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Reda HG, Frost SR, Simons EA, Quade J, Simpson SW. Description and taxonomic assessment of fossil Cercopithecidae from the Pliocene Galili Formation (Ethiopia). J Hum Evol 2024; 190:103508. [PMID: 38599140 DOI: 10.1016/j.jhevol.2024.103508] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/31/2023] [Revised: 02/06/2024] [Accepted: 02/06/2024] [Indexed: 04/12/2024]
Abstract
The Mount Galili Formation in the Afar region, Ethiopia, samples a critical time in hominin evolution, 4.4 to 3.8 Ma, documenting the last appearance of Ardipithecus and the origin of Australopithecus. This period is also important in the evolution of cercopithecids, especially the origin of Theropithecus in general and Theropithecus oswaldi lineage in particular. Galili has provided a total of 655 cercopithecid specimens that include crania, mandibles, isolated teeth and postcrania. All the fossils were recovered from the Lasdanan (5.3-4.43 Ma), Dhidinley (4.43-3.9 Ma) and Shabeley Laag (∼3.92-3.8 Ma) Members. Here, we described and analyzed 362 fossils employing both qualitative and quantitative methods. Descriptions of the material were supplemented with dental metrics and cranial shape analysis using three-dimensional geometric morphometrics. Results indicate the presence of at least six cercopithecid taxa: Theropithecus oswaldi serengetensis (n = 28), Theropithecus sp. (n = 2), three non-Theropithecus papionin groups (n = 134) and one colobine-size group (n = 58). The T. o. serengetensis represents the earliest form of the lineage, documented from ∼3.9 Ma Galili sediments. The three Galili papionins include a smaller taxon, a medium-sized taxon comparable to Pliopapio alemui and a large papionin overlapping in size with Soromandrillus, Gorgopithecus and Dinopithecus. The majority of Galili colobines have closest affinities to Kuseracolobus aramisi and some overlap with other taxa. Papionins dominate the Galili cercopithecid collection, although colobines are still fairly common (approximately 25% of the sample). Thus, Galili sample is like Kanapoi (4.2-4.1 Ma) and Gona (5.2-3.9 Ma) localities but distinct from Aramis, suggesting paleoecological similarity to the former sites. On the other hand, Theropithecus is less abundant at Galili than geologically younger Hadar (3.4-3.2 Ma) and Woranso-Mille (3.8-3.6 Ma) sites. Whether this difference is due to sampling, time or landscape variation requires further investigation.
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Affiliation(s)
- Hailay G Reda
- Department of Anthropology, University of Oregon, Eugene, OR, 97403-1218, USA.
| | - Stephen R Frost
- Department of Anthropology, University of Oregon, Eugene, OR, 97403-1218, USA
| | - Evan A Simons
- Department of Behavioral Neuroscience, Oregon Health and Science University, 3181 SW Sam Jackson Park Rd, L470, Portland, OR, 97239, USA
| | - Jay Quade
- Department of Geosciences, University of Arizona, 1040 E. 4th Street, Tucson, AZ, 85721, USA
| | - Scott W Simpson
- Department of Anatomy, Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland, OH, 44106-4930, USA; Laboratory of Physical Anthropology, Cleveland Museum of Natural History, Cleveland, OH, 44106, USA
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Getahun DA, Delson E, Seyoum CM. A review of Theropithecus oswaldi with the proposal of a new subspecies. J Hum Evol 2023; 180:103373. [PMID: 37269782 DOI: 10.1016/j.jhevol.2023.103373] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/14/2022] [Revised: 04/02/2023] [Accepted: 04/03/2023] [Indexed: 06/05/2023]
Abstract
Theropithecus oswaldi darti, as currently understood, is the oldest Theropithecus taxon in the fossil record and the earliest subspecies in the Theropithecusoswaldi lineage. Theropithecus oswaldi darti is typified at the site of Makapansgat in South Africa, and a similar form (T. o. cf. darti) is usually recognized at Hadar, Dikika, some Middle Awash localities, and Woranso-Mille in Ethiopia. This taxon is also tentatively believed to occur in Kenya at Kanam and Koobi Fora and in Member C of the Shungura Formation in Ethiopia. While there is a general consensus that the East African 'darti' specimens are sufficiently similar to each other, there has always been a question of whether they are too distinct from the South African type material of T. o. darti to belong to the same subspecies. Here we conduct a morphological comparison of the different samples previously assigned to T. o. darti and T. o. cf. darti. The results of our analyses overwhelmingly support the hypothesis that the East African samples are distinct from the South African ones, and they are likely distinct in geological age as well. Therefore, we propose a new subspecies designation for the material previously termed T. o. cf. darti from East Africa: Theropithecus (Theropithecus) oswaldi ecki subsp. nov. We also formally recognize Theropithecus (Theropithecus) oswaldi serengetensis (Dietrich, 1942) for specimens from Laetoli, Woranso-Mille, and perhaps Galili.
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Affiliation(s)
- Dagmawit Abebe Getahun
- PhD Program in Anthropology, City University of New York Graduate Center, 365 Fifth Avenue, New York, NY 10016, USA; Department of Anthropology, Lehman College, City University of New York, 250 Bedford Park Boulevard West, Bronx, NY 10468, USA; New York Consortium in Evolutionary Primatology and NYCEP Morphometrics Group, New York, NY 10016, USA.
| | - Eric Delson
- PhD Program in Anthropology, City University of New York Graduate Center, 365 Fifth Avenue, New York, NY 10016, USA; Department of Anthropology, Lehman College, City University of New York, 250 Bedford Park Boulevard West, Bronx, NY 10468, USA; New York Consortium in Evolutionary Primatology and NYCEP Morphometrics Group, New York, NY 10016, USA; Division of Paleontology, American Museum of Natural History, 200 Central Park West, New York, NY 10024, USA; PhD Program in Earth and Environmental Sciences, City University of New York Graduate Center, 365 Fifth Avenue, New York, NY 10016, USA; Institut Català de Paleontologia Miquel Crusafont, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, Edifici ICTA-ICP, Campus de la UAB, c/ Columnes, s/n, 08193 Cerdanyola del Vallès, Barcelona, Spain.
| | - Chalachew Mesfin Seyoum
- Department of Basic Medical Sciences, The University of Arizona, College of Medicine, 475 N 5th St., Phoenix, AZ 85004, USA; Department of Pathology and Anatomical Sciences, University of Missouri, Columbia, MO 65211, USA
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Biochronology of South African hominin-bearing sites: A reassessment using cercopithecid primates. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A 2022; 119:e2210627119. [PMID: 36279427 PMCID: PMC9659350 DOI: 10.1073/pnas.2210627119] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/18/2022] Open
Abstract
Despite recent advances in chronometric techniques (e.g., Uranium-Lead [U-Pb], cosmogenic nuclides, electron spin resonance spectroscopy [ESR]), considerable uncertainty remains regarding the age of many Plio-Pleistocene hominin sites, including several in South Africa. Consequently, biochronology remains important in assessments of Plio-Pleistocene geochronology and provides direct age estimates of the fossils themselves. Historically, cercopithecid monkeys have been among the most useful taxa for biochronology of early hominins because they are widely present and abundant in the African Plio-Pleistocene record. The last major studies using cercopithecids were published over 30 y ago. Since then, new hominin sites have been discovered, radiometric age estimates have been refined, and many changes have occurred in cercopithecid taxonomy and systematics. Thus, a biochronological reassessment using cercopithecids is long overdue. Here, we provide just such a revision based on our recent study of every major cercopithecid collection from African Plio-Pleistocene sites. In addition to correlations based on shared faunal elements, we present an analysis based on the dentition of the abundant cercopithecid
Theropithecus oswaldi
, which increases in size in a manner that is strongly correlated with geological age (
r
2
∼0.83), thereby providing a highly accurate age-estimation tool not previously utilized. In combination with paleomagnetic and U-Pb data, our results provide revised age estimates and suggest that there are no hominin sites in South Africa significantly older than ∼2.8 Ma. Where conflicting age estimates exist, we suggest that additional data are needed and recall that faunal estimates have ultimately proved reliable in the past (e.g., the age of the KBS Tuff).
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Rowan J, Lazagabaster IA, Campisano CJ, Bibi F, Bobe R, Boisserie JR, Frost SR, Getachew T, Gilbert CC, Lewis ME, Melaku S, Scott E, Souron A, Werdelin L, Kimbel WH, Reed KE. Early Pleistocene large mammals from Maka'amitalu, Hadar, lower Awash Valley, Ethiopia. PeerJ 2022; 10:e13210. [PMID: 35411256 PMCID: PMC8994497 DOI: 10.7717/peerj.13210] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/03/2021] [Accepted: 03/10/2022] [Indexed: 01/12/2023] Open
Abstract
The Early Pleistocene was a critical time period in the evolution of eastern African mammal faunas, but fossil assemblages sampling this interval are poorly known from Ethiopia's Afar Depression. Field work by the Hadar Research Project in the Busidima Formation exposures (~2.7-0.8 Ma) of Hadar in the lower Awash Valley, resulted in the recovery of an early Homo maxilla (A.L. 666-1) with associated stone tools and fauna from the Maka'amitalu basin in the 1990s. These assemblages are dated to ~2.35 Ma by the Bouroukie Tuff 3 (BKT-3). Continued work by the Hadar Research Project over the last two decades has greatly expanded the faunal collection. Here, we provide a comprehensive account of the Maka'amitalu large mammals (Artiodactyla, Carnivora, Perissodactyla, Primates, and Proboscidea) and discuss their paleoecological and biochronological significance. The size of the Maka'amitalu assemblage is small compared to those from the Hadar Formation (3.45-2.95 Ma) and Ledi-Geraru (2.8-2.6 Ma) but includes at least 20 taxa. Bovids, suids, and Theropithecus are common in terms of both species richness and abundance, whereas carnivorans, equids, and megaherbivores are rare. While the taxonomic composition of the Maka'amitalu fauna indicates significant species turnover from the Hadar Formation and Ledi-Geraru deposits, turnover seems to have occurred at a constant rate through time as taxonomic dissimilarity between adjacent fossil assemblages is strongly predicted by their age difference. A similar pattern characterizes functional ecological turnover, with only subtle changes in dietary proportions, body size proportions, and bovid abundances across the composite lower Awash sequence. Biochronological comparisons with other sites in eastern Africa suggest that the taxa recovered from the Maka'amitalu are broadly consistent with the reported age of the BKT-3 tuff. Considering the age of BKT-3 and biochronology, a range of 2.4-1.9 Ma is most likely for the faunal assemblage.
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Affiliation(s)
- John Rowan
- Department of Anthropology, University at Albany, Albany, New York, United States
| | | | - Christopher J. Campisano
- Institute of Human Origins, School of Human Evolution and Social Change, Arizona State University, Tempe, Arizona, United States
| | | | - René Bobe
- Primate Models for Behavioural Evolution, Institute of Cognitive and Evolutionary Anthropology, School of Anthropology, University of Oxford, Oxford, United Kingdom,Gorongosa National Park, Sofala, Mozambique,Interdisciplinary Center for Archaeology and Evolution of Human Behavior (ICArEHB), Universidade do Algarve, Faro, Portugal
| | - Jean-Renaud Boisserie
- Laboratoire Paléontologie Évolution Paléoécosystèmes Paléoprimatologie, Université de Poitiers, Poitiers, France,Centre Français des Etudes Ethiopiennes (CNRS and Ministère des Affaires Etrangères, Ambassade de France, Ethiopia), Addis Ababa, Ethiopia
| | - Stephen R. Frost
- Department of Anthropology, University of Oregon, Eugene, Oregon, United States
| | - Tomas Getachew
- Laboratoire Paléontologie Évolution Paléoécosystèmes Paléoprimatologie, Université de Poitiers, Poitiers, France,Authority for Research and Conservation of Cultural Heritage, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia
| | - Christopher C. Gilbert
- Department of Anthropology, City University of New York, Hunter College, New York, United States,New York Consortium in Evolutionary Primatology (NYCEP), New York, United States
| | - Margaret E. Lewis
- Biology Program, School of Natural Sciences and Mathematics, Stockton University, Galloway, New Jersey, United States
| | - Sahleselasie Melaku
- Authority for Research and Conservation of Cultural Heritage, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia,Paleoanthropology and Paleoenvironment Program, Addis Ababa University, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia
| | - Eric Scott
- Cogstone Resource Management Inc, Orange, California, United States,Department of Biology, California State University, San Bernardino, San Bernardino, California, United States
| | | | - Lars Werdelin
- Department of Palaeobiology, Swedish Museum of Natural History, Stockholm, Sweden
| | - William H. Kimbel
- Institute of Human Origins, School of Human Evolution and Social Change, Arizona State University, Tempe, Arizona, United States
| | - Kaye E. Reed
- Institute of Human Origins, School of Human Evolution and Social Change, Arizona State University, Tempe, Arizona, United States
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Elton S, Dunn J. Baboon biogeography, divergence, and evolution: Morphological and paleoecological perspectives. J Hum Evol 2020; 145:102799. [DOI: 10.1016/j.jhevol.2020.102799] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/11/2019] [Revised: 04/01/2020] [Accepted: 04/01/2020] [Indexed: 11/30/2022]
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Geraads D, de Bonis L. First record of Theropithecus (Cercopithecidae) from the Republic of Djibouti. J Hum Evol 2019; 138:102686. [PMID: 31759254 DOI: 10.1016/j.jhevol.2019.102686] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/22/2019] [Revised: 09/17/2019] [Accepted: 10/09/2019] [Indexed: 10/25/2022]
Abstract
We describe here several specimens of the genus Theropithecus from the southern shore of Lake Assal in the Republic of Djibouti; they are the first record of the genus from this country. We assign them to a derived stage of T. oswaldi. This identification has implications for the age of the informal 'Formation 1' from this area, which should probably be assigned to the Middle Pleistocene. In addition, the presence of T. oswaldi close to the Bab el Mandeb Strait strongly suggests that the species followed this route to India, rather than a more northern one.
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Affiliation(s)
- Denis Geraads
- CR2P-UMR 7207, CNRS, MNHN, UPMC, Sorbonne Universités, CP 38, 8 rue Buffon, 75231 Paris cedex 05, France.
| | - Louis de Bonis
- PALEVOPRIM-UMR 7262, UFR SFA, Université de Poitiers, 6 rue Michel-Brunet, Bât. 35, TSA 51106, 86073 Poitiers cedex 9, France
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