27708, United States of America
| | - Richard F. Kay
- Department of Evolutionary Anthropology, Duke University, Box 90383, Durham, North Carolina 27708, United States of America
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15
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Marivaux L, Essid EM, Marzougui W, Khayati Ammar H, Adnet S, Marandat B, Merzeraud G, Tabuce R, Vianey-Liaud M. A new and primitive species of Protophiomys (Rodentia, Hystricognathi) from the late middle Eocene of Djebel el Kébar, Central Tunisia. ACTA ACUST UNITED AC 2014. [DOI: 10.18563/pv.38.1.e2] [Citation(s) in RCA: 29] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/23/2022]
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16
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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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Chaimanee Y, Chavasseau O, Lazzari V, Euriat A, Jaeger JJ. A new Late Eocene primate from the Krabi Basin (Thailand) and the diversity of Palaeogene anthropoids in southeast Asia. Proc Biol Sci 2013; 280:20132268. [PMID: 24089342 DOI: 10.1098/rspb.2013.2268] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/12/2022] Open
Abstract
According to the most recent discoveries from the Middle Eocene of Myanmar and China, anthropoid primates originated in Asia rather than in Africa, as was previously considered. But the Asian Palaeogene anthropoid community remains poorly known and inadequately sampled, being represented only from China, Myanmar, Pakistan and Thailand. Asian Eocene anthropoids can be divided into two distinct groups, the stem group eosimiiforms and the possible crown group amphipithecids, but the phylogenetic relationships between these two groups are not well understood. Therefore, it is critical to understand their evolutionary history and relationships by finding additional fossil taxa. Here, we describe a new small-sized fossil anthropoid primate from the Late Eocene Krabi locality in Thailand, Krabia minuta, which shares several derived characters with the amphipithecids. It displays several unique dental characters, such as extreme bunodonty and reduced trigon surface area, that have never been observed in other Eocene Asian anthropoids. These features indicate that morphological adaptations were more diversified among amphipithecids than was previously expected, and raises the problem of the phylogenetic relations between the crown anthropoids and their stem group eosimiiforms, on one side, and the modern anthropoids, on the other side.
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Affiliation(s)
- Yaowalak Chaimanee
- IPHEP: Institut de Paléoprimatologie, Paléontologie Humaine : Évolution et Paléoenvironnements, CNRS UMR 7262, Université de Poitiers, , 6 rue Michel Brunet, 86022 Poitiers cedex, France
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Prolactin Receptor Gene Diversity in Azara’s Owl Monkeys (Aotus azarai) and Humans (Homo sapiens) Suggests a Non-Neutral Evolutionary History among Primates. INT J PRIMATOL 2013. [DOI: 10.1007/s10764-013-9721-9] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/25/2022]
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19
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Ni X, Gebo DL, Dagosto M, Meng J, Tafforeau P, Flynn JJ, Beard KC. The oldest known primate skeleton and early haplorhine evolution. Nature 2013; 498:60-4. [PMID: 23739424 DOI: 10.1038/nature12200] [Citation(s) in RCA: 94] [Impact Index Per Article: 8.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/01/2013] [Accepted: 04/18/2013] [Indexed: 11/09/2022]
Abstract
Reconstructing the earliest phases of primate evolution has been impeded by gaps in the fossil record, so that disagreements persist regarding the palaeobiology and phylogenetic relationships of the earliest primates. Here we report the discovery of a nearly complete and partly articulated skeleton of a primitive haplorhine primate from the early Eocene of China, about 55 million years ago, the oldest fossil primate of this quality ever recovered. Coupled with detailed morphological examination using propagation phase contrast X-ray synchrotron microtomography, our phylogenetic analysis based on total available evidence indicates that this fossil is the most basal known member of the tarsiiform clade. In addition to providing further support for an early dichotomy between the strepsirrhine and haplorhine clades, this new primate further constrains the age of divergence between tarsiiforms and anthropoids. It also strengthens the hypothesis that the earliest primates were probably diurnal, arboreal and primarily insectivorous mammals the size of modern pygmy mouse lemurs.
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Affiliation(s)
- Xijun Ni
- Key Laboratory of Vertebrate Evolution and Human Origin, Institute of Vertebrate Paleontology and Paleoanthropology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, 142 Xi Zhi Men Wai Street, Beijing 100044, China.
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Abstract
The peculiar mammalian fauna that inhabited Afro-Arabia during the Paleogene first came to the attention of the scientific community in the early part of the twentieth century, when Andrews1 and Schlosser2 published their landmark descriptions of fossil mammals from the Fayum Depression in northern Egypt. Their studies revealed a highly endemic assemblage of land mammals that included the first known Paleogene records of hyraxes, proboscideans, and anthropoid primates, but which lacked ancestors of many iconic mammalian lineages that are found in Africa today, such as rhinos, zebras, bovids, giraffes, and cats. Over the course of the last century, the Afro-Arabian Paleogene has yielded fossil remains of several other endemic mammalian lineages,3 as well as a diversity of prosimian primates,4 but we are only just beginning to understand how the continent's faunal composition came to be, through ancient processes such as the movement of tectonic plates, changes in climate and sea level, and early phylogenetic splits among the major groups of placental mammals. These processes, in turn, made possible chance dispersal events that were critical in determining the competitive landscape--and, indeed, the survival--of our earliest anthropoid ancestors. Newly discovered fossils indicate that the persistence and later diversification of Anthropoidea was not an inevitable result of the clade's competitive isolation or adaptive superiority, as has often been assumed, but rather was as much due to the combined influences of serendipitous geographic conditions, global cooling, and competition with a group of distantly related extinct strepsirrhines with anthropoid-like adaptations known as adapiforms. Many of the important details of this story would not be known, and could never have been predicted, without the fossil evidence that has recently been unearthed by field paleontologists.
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Affiliation(s)
- Erik R Seiffert
- Department of Anatomical Sciences, Stony Brook University, USA.
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21
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Gebo DL, Dagosto M, Ni X, Beard KC. Species diversity and postcranial anatomy of eocene primates from Shanghuang, China. Evol Anthropol 2013; 21:224-38. [PMID: 23280920 DOI: 10.1002/evan.21336] [Citation(s) in RCA: 12] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/06/2022]
Abstract
The middle Eocene Shanghuang fissure-fillings, located in southern Jiangsu Province in China near the coastal city of Shanghai (Fig. 1), contain a remarkably diverse array of fossil primates that provide a unique window into the complex role played by Asia during early primate evolution.1 Compared to contemporaneous localities in North America or Europe, the ancient primate community sampled at the Shanghuang fissure-fillings is unique in several ways. Although Shanghuang has some typical Eocene primates (Omomyidae and Adapoidea), it also contains the earliest known members of the Tarsiidae and Anthropoidea (Fig. 2), and some new taxa that are not as yet known from elsewhere. It exhibits a large number of primate species, at least 18, most of which are very small (15-500 g), including some of the smallest primates that have ever been recovered.
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Affiliation(s)
- Daniel L Gebo
- Department of Anthropology, Northern Illinois University, IL, USA.
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22
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Late Middle Eocene primate from Myanmar and the initial anthropoid colonization of Africa. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A 2012; 109:10293-7. [PMID: 22665790 DOI: 10.1073/pnas.1200644109] [Citation(s) in RCA: 30] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/18/2022] Open
Abstract
Reconstructing the origin and early evolutionary history of anthropoid primates (monkeys, apes, and humans) is a current focus of paleoprimatology. Although earlier hypotheses frequently supported an African origin for anthropoids, recent discoveries of older and phylogenetically more basal fossils in China and Myanmar indicate that the group originated in Asia. Given the Oligocene-Recent history of African anthropoids, the colonization of Africa by early anthropoids hailing from Asia was a decisive event in primate evolution. However, the fossil record has so far failed to constrain the nature and timing of this pivotal event. Here we describe a fossil primate from the late middle Eocene Pondaung Formation of Myanmar, Afrasia djijidae gen. et sp. nov., that is remarkably similar to, yet dentally more primitive than, the roughly contemporaneous North African anthropoid Afrotarsius. Phylogenetic analysis suggests that Afrasia and Afrotarsius are sister taxa within a basal anthropoid clade designated as the infraorder Eosimiiformes. Current knowledge of eosimiiform relationships and their distribution through space and time suggests that members of this clade dispersed from Asia to Africa sometime during the middle Eocene, shortly before their first appearance in the African fossil record. Crown anthropoids and their nearest fossil relatives do not appear to be specially related to Afrotarsius, suggesting one or more additional episodes of dispersal from Asia to Africa. Hystricognathous rodents, anthracotheres, and possibly other Asian mammal groups seem to have colonized Africa at roughly the same time or shortly after anthropoids gained their first toehold there.
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Morphometric analysis of cranial shape in fossil and recent euprimates. ANATOMY RESEARCH INTERNATIONAL 2012; 2012:478903. [PMID: 22611497 PMCID: PMC3352253 DOI: 10.1155/2012/478903] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/03/2012] [Accepted: 02/16/2012] [Indexed: 11/18/2022]
Abstract
Quantitative analysis of morphology allows for identification of subtle evolutionary patterns or convergences in anatomy that can aid ecological reconstructions of extinct taxa. This study explores diversity and convergence in cranial morphology across living and fossil primates using geometric morphometrics. 33 3D landmarks were gathered from 34 genera of euprimates (382 specimens), including the Eocene adapiforms Adapis and Leptadapis and Quaternary lemurs Archaeolemur, Palaeopropithecus, and Megaladapis. Landmark data was treated with Procrustes superimposition to remove all nonshape differences and then subjected to principal components analysis and linear discriminant function analysis. Haplorhines and strepsirrhines were well separated in morphospace along the major components of variation, largely reflecting differences in relative skull length and width and facial depth. Most adapiforms fell within or close to strepsirrhine space, while Quaternary lemurs deviated from extant strepsirrhines, either exploring new regions of morphospace or converging on haplorhines. Fossil taxa significantly increased the area of morphospace occupied by strepsirrhines. However, recent haplorhines showed significantly greater cranial disparity than strepsirrhines, even with the inclusion of the unusual Quaternary lemurs, demonstrating that differences in primate cranial disparity are likely real and not simply an artefact of recent megafaunal extinctions.
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Springer MS, Meredith RW, Janecka JE, Murphy WJ. The historical biogeography of Mammalia. Philos Trans R Soc Lond B Biol Sci 2011; 366:2478-502. [PMID: 21807730 DOI: 10.1098/rstb.2011.0023] [Citation(s) in RCA: 83] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/12/2022] Open
Abstract
Palaeobiogeographic reconstructions are underpinned by phylogenies, divergence times and ancestral area reconstructions, which together yield ancestral area chronograms that provide a basis for proposing and testing hypotheses of dispersal and vicariance. Methods for area coding include multi-state coding with a single character, binary coding with multiple characters and string coding. Ancestral reconstruction methods are divided into parsimony versus Bayesian/likelihood approaches. We compared nine methods for reconstructing ancestral areas for placental mammals. Ambiguous reconstructions were a problem for all methods. Important differences resulted from coding areas based on the geographical ranges of extant species versus the geographical provenance of the oldest fossil for each lineage. Africa and South America were reconstructed as the ancestral areas for Afrotheria and Xenarthra, respectively. Most methods reconstructed Eurasia as the ancestral area for Boreoeutheria, Euarchontoglires and Laurasiatheria. The coincidence of molecular dates for the separation of Afrotheria and Xenarthra at approximately 100 Ma with the plate tectonic sundering of Africa and South America hints at the importance of vicariance in the early history of Placentalia. Dispersal has also been important including the origins of Madagascar's endemic mammal fauna. Further studies will benefit from increased taxon sampling and the application of new ancestral area reconstruction methods.
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Affiliation(s)
- Mark S Springer
- Department of Biology, University of California, Riverside, CA 92521, USA.
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25
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Babb PL, Fernandez-Duque E, Baiduc CA, Gagneux P, Evans S, Schurr TG. mtDNA diversity in azara's owl monkeys (Aotus azarai azarai) of the Argentinean Chaco. AMERICAN JOURNAL OF PHYSICAL ANTHROPOLOGY 2011; 146:209-24. [DOI: 10.1002/ajpa.21567] [Citation(s) in RCA: 26] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/27/2011] [Accepted: 05/04/2011] [Indexed: 11/05/2022]
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Late middle Eocene epoch of Libya yields earliest known radiation of African anthropoids. Nature 2010; 467:1095-8. [PMID: 20981098 DOI: 10.1038/nature09425] [Citation(s) in RCA: 39] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/07/2010] [Accepted: 08/16/2010] [Indexed: 11/09/2022]
Abstract
Reconstructing the early evolutionary history of anthropoid primates is hindered by a lack of consensus on both the timing and biogeography of anthropoid origins. Some prefer an ancient (Cretaceous) origin for anthropoids in Africa or some other Gondwanan landmass, whereas others advocate a more recent (early Cenozoic) origin for anthropoids in Asia, with subsequent dispersal of one or more early anthropoid taxa to Africa. The oldest undoubted African anthropoid primates described so far are three species of the parapithecid Biretia from the late middle Eocene Bir El Ater locality of Algeria and the late Eocene BQ-2 site in the Fayum region of northern Egypt. Here we report the discovery of the oldest known diverse assemblage of African anthropoids from the late middle Eocene Dur At-Talah escarpment in central Libya. The primate assemblage from Dur At-Talah includes diminutive species pertaining to three higher-level anthropoid clades (Afrotarsiidae, Parapithecidae and Oligopithecidae) as well as a small species of the early strepsirhine primate Karanisia. The high taxonomic diversity of anthropoids at Dur At-Talah indicates either a much longer interval of anthropoid evolution in Africa than is currently documented in the fossil record or the nearly synchronous colonization of Africa by multiple anthropoid clades at some time during the middle Eocene epoch.
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Chaimanee Y, Lebrun R, Yamee C, Jaeger JJ. A new Middle Miocene tarsier from Thailand and the reconstruction of its orbital morphology using a geometric-morphometric method. Proc Biol Sci 2010; 278:1956-63. [PMID: 21123264 DOI: 10.1098/rspb.2010.2062] [Citation(s) in RCA: 21] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/12/2022] Open
Abstract
Tarsius is an extant genus of primates endemic to the islands of Southeast Asia that is characterized by enormously enlarged orbits reflecting its nocturnal activity pattern. Tarsiers play a pivotal role in reconstructing primate phylogeny, because they appear to comprise, along with Anthropoidea, one of only two extant haplorhine clades. Their fossils are extremely rare. Here, we describe a new species of Tarsius from the Middle Miocene of Thailand. We reconstructed aspects of its orbital morphology using a geometric-morphometric method. The result shows that the new species of Tarsius had a very large orbit (falling within the range of variation of modern Tarsius) with a high degree of frontation and a low degree of convergence. Its relatively divergent lower premolar roots suggest a longer mesial tooth row and therefore a longer muzzle than in extant species. The new species documents a previous unknown Miocene group of Tarsius, indicating greater taxonomic diversity and morphological complexity during tarsier evolution. The current restriction of tarsiers to offshore islands in Southeast Asia appears to be a relatively recent phenomenon.
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Affiliation(s)
- Yaowalak Chaimanee
- Palaeontology Section, Department of Mineral Resources, Rama VI Road, Bangkok 10400, Thailand.
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Williams BA, Kay RF, Christopher Kirk E, Ross CF. Darwinius masillae is a strepsirrhine—a reply to Franzen et al. (2009). J Hum Evol 2010; 59:567-73; discussion 574-9. [DOI: 10.1016/j.jhevol.2010.01.003] [Citation(s) in RCA: 26] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/28/2009] [Revised: 10/21/2009] [Accepted: 11/02/2009] [Indexed: 10/19/2022]
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Muchlinski MN. A comparative analysis of vibrissa count and infraorbital foramen area in primates and other mammals. J Hum Evol 2010; 58:447-73. [PMID: 20434193 DOI: 10.1016/j.jhevol.2010.01.012] [Citation(s) in RCA: 53] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/30/2008] [Revised: 01/23/2010] [Accepted: 01/23/2010] [Indexed: 10/19/2022]
Abstract
Vibrissae are specialized sensory "hairs" that respond to mechanical stimuli. Sensory information from vibrissae is transmitted to the brain via the infraorbital nerve, which passes through the infraorbital foramen (IOF). Several analyses have documented that primates have smaller IOFs than non-primate mammals, and that haplorhines have smaller IOFs than strepsirrhines. These grade shifts in IOF area were attributed to differences in "vibrissa development." Following earlier analyses, IOF area has been used to derive a general estimate of "whiskeredness" in extinct primates, and consequently, IOF area has been used in phylogenetic and paleoecological interpretations. Yet, the relationship between IOF area and vibrissa count has not been tested, and little is known about how IOF area and vibrissa counts vary among mammals. This study explores how relative IOF area and vibrissa count differ among 25 mammalian orders, and tests for a correlation between IOF area and vibrissa count. Results indicate that primates and dermopterans (Primatomorpha) have smaller IOFs than most non-primate mammals, but they do not have fewer vibrissae. In addition, strepsirrhines and haplorhines do not differ from one another in relative IOF area or vibrissa counts. Despite different patterns documented for IOF area and vibrissa count variation across mammals, results from this study do confirm that vibrissa count and IOF area are significantly and positively correlated (p < 0.0001). However, there is considerable scatter in the data, suggesting that vibrissa counts cannot be predicted from IOF area. There are three implications of these finding. First, IOF area reflects all mechanoreceptors in the maxillary region, not just vibrissae. Second, IOF area may be an informative feature in interpretations of the fossil record. Third, paleoecological interpretations based on vibrissae are not recommended.
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Affiliation(s)
- Magdalena N Muchlinski
- Department of Anatomy and Pathology, Marshall University-School of Medicine, 1542 Spring Valley Drive, Huntington, WV 25704, USA.
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A fossil primate of uncertain affinities from the earliest late Eocene of Egypt. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A 2010; 107:9712-7. [PMID: 20457923 DOI: 10.1073/pnas.1001393107] [Citation(s) in RCA: 27] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/18/2022] Open
Abstract
Paleontological work carried out over the last 3 decades has established that three major primate groups were present in the Eocene of Africa-anthropoids, adapiforms, and advanced strepsirrhines. Here we describe isolated teeth of a previously undocumented primate from the earliest late Eocene ( approximately 37 Ma) of northern Egypt, Nosmips aenigmaticus, whose phylogenetic placement within Primates is unclear. Nosmips is smaller than the sympatric adapiform Afradapis but is considerably larger than other primate taxa known from the same paleocommunity. The species bears an odd mosaic of dental features, combining enlarged, elongate, and molariform premolars with simple upper molars that lack hypocones. Phylogenetic analysis across a series of different assumption sets variously places Nosmips as a stem anthropoid, a nonadapiform stem strepsirrhine, or even among adapiforms. This phylogenetic instability suggests to us that Nosmips likely represents a highly specialized member of a previously undocumented, and presumably quite ancient, endemic African primate lineage, the subordinal affinities of which have been obscured by its striking dental autapomorphies. Discriminant functions based on measurements of lower molar size and topography reliably classify extant prosimian primates into their correct dietary groups and identify Nosmips and Afradapis as omnivores and folivores, respectively. Although Nosmips currently defies classification, this strange and unexpected fossil primate nevertheless provides additional evidence for high primate diversity in northern Africa approximately 37 million years ago and further underscores the fact that our understanding of early primate evolution on that continent remains highly incomplete.
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Abstract
Adaptive shifts associated with human origins are brought to light as we examine the human fossil record and study our own genome and that of our closest ape relatives. However, the more ancient roots of many human characteristics are revealed through the study of a broader array of living anthropoids and the increasingly dense fossil record of the earliest anthropoid radiations. Genomic data and fossils of early primates in Asia and Africa clarify relationships among the major clades of primates. Progress in comparative anatomy, genomics, and molecular biology point to key changes in sensory ecology and brain organization that ultimately set the stage for the emergence of the human lineage.
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Early Eocene primates from Gujarat, India. J Hum Evol 2009; 56:366-404. [PMID: 19303624 DOI: 10.1016/j.jhevol.2009.01.008] [Citation(s) in RCA: 54] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/24/2008] [Revised: 01/08/2009] [Accepted: 01/08/2009] [Indexed: 11/21/2022]
Abstract
The oldest euprimates known from India come from the Early Eocene Cambay Formation at Vastan Mine in Gujarat. An Ypresian (early Cuisian) age of approximately 53Ma (based on foraminifera) indicates that these primates were roughly contemporary with, or perhaps predated, the India-Asia collision. Here we present new euprimate fossils from Vastan Mine, including teeth, jaws, and referred postcrania of the adapoids Marcgodinotius indicus and Asiadapis cambayensis. They are placed in the new subfamily Asiadapinae (family Notharctidae), which is most similar to primitive European Cercamoniinae such as Donrussellia and Protoadapis. Asiadapines were small primates in the size range of extant smaller bushbabies. Despite their generally very plesiomorphic morphology, asiadapines also share a few derived dental traits with sivaladapids, suggesting a possible relationship to these endemic Asian adapoids. In addition to the adapoids, a new species of the omomyid Vastanomys is described. Euprimate postcrania described include humeri, radii, femora, calcanei, and tali, most of which show typical notharctid features and are probably attributable to asiadapines. Anatomical features of the limb elements indicate that they represent active arboreal quadrupedal primates. At least one calcaneus is proximally shorter and distally longer than the others, resembling eosimiids in this regard, a relationship that, if confirmed, would also suggest an Asian or southeast Asian faunal connection. Isolated teeth from Vastan Mine recently attributed to a new eosimiid, Anthrasimias gujaratensis, appear to provide that confirmation. However, their attribution to Eosimiidae is equivocal. They are similar to teeth here tentatively referred to Marcgodinotius, hence A. gujaratensis may be a junior synonym of M. indicus. Corroboration of eosimiids at Vastan requires more compelling evidence. Although definitive conclusions are premature, available evidence suggests that the Vastan adapoids, at least, were derived from western European stock that reached India near the Paleocene-Eocene boundary.
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Muchlinski MN. Ecological correlates of infraorbital foramen area in primates. AMERICAN JOURNAL OF PHYSICAL ANTHROPOLOGY 2009; 141:131-41. [DOI: 10.1002/ajpa.21137] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/09/2022]
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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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Bajpai S, Kay RF, Williams BA, Das DP, Kapur VV, Tiwari BN. The oldest Asian record of Anthropoidea. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A 2008; 105:11093-8. [PMID: 18685095 PMCID: PMC2516236 DOI: 10.1073/pnas.0804159105] [Citation(s) in RCA: 53] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/02/2008] [Indexed: 11/18/2022] Open
Abstract
Undisputed anthropoids appear in the fossil record of Africa and Asia by the middle Eocene, about 45 Ma. Here, we report the discovery of an early Eocene eosimiid anthropoid primate from India, named Anthrasimias, that extends the Asian fossil record of anthropoids by 9-10 million years. A phylogenetic analysis of 75 taxa and 343 characters of the skull, postcranium, and dentition of Anthrasimias and living and fossil primates indicates the basal placement of Anthrasimias among eosimiids, confirms the anthropoid status of Eosimiidae, and suggests that crown haplorhines (tarsiers and monkeys) are the sister clade of Omomyoidea of the Eocene, not nested within an omomyoid clade. Co-occurence of Anthropoidea, Omomyoidea, and Adapoidea makes it evident that peninsular India was an important center for the diversification of primates of modern aspect (euprimates) in the early Eocene. Adaptive reconstructions indicate that early anthropoids were mouse-lemur-sized ( approximately 75 grams) and consumed a mixed diet of fruit and insects. Eosimiids bear little adaptive resemblance to later Eocene-early Oligocene African Anthropoidea.
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Affiliation(s)
- Sunil Bajpai
- *Department of Earth Sciences, Indian Institute of Technology, Roorkee 247 667, India
| | - Richard F. Kay
- Department of Evolutionary Anthropology, Duke University, Durham, NC 27708
| | - Blythe A. Williams
- Department of Evolutionary Anthropology, Duke University, Durham, NC 27708
| | - Debasis P. Das
- *Department of Earth Sciences, Indian Institute of Technology, Roorkee 247 667, India
| | | | - B. N. Tiwari
- Wadia Institute of Himalayan Geology, Dehradun, 248001, India
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Tornow MA. Systematic Analysis of the Eocene Primate Family Omomyidae Using Gnathic and Postcranial Data. BULLETIN OF THE PEABODY MUSEUM OF NATURAL HISTORY 2008. [DOI: 10.3374/0079-032x(2008)49[43:saotep]2.0.co;2] [Citation(s) in RCA: 27] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/06/2022]
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37
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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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Rossie JB, Ni X, Beard KC. Cranial remains of an Eocene tarsier. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A 2006; 103:4381-5. [PMID: 16537385 PMCID: PMC1450180 DOI: 10.1073/pnas.0509424103] [Citation(s) in RCA: 40] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/28/2005] [Indexed: 11/18/2022] Open
Abstract
The phylogenetic position of tarsiers relative to anthropoids and Paleogene omomyids remains a subject of lively debate that lies at the center of research into anthropoid origins. Omomyids have long been regarded as the nearest relatives of tarsiers, but a sister group relationship between anthropoids and tarsiers has also been proposed. These conflicting phylogenetic reconstructions rely heavily on comparisons of cranial anatomy, but until now, the fossil record of tarsiers has been limited to a single jaw and several isolated teeth. In this article, we describe cranial material of a fossil tarsiid from the middle-Eocene Shanghuang fissure-fillings in southern Jiangsu Province, China. This facial fragment, which is allocated to Tarsius eocaenus, is virtually identical to the corresponding anatomy in living tarsiers and differs substantially from that of early anthropoids such as Bahinia, Phenacopithecus, and Parapithecus. This new specimen indicates that tarsiers already possessed greatly enlarged orbits and a haplorhine oronasal configuration by the time they are first documented in the fossil record during the middle Eocene.
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Affiliation(s)
- James B Rossie
- Department of Anthropology, Stony Brook University, Stony Brook, NY 11794, USA.
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39
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Marivaux L, Antoine PO, Baqri SRH, Benammi M, Chaimanee Y, Crochet JY, de Franceschi D, Iqbal N, Jaeger JJ, Métais G, Roohi G, Welcomme JL. Anthropoid primates from the Oligocene of Pakistan (Bugti Hills): data on early anthropoid evolution and biogeography. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A 2005; 102:8436-41. [PMID: 15937103 PMCID: PMC1150860 DOI: 10.1073/pnas.0503469102] [Citation(s) in RCA: 42] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/18/2022] Open
Abstract
Asian tarsiid and sivaladapid primates maintained relictual distributions in southern Asia long after the extirpation of their close Holarctic relatives near the Eocene-Oligocene boundary. We report here the discovery of amphipithecid and eosimiid primates from Oligocene coastal deposits in Pakistan that demonstrate that stem anthropoids also survived in southern Asia beyond the climatic deterioration that characterized the Eocene-Oligocene transition. These fossils provide data on temporal and paleobiogeographic aspects of early anthropoid evolution and significantly expand the record of stem anthropoid evolution in the Paleogene of South Asia.
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Affiliation(s)
- Laurent Marivaux
- Laboratoire de Paléontologie, Institut des Sciences de l'Evolution de Montpellier, Unité Mixte de Recherche-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique 5554, c.c. 064, Université Montpellier II, Montpellier, France.
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40
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Rossie JB. Illuminating the origin of anthropoids. Evol Anthropol 2005. [DOI: 10.1002/evan.20042] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/08/2022]
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41
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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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