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Kikuchi Y. Body mass estimates from postcranial skeletons and implication for positional behavior in Nacholapithecus kerioi: Evolutionary scenarios of modern apes. Anat Rec (Hoboken) 2023; 306:2466-2483. [PMID: 36753432 DOI: 10.1002/ar.25173] [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: 09/01/2022] [Revised: 12/21/2022] [Accepted: 01/22/2023] [Indexed: 02/09/2023]
Abstract
This study reported the body mass (BM) estimates of the Middle Miocene fossil hominoid Nacholapithecus kerioi from Africa. The average BM estimates from all forelimb and hindlimb skeletal elements was 22.7 kg, which is slightly higher than the previously reported estimate of ~22 kg. This study revealed that Nacholapithecus has a unique body proportion with an enlarged forelimb relative to a smaller hindlimb, suggesting an antipronograde posture/locomotion, which may be related to the long clavicle, robust ribs, and some hominoid-like vertebral morphology. Because the BM of Nacholapithecus in this study was estimated to be below 30 kg, Nacholapithecus probably did not have relatively shorter and robust femora, which may result from other mechanical constraints, as seen in extant African hominoids. The BM estimate of Nacholapithecus suggests that full substantial modifications of the trunk and forelimb anatomy for risk avoidance and foraging efficiency, as seen in extant great apes, would not be expected in Nacholapithecus. Because larger monkeys are less arboreal (e.g., Mandrillus sphinx or Papio spp.), and the maximum BM among extant constant arboreal cercopithecoids is ~24 kg (male Nasalis larvatus), Nacholapithecus would be a constant arboreal primate. Although caution should be applied because of targeting only males in this study, arboreal quadrupedalism with upright posture and occasional antipronograde locomotion (e.g., climbing, chambering, descending, arm-swing, and sway) using the powerful grasping capacity of the hand and foot may be assumed for positional behavior of Nacholapithecus.
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Affiliation(s)
- Yasuhiro Kikuchi
- Division of Human Anatomy and Biological Anthropology, Department of Anatomy and Physiology, Faculty of Medicine, Saga University, Saga, Japan
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2
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Urciuoli A, Alba DM. Systematics of Miocene apes: State of the art of a neverending controversy. J Hum Evol 2023; 175:103309. [PMID: 36716680 DOI: 10.1016/j.jhevol.2022.103309] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/05/2022] [Revised: 12/08/2022] [Accepted: 12/09/2022] [Indexed: 01/29/2023]
Abstract
Hominoids diverged from cercopithecoids during the Oligocene in Afro-Arabia, initially radiating in that continent and subsequently dispersing into Eurasia. From the Late Miocene onward, the geographic range of hominoids progressively shrank, except for hominins, which dispersed out of Africa during the Pleistocene. Although the overall picture of hominoid evolution is clear based on available fossil evidence, many uncertainties persist regarding the phylogeny and paleobiogeography of Miocene apes (nonhominin hominoids), owing to their sparse record, pervasive homoplasy, and the decimated current diversity of this group. We review Miocene ape systematics and evolution by focusing on the most parsimonious cladograms published during the last decade. First, we provide a historical account of the progress made in Miocene ape phylogeny and paleobiogeography, report an updated classification of Miocene apes, and provide a list of Miocene ape species-locality occurrences together with an analysis of their paleobiodiversity dynamics. Second, we discuss various critical issues of Miocene ape phylogeny and paleobiogeography (hylobatid and crown hominid origins, plus the relationships of Oreopithecus) in the light of the highly divergent results obtained from cladistic analyses of craniodental and postcranial characters separately. We conclude that cladistic efforts to disentangle Miocene ape phylogeny are potentially biased by a long-branch attraction problem caused by the numerous postcranial similarities shared between hylobatids and hominids-despite the increasingly held view that they are likely homoplastic to a large extent, as illustrated by Sivapithecus and Pierolapithecus-and further aggravated by abundant missing data owing to incomplete preservation. Finally, we argue that-besides the recovery of additional fossils, the retrieval of paleoproteomic data, and a better integration between cladistics and geometric morphometrics-Miocene ape phylogenetics should take advantage of total-evidence (tip-dating) Bayesian methods of phylogenetic inference combining morphologic, molecular, and chronostratigraphic data. This would hopefully help ascertain whether hylobatid divergence was more basal than currently supported.
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Affiliation(s)
- Alessandro Urciuoli
- Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, Campus de la UAB, 08193 Cerdanyola del Vallès, Barcelona, Spain; Division of Palaeoanthropology, Senckenberg Research Institute and Natural History Museum Frankfurt, Senckenberganlage 25, 60325 Frankfurt am Main, Germany; Institut Català de Paleontologia Miquel Crusafont, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, Edifici ICTA-ICP, c/ Columnes s/n, Campus de la UAB, 08193 Cerdanyola del Vallès, Barcelona, Spain
| | - David M Alba
- Institut Català de Paleontologia Miquel Crusafont, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, Edifici ICTA-ICP, c/ Columnes s/n, Campus de la UAB, 08193 Cerdanyola del Vallès, Barcelona, Spain.
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3
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Ji X, Harrison T, Zhang Y, Wu Y, Zhang C, Hu J, Wu D, Hou Y, Li S, Wang G, Wang Z. The earliest hylobatid from the Late Miocene of China. J Hum Evol 2022; 171:103251. [PMID: 36113226 DOI: 10.1016/j.jhevol.2022.103251] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/06/2022] [Revised: 08/07/2022] [Accepted: 08/09/2022] [Indexed: 11/15/2022]
Abstract
Yuanmoupithecus xiaoyuan, a small catarrhine from the Late Miocene of Yunnan in southern China, was initially suggested to be related to Miocene proconsuloids or dendropithecoids from East Africa, but subsequent reports indicated that it might be more closely related to hylobatids. Here, detailed comparisons of the material, including seven newly discovered teeth and a partial lower face of a juvenile individual, provide crucial evidence to help establish its phylogenetic relationships. Yuanmoupithecus exhibits a suite of synapomorphies that support a close phylogenetic relationship with extant hylobatids. Furthermore, based on the retention of several primitive features of the dentition, Yuanmoupithecus can be shown to be the sister taxon of crown hylobatids. The contention that Kapi ramnagarensis from the Middle Miocene of India might represent an earlier species of hylobatid is not supported here. Instead, Kapi is inferred to be a specialized pliopithecoid more closely related to Krishnapithecus krishnaii from the Late Miocene of India. Currently then, Yuanmoupithecus represents the earliest known definitively identified hylobatid and the only member of the clade predating the Pleistocene. It extends the fossil record of hylobatids back to 7-8 Ma and fills a critical gap in the evolutionary history of hominoids that has up until now remained elusive. Even so, molecular estimates of a divergence date of hylobatids from other hominoids at about 17-22 Ma signifies that there is still a substantial gap in the fossil record of more than 10 million years that needs to be filled in order to document the biogeographic origins and early evolution of hylobatids.
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Affiliation(s)
- Xueping Ji
- Kunming Natural History Museum of Zoology, Kunming Institute of Zoology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Kunming, 650201, China; Department of Paleoanthropology, Yunnan Institute of Cultural Relics and Archaeology, Kunming, 650118, China
| | - Terry Harrison
- Center for the Study of Human Origins, Department of Anthropology, New York University, New York, NY, 10003, USA.
| | - Yingqi Zhang
- Key Laboratory of Vertebrate Evolution and Human Origins, Institute of Vertebrate Paleontology and Paleoanthropology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100044, China; CAS Center for Excellence in Life and Paleoenvironment, Beijing, 100044, China
| | - Yun Wu
- Department of Paleoanthropology, Yunnan Institute of Cultural Relics and Archaeology, Kunming, 650118, China; School of History, Wuhan University, Wuhan, 430072, China
| | - Chunxia Zhang
- Key Laboratory of Cenozoic Geology and Environment, Institute of Geology and Geophysics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100029, China; College of Earth Science and Engineering, Shandong University of Science and Technology, Qingdao, 266590, China
| | - Jinming Hu
- Institute of International Rivers and Eco-security, Yunnan University, Kunming, 650500, China
| | - Dongdong Wu
- Kunming Natural History Museum of Zoology, Kunming Institute of Zoology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Kunming, 650201, China
| | - Yemao Hou
- Key Laboratory of Vertebrate Evolution and Human Origins, Institute of Vertebrate Paleontology and Paleoanthropology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100044, China
| | - Song Li
- Kunming Natural History Museum of Zoology, Kunming Institute of Zoology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Kunming, 650201, China
| | - Guofu Wang
- Chuxiong Prefectural Museum, Chuxiong, 657000, China
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4
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Pugh KD. Phylogenetic analysis of Middle-Late Miocene apes. J Hum Evol 2022; 165:103140. [DOI: 10.1016/j.jhevol.2021.103140] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/21/2020] [Revised: 12/28/2021] [Accepted: 12/28/2021] [Indexed: 01/18/2023]
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5
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Locke EM, Benefit BR, Kimock CM, Miller ER, Nengo I. New dentognathic fossils of Noropithecus bulukensis (Primates, Victoriapithecidae) from the late Early Miocene of Buluk, Kenya. J Hum Evol 2020; 148:102886. [PMID: 33031954 DOI: 10.1016/j.jhevol.2020.102886] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/28/2020] [Revised: 08/28/2020] [Accepted: 08/28/2020] [Indexed: 10/23/2022]
Abstract
The late Early Miocene site of Buluk, Kenya, has yielded fossil remains of several catarrhine primates, including 16 dentognathic specimens of the stem cercopithecoid Noropithecus bulukensis. With the exception of the large sample of Victoriapithecus macinnesi from the middle Miocene of Maboko Island, Kenya, the majority of stem cercopithecoid taxa are represented by small sample sizes. We describe and analyze 91 new cercopithecoid fossils collected from Buluk between 2004 and 2018, including several previously undescribed tooth positions for N. bulukensis, and provide the first evaluation of dental metric and morphological variation in this sample. The results show that the expanded Buluk sample exhibits high levels of dental variation in the postcanine tooth row, similar to V. macinnesi at Maboko, but this variation is consistent with a single-species hypothesis. Subtle differences in the shape of the I1, breadth of the C1 and P3, relative breadth of M1, upper and lower molar distal shelf lengths, the degree of M2 basal flare, and a less-developed lower molar distal lophid differentiate the dentition of N. bulukensis from V. macinnesi. Although differences exist between the N. bulukensis and V. macinnesi dental samples, the high degree of variation within each sample complicates the identification of many individual specimens. New partial maxillae and mandibles allow reassessment of previously described diagnostic differences between N. bulukensis and V. macinnesi, negating upper molar arcade shape as a diagnostic feature and confirming the existence of differences in mandibular symphyseal morphology. Overall, new fossils from Buluk provide new evidence of the dentognathic anatomy of a medium-sized cercopithecoid that coexisted with a diverse group of noncercopithecoid catarrhines at the end of the early Miocene.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ellis M Locke
- Institute of Human Origins, Arizona State University, Tempe, AZ, 85282, USA; School of Human Evolution and Social Change, Arizona State University, Tempe, AZ, 85282, USA.
| | - Brenda R Benefit
- Department of Anthropology, New Mexico State University, Las Cruces, NM, 88003, USA
| | - Clare M Kimock
- Center for the Study of Human Origins, Department of Anthropology, New York University, New York, NY, 10003, USA; New York Consortium in Evolutionary Primatology, New York, NY, 10003, USA
| | - Ellen R Miller
- Department of Anthropology, Wake Forest University, Winston-Salem, NC, 27106, USA
| | - Isaiah Nengo
- Turkana Basin Institute, Stony Brook University, Stony Brook, NY, 11794, USA
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6
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Ortiz A, Bailey SE, Delgado M, Zanolli C, Demeter F, Bacon A, Nguyen TMH, Nguyen AT, Zhang Y, Harrison T, Hublin J, Skinner MM. A distinguishing feature of
Pongo
upper molars and its implications for the taxonomic identification of isolated hominid teeth from the Pleistocene of Asia. AMERICAN JOURNAL OF PHYSICAL ANTHROPOLOGY 2019; 170:595-612. [DOI: 10.1002/ajpa.23928] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/12/2019] [Revised: 06/25/2019] [Accepted: 09/05/2019] [Indexed: 11/06/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Alejandra Ortiz
- Department of Anthropology New York University New York New York
- Institute of Human Origins, School of Human Evolution and Social Change, Arizona State University Tempe Arizona
| | - Shara E. Bailey
- Department of Anthropology New York University New York New York
- Department of Human Evolution Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology Leipzig Germany
| | - Miguel Delgado
- División Antropología, Facultad de Ciencias Naturales y Museo Universidad Nacional de La Plata La Plata República Argentina
- Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas CONICET Buenos Aires República Argentina
- Ministry of Education Key Laboratory of Contemporary Anthropology and Collaborative Innovation Center of Genetics and Development School of Life Sciences and Human Phenome Institute, Fudan University Shanghai People's Republic of China
| | - Clément Zanolli
- Laboratoire PACEA, UMR 5199, CNRS Université de Bordeaux Bordeaux France
| | - Fabrice Demeter
- Musée de l'Homme, UMR7206 Département Homme et Environnement Paris France
- Lundbeck Foundation GeoGenetics Centre, Globe Institute University of Copenhagen Copenhagen Denmark
| | - Anne‐Marie Bacon
- Laboratoire BABEL, Faculté de Chirurgie Dentaire FRE 2029 CNRS, Université Paris Descartes Montrouge France
| | - Thi M. H. Nguyen
- Anthropological and Palaeoenvironmental Department The Institute of Archaeology Hanoi Vietnam
| | - Anh T. Nguyen
- Anthropological and Palaeoenvironmental Department The Institute of Archaeology Hanoi Vietnam
| | - Yingqi Zhang
- Key Laboratory of Vertebrate Evolution and Human Origins, Institute of Vertebrate Paleontology and Paleoanthropology (IVPP) Chinese Academy of Sciences Beijing People's Republic of China
- State Key Laboratory of Palaeobiology and Stratigraphy, Nanjing Institute of Geology and Palaeontology Chinese Academy of Sciences Nanjing People's Republic of China
| | - Terry Harrison
- Department of Anthropology New York University New York New York
| | - Jean‐Jacques Hublin
- Department of Human Evolution Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology Leipzig Germany
| | - Matthew M. Skinner
- Department of Human Evolution Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology Leipzig Germany
- School of Anthropology and Conservation University of Kent Canterbury United Kingdom
- Evolutionary Studies Institute University of Witwatersrand Johannesburg South Africa
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7
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Rossie JB, Hill A. A new species of Simiolus from the middle Miocene of the Tugen Hills, Kenya. J Hum Evol 2018; 125:50-58. [PMID: 30502897 DOI: 10.1016/j.jhevol.2018.09.002] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/31/2017] [Revised: 09/06/2018] [Accepted: 09/07/2018] [Indexed: 12/01/2022]
Abstract
A new species of the "small-bodied ape" Simiolus is described here that extends the temporal range of the genus to the end of the Middle Miocene. As such, it is one of the few species of fossil primates known from East Africa during a time of significant change in which Old World monkeys and crown hominoids replaced the primitive ape-like primates that had dominated the early Miocene. The dynamics of this important event in our evolutionary history are obscured by the small number of fossil primates known from Africa between 14 and 6 million years ago, as well as persistent ambiguity regarding the phylogenetic status of the ape-like Miocene primates. The new species described here helps to fill this temporal gap, and our analysis of its phylogenetic position suggests that Simiolus and many other Miocene primates were not only ape-like, they were, indeed, stem hominoids. Judging from the available material, the new species may be the smallest known ape.
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Affiliation(s)
- James B Rossie
- Department of Anthropology, Stony Brook University, Stony Brook, NY 11794, USA.
| | - Andrew Hill
- Department of Anthropology, Yale University, New Haven, CT 06520, USA
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8
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Cote S, Kingston J, Deino A, Winkler A, Kityo R, MacLatchy L. Evidence for rapid faunal change in the early Miocene of East Africa based on revised biostratigraphic and radiometric dating of Bukwa, Uganda. J Hum Evol 2018; 116:95-107. [DOI: 10.1016/j.jhevol.2017.12.001] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/17/2017] [Revised: 12/04/2017] [Accepted: 12/10/2017] [Indexed: 11/16/2022]
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9
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Patel BA, Yapuncich GS, Tran C, Nengo IO. Catarrhine hallucal metatarsals from the early Miocene site of Songhor, Kenya. J Hum Evol 2017. [DOI: 10.1016/j.jhevol.2017.03.013] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/19/2022]
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10
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KUNIMATSU YUTAKA, SAWADA YOSHIHIRO, SAKAI TETSUYA, SANEYOSHI MOTOTAKA, NAKAYA HIDEO, YAMAMOTO AYUMI, NAKATSUKASA MASATO. The latest occurrence of the nyanzapithecines from the early Late Miocene Nakali Formation in Kenya, East Africa. ANTHROPOL SCI 2017. [DOI: 10.1537/ase.170126] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/01/2022]
Affiliation(s)
| | | | - TETSUYA SAKAI
- Department of Geoscience, Faculty of Science and Engineering, Shimane University, Matsue
| | - MOTOTAKA SANEYOSHI
- Faculty of Biosphere-Geosphere Science, Okayama University of Science, Okayama
| | - HIDEO NAKAYA
- Department of Earth and Environmental Science, Faculty of Science, Kagoshima University, Kagoshima
| | | | - MASATO NAKATSUKASA
- Laboratory of Physical Anthropology, Graduate School of Science, Kyoto University, Kyoto
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11
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Cote S, McNulty KP, Stevens NJ, Nengo IO. A detailed assessment of the maxillary morphology of Limnopithecus evansi with implications for the taxonomy of the genus. J Hum Evol 2016; 94:83-91. [DOI: 10.1016/j.jhevol.2016.01.004] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/14/2015] [Revised: 01/16/2016] [Accepted: 01/20/2016] [Indexed: 10/22/2022]
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12
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Harrison T. The Fossil Record and Evolutionary History of Hylobatids. DEVELOPMENTS IN PRIMATOLOGY: PROGRESS AND PROSPECTS 2016. [DOI: 10.1007/978-1-4939-5614-2_4] [Citation(s) in RCA: 12] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/23/2022]
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13
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Dental microwear profilometry of African non-cercopithecoid catarrhines of the Early Miocene. J Hum Evol 2015; 78:33-43. [DOI: 10.1016/j.jhevol.2014.08.011] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/13/2013] [Revised: 08/18/2014] [Accepted: 08/19/2014] [Indexed: 11/16/2022]
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14
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Cote S, Malit N, Nengo I. Additional mandibles of Rangwapithecus gordoni, an early Miocene catarrhine from the Tinderet localities of Western Kenya. AMERICAN JOURNAL OF PHYSICAL ANTHROPOLOGY 2013; 153:341-52. [PMID: 24288165 DOI: 10.1002/ajpa.22433] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/06/2013] [Revised: 11/05/2013] [Accepted: 11/06/2013] [Indexed: 11/06/2022]
Abstract
Two catarrhine mandibles and five isolated teeth have been discovered from Early Miocene localities in Western Kenya. One mandible comes from the well-known locality of Songhor whereas the other is from a newly discovered locality, Lower Kapurtay, located near Songhor. The mandibles both can clearly be assigned to the species Rangwapithecus gordoni based on molar morphology, which is unique among Early Miocene catarrhines. The isolated specimens can be assigned to Rangwapithecus based on their similarities in morphology to the homologues preserved in the two mandibles. These specimens provide important new information about the dentognathic morphology of Rangwapithecus, which is described in detail. The mandible from Songhor (KNM-SO 22228) represents the first definitive female mandible of Rangwapithecus. The Lower Kapurtay mandible (KNM-KT 31234) appears to be male but is much smaller than another recently described male mandible of this species (KNM-SO 17500) and the type maxilla (KNM-SO 700). These specimens enable a reassessment of the attributions of all other mandibles and isolated lower teeth of Rangwapithecus, and we present a complete hypodigm of the mandibular and lower dental material for the species. Finally, we provide some additions to the diagnosis of Rangwapithecus gordoni based on previously unknown morphology.
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Affiliation(s)
- Susanne Cote
- Department of Anthropology, University of Calgary, Calgary, AB, T2N 1N4, Canada
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15
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Zalmout IS, Sanders WJ, Maclatchy LM, Gunnell GF, Al-Mufarreh YA, Ali MA, Nasser AAH, Al-Masari AM, Al-Sobhi SA, Nadhra AO, Matari AH, Wilson JA, Gingerich PD. New Oligocene primate from Saudi Arabia and the divergence of apes and Old World monkeys. Nature 2010; 466:360-4. [PMID: 20631798 DOI: 10.1038/nature09094] [Citation(s) in RCA: 75] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/15/2010] [Accepted: 04/16/2010] [Indexed: 11/09/2022]
Abstract
It is widely understood that Hominoidea (apes and humans) and Cercopithecoidea (Old World monkeys) have a common ancestry as Catarrhini deeply rooted in Afro-Arabia. The oldest stem Catarrhini in the fossil record are Propliopithecoidea, known from the late Eocene to early Oligocene epochs (roughly 35-30 Myr ago) of Egypt, Oman and possibly Angola. Genome-based estimates for divergence of hominoids and cercopithecoids range into the early Oligocene; however, the mid-to-late Oligocene interval from 30 to 23 Myr ago has yielded little fossil evidence documenting the morphology of the last common ancestor of hominoids and cercopithecoids, the timing of their divergence, or the relationship of early stem and crown catarrhines. Here we describe the partial cranium of a new medium-sized (about 15-20 kg) fossil catarrhine, Saadanius hijazensis, dated to 29-28 Myr ago. Comparative anatomy and cladistic analysis shows that Saadanius is an advanced stem catarrhine close to the base of the hominoid-cercopithecoid clade. Saadanius is important for assessing competing hypotheses about the ancestral morphotype for crown catarrhines, early catarrhine phylogeny and the age of hominoid-cercopithecoid divergence. Saadanius has a tubular ectotympanic but lacks synapomorphies of either group of crown Catarrhini, and we infer that the hominoid-cercopithecoid split happened later, between 29-28 and 24 Myr ago.
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Affiliation(s)
- Iyad S Zalmout
- Museum of Paleontology, University of Michigan, 1109 Geddes Avenue, Ann Arbor, Michigan 48109, USA.
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16
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Fossil skull fingered as ape–monkey ancestor. Nature 2010. [DOI: 10.1038/news.2010.354] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/09/2022]
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17
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Rossie JB. The phylogenetic significance of anthropoid paranasal sinuses. Anat Rec (Hoboken) 2008; 291:1485-98. [PMID: 18951494 DOI: 10.1002/ar.20781] [Citation(s) in RCA: 26] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/09/2022]
Abstract
In this study, the phylogenetic significance of anthropoid paranasal sinus anatomy is explored. New information reported in recent years has precipitated new hypotheses of sinus homology and more than doubled the number of anthropoid genera for which confident assessments of sinus identity can be made. As a result, it is likely that the phylogenetic meaning of commonly cited characters such as the ethmoid and frontal sinuses will change. The traditional method of "character mapping" is employed to test hypotheses of sinus homology and to reconstruct the ancestral states for sinus characters in major anthropoid clades. Results show that most sinuses appear to be primitive retentions in anthropoids, with their absences in various genera representing losses. Accordingly, many of these sinuses are potential anthropoid synapomorphies.
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Affiliation(s)
- James B Rossie
- Department of Anthropology, Stony Brook University, Stony Brook, New York 11624, USA.
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18
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Pilbrow V. Lingual incisor traits in modern hominoids and an assessment of their utility for fossil hominoid taxonomy. AMERICAN JOURNAL OF PHYSICAL ANTHROPOLOGY 2006; 129:323-38. [PMID: 16323204 DOI: 10.1002/ajpa.20246] [Citation(s) in RCA: 21] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/11/2022]
Abstract
The morphology of the anterior dentition has received scant attention for purposes of taxonomic discrimination. Recently, however, lingual incisor morphology was used in differentiating several Miocene ape species and genera. This paper assesses the utility of this morphology for taxonomic discrimination by examining the nature and patterns of variation in lingual incisor morphology in extensive samples of modern chimpanzees, gorillas, orangutans, and gibbons. This paper documents discrete morphological traits on the lingual side of incisors. Trait frequencies are used in univariate and multivariate analyses to examine the apportionment of variation in species, subspecies, and populations. A correlation between lingual incisor traits, tooth dimensions, and sex attempts to determine if such factors affect the manifestation of traits. Finally, the findings are applied to understanding patterns of variation in the Miocene hominids. The study demonstrates that: 1) lingual incisor morphology differs substantially between the hylobatids and great apes; 2) variation in incisor traits is high within species, and most of it is found within local populations; and 3) incisor traits do not correlate significantly with incisor dimensions or sex. Species and to some extent subspecies of extant hominoids can be differentiated statistically using lingual incisor traits, but the frequency of traits such as continuous or discontinuous cingulum, or the presence or absence of pillars, differentiates them. Given this pattern of variation, I argue that it is necessary to assume and document similar patterns of variation in Miocene apes before incisor morphology is used for differentiating taxa.
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Affiliation(s)
- Varsha Pilbrow
- Department of Anthropology, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Urbana, Illinois 61801, USA.
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Rossie JB, MacLatchy L. A new pliopithecoid genus from the early Miocene of Uganda. J Hum Evol 2006; 50:568-86. [PMID: 16472841 DOI: 10.1016/j.jhevol.2005.12.007] [Citation(s) in RCA: 66] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/17/2005] [Revised: 11/19/2005] [Accepted: 12/23/2005] [Indexed: 11/26/2022]
Abstract
A partial face and mandible from the early Miocene site of Napak IX in Uganda are described here as a new genus and species of catarrhine primate, Lomorupithecus harrisoni gen. et sp. nov. The face is among the most complete specimens known for a Miocene small-bodied catarrhine. Several aspects of its anatomy indicate that the new species is a stem catarrhine, and as such, it may provide valuable information pertaining to the primitive catarrhine cranial morphotype. Lomorupithecus is most similar in its facial anatomy to members of the Pliopithecoidea, and these similarities could be interpreted in three ways. They could be symplesiomorphies, which would support the traditional view of the primitive catarrhine cranial morphotype; they could be synapomorphies reflecting a phylogenetic position of Lomorupithecus within Pliopithecoidea; or they could represent convergence. Phylogenetic analysis of Lomorupithecus along with 35 other primates indicates that it is a pliopithecoid. As such, it would be the oldest and only Afro-Arabian member of this otherwise Eurasian clade.
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Affiliation(s)
- James B Rossie
- Section of Vertebrate Paleontology, Carnegie Museum of Natural History, 4400 Forbes Avenue, Pittsburgh, PA 15213, USA.
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Rossie JB. Anatomy of the nasal cavity and paranasal sinuses in Aegyptopithecus and early Miocene African catarrhines. AMERICAN JOURNAL OF PHYSICAL ANTHROPOLOGY 2005; 126:250-67. [PMID: 15386283 DOI: 10.1002/ajpa.20139] [Citation(s) in RCA: 45] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/10/2022]
Abstract
Neontological comparisons suggest that paranasal sinus anatomy is diagnostic of several catarrhine clades such as Cercopithecoidea, Hominoidea, Homininae, and Ponginae. However, while the loss of sinuses in cercopithecoids is generally recognized as a derived condition, determining the polarity of character-state changes within noncercopithecoid catarrhines requires knowledge of the primitive catarrhine condition. To address this problem, the paranasal sinus anatomy of Aegyptopithecus and several early Miocene catarrhines was investigated. Two partial facial skeletons of Aegyptopithecus were subjected to computed tomography in order to reveal their internal anatomy. These data were compared with facial and palatal specimens of Proconsul, Limnopithecus, Dendropithecus, Rangwapithecus, and Kalepithecus in the National Museums of Kenya in Nairobi, and to wet and dry specimens of living taxa. Results confirm that cercopithecoid paranasal anatomy is derived, and reveal that the sinus anatomy of stem catarrhines included a hominoid-like maxillary sinus as well as an ethmofrontal system like that of hominines. Accordingly, these two features do not constitute evidence for the hominoid, hominid, or hominine status of any fossil species. Conversely, the absence of the ethmofrontal sinus system in Sivapithecus and Pongo is synapomorphic. In addition, features of the nasal cavity of Limnopithecus and Kalepithecus support previous suggestions that these taxa are stem catarrhines rather than hominoids.
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Affiliation(s)
- James B Rossie
- Department of Anthropology, Yale University, New Haven, Connecticut 06520, USA.
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HARRISON TERRY. The zoogeographic and phylogenetic relationships of early catarrhine primates in Asia. ANTHROPOL SCI 2005. [DOI: 10.1537/ase.04s006] [Citation(s) in RCA: 30] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/01/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- TERRY HARRISON
- Center for the Study of Human Origins, Department of Anthropology, New York University
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PICKFORD MARTIN, KUNIMATSU YUTAKA. Catarrhines from the Middle Miocene (ca. 14.5 Ma) of Kipsaraman, Tugen Hills, Kenya. ANTHROPOL SCI 2005. [DOI: 10.1537/ase.113.189] [Citation(s) in RCA: 66] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/01/2022]
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KUNIMATSU YUTAKA, RATANASTHIEN BENJAVUN, NAKAYA HIDEO, SAEGUSA HARUO, NAGAOKA SHINJI. Hominoid fossils discovered from Chiang Muan, northern Thailand: the first step towards understanding hominoid evolution in Neogene Southeast Asia. ANTHROPOL SCI 2005. [DOI: 10.1537/ase.04s013] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/01/2022]
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Kunimatsu Y, Ratanasthien B, Nakaya H, Saegusa H, Nagaoka S. Earliest Miocene hominoid from Southeast Asia. AMERICAN JOURNAL OF PHYSICAL ANTHROPOLOGY 2004; 124:99-108. [PMID: 15160364 DOI: 10.1002/ajpa.10344] [Citation(s) in RCA: 16] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/08/2022]
Abstract
A new hominoid fossil site, Chiang Muan in northern Thailand, yielded the first finding of a large-bodied Miocene hominoid in Southeast Asia. This specimen (CMu6-1'00) was preliminarily reported by Kunimatsu et al. Later, Chaimanee et al. reported additional hominoid teeth from the same site, but all of them were collected from younger deposits (the Upper Lignite Member, in Nagaoka and Suganuma). The specimen described here (CMu6-1'00) was recovered from the Lower Lignite Member (Nagaoka and Suganuma), which is probably several hundred thousand years older than the Upper Lignite Member (Suganuma et al.). This article provides a detailed description of this hominoid specimen and paleontological/geological data of the fossil site at Chiang Muan. The hominoid specimen (CMu6-1'00) is an isolated upper molar (right M1 or M2), similar in size to modern orangutans (Pongo pygmaeus). This upper molar has low and voluminous cusps, relatively thick enamel, and relatively low relief of the dentine/enamel junction, with only a faint remnant of the lingual cingulum. The age of Chiang Muan is estimated to be the latest Middle Miocene (ca. 11-12 Ma), based on the mammalian fossils (Nakaya et al.) and paleomagnetic study (Suganuma et al.). This suggests that the Chiang Muan Hominoid in the present study is an earlier member of Eastern Eurasian Miocene hominoids.
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Affiliation(s)
- Yutaka Kunimatsu
- Primate Research Institute, Kyôto University, Inuyama, Aichi 484-8506, Japan.
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Kunimatsu Y, Ishida H, Nakatsukasa M, Nakano Y, Sawada Y, Nakayama K. Maxillae and associated gnathodental specimens of Nacholapithecus kerioi, a large-bodied hominoid from Nachola, northern Kenya. J Hum Evol 2004; 46:365-400. [PMID: 15066377 DOI: 10.1016/j.jhevol.2003.12.008] [Citation(s) in RCA: 30] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/27/2001] [Accepted: 12/14/2003] [Indexed: 11/30/2022]
Abstract
The middle Miocene large-bodied hominoid from Nachola, initially attributed to Kenyapithecus, was recently transferred to a new genus and species Nacholapithecus kerioi. The hypodigm of N. kerioi consists of numerous maxillae, mandibles, and isolated teeth, as well as a number of postcranial bones. A detailed description of the previously discovered postcranial material has already been presented. This article aims to give a detailed description of maxillary specimens (including some mandibular fragments associated with them) of N. kerioi collected by the Japan-Kenya Joint Project team during the field seasons of 1982, 1984, and 1986. The maxillary specimens of N. kerioi retain a set of primitive catarrhine features, such as a relatively shallow palate, low position of the anterior zygomatic root, and the lack of enlarged premolars. Yet, compared to the Early Miocene Proconsul, N. kerioi is derived in having a moderately elongated subnasal clivus that appears to have overlapped the hard palate.
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Affiliation(s)
- Yutaka Kunimatsu
- Primate Research Institute, Kyôto University, Kanrin, Inuyama, Aichi, 484-8506, Japan.
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Lukacs JR. Enamel hypoplasia in the deciduous teeth of early Miocene catarrhines: evidence of perinatal physiological stress. J Hum Evol 2001; 40:319-29. [PMID: 11312584 DOI: 10.1006/jhev.2000.0458] [Citation(s) in RCA: 15] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/22/2022]
Abstract
Enamel hypoplasia (EH) is a deficiency in enamel thickness due to physiological insults that compromise ameloblast function during the secretory phase of amelogenesis. The prevalence of EH in the deciduous teeth of nonhuman primates is largely unknown. One exception is the recent discovery of EH in the deciduous teeth of extant great apes which exhibit significant differences in prevalence between genera (Lukacs, 1999 a, 2000 a, Am. J. phys. Anthrop.110, 351-363). EH in deciduous teeth of other primates, living and fossil, remain undocumented. This communication describes a "plane form" type of EH known as localized hypoplasia of primary canines (LHPC) (Skinner, 1986 a, Am. J. phys. Anthrop.69, 59-69) in early Miocene catarrhines from Kenya. Specimens were examined macroscopically, with a 10x hand lens and with a variable power (10-30x) binocular microscope. Fédération Dentaire International (FDI)/Defects of Dental Enamel (DDE) standards were employed in recognition and recording of enamel defects (Fédération Dentaire International, 1982, Int. Dent. J.32, 159-167; Clarkson, 1989, Adv. Dental Res.3, 104-109). Size, shape and location of defects were measured and recorded on an outline drawing of the tooth crown. The Kenya National Museum study sample includes six genera of early Miocene catarrhines (n=66 specimens, with n=80 teeth). Seven deciduous teeth were afflicted with EH, yielding an overall prevalence of 8.75%. Two taxa, Kalepithecus (n=1 deciduous canine) and Proconsul (n=3 deciduous canines), were affected with LHPC. Expression of LHPC in fossil catarrhines is consistent with the expression of EH observed in skeletal samples of extant great apes. This report establishes an approximately 17-23 Ma antiquity for EH among early catarrhines and suggests that the neonatal stage of ontogenetic development was sufficiently stressful physiologically to produce disruption in amelogenesis. These physiological stresses impacted neonates of fossil taxa with a wide range of adult body sizes, from large-bodied Proconsul major ( approximately 75 kg) to one of the smaller-bodied catarrhines, Kalepithecus ( approximately 5 kg).
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Affiliation(s)
- J R Lukacs
- Department of Anthropology, University of Oregon, Eugene, Oregon, 97403-1218, U.S.A.
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Abstract
The middle Miocene hominoid Otavipithecus namibiensis is the first and most complete fossil ape from sub-equatorial Africa and represents a significant addition to the taxonomically sparse African middle Miocene hominoid fossil record. The Otavipithecus hypodigm comprises the holotype mandible, which presents a unique mosaic of dental and gnathic characters, and several attributed cranial and postcranial elements which resemble the stem hominoid Proconsul. Contrary to initial hopes that this discovery would provide new insights into hominoid morphological diversity and phylogenetic relationships, a variety of conflicting phylogenetic hypotheses have been advanced suggesting ties to virtually every major large-bodied hominoid group (Conroy et al., 1992; Andrews, 1992 a; Conroy, 1994; Pickford et al., 1994; Begun, 1994 a). Cladistic analysis of a matrix of 22 qualitative and ten quantitative characters of the mandible and mandibular dentition found no support for a close phylogenetic relationship between Otavipithecus and either the African ape or great ape clades, or with any of the Eurasian fossil hominoids with which it has previously been compared. A close relationship between Otavipithecus and Kenyapithecus cannot be ruled out, but is deemed unlikely on the basis both of morphological comparisons and the absence of support within a cladistic framework. The present analysis indicates that Otavipithecus is most closely related to Afropithecus, as previously suggested by Andrews (1992 a) among others. Due to lack of statistical support for this result, a conservative interpretation, that these taxa represented related but divergent lineages of a late early Miocene hominoid radiation, is currently favored. Findings are consistent with the allocation of Otavipithecus to Andrews' (1992 a) tribe Afropithecini which represents the sister group to Kenyapithecus and the extant ape clade.
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Affiliation(s)
- M Singleton
- Department of Vertebrate Paleontology, American Museum of Natural History, Central Park West and 79th Street, New York, NY 10034, USA.
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Harrison T, Yumin G. Taxonomy and phylogenetic relationships of early Miocene catarrhines from Sihong, China. J Hum Evol 1999; 37:225-77. [PMID: 10444352 DOI: 10.1006/jhev.1999.0310] [Citation(s) in RCA: 60] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/22/2022]
Abstract
Paleontological investigations at sites in Sihong County, Jiangsu Province, China since 1981 have yielded a sizeable collection of previously undescribed fossil catarrhines from the Xiacaowan Formation. The associated vertebrate fauna indicates a late early Miocene age (correlating with MN 4, late Orleanian of Europe, approximately 17-18 Ma), which establishes the Sihong primates as the earliest known catarrhines from Eurasia. The fossil primates are assigned to two species: Dionysopithecus shuangouensis Li, 1978 and Platodontopithecus jianghuaiensis Gu & Lin, 1983. Although the new material from Sihong consists mainly of isolated teeth, it does provide important new information on the anatomy of Dionysopithecus and Platodontopithecus that helps to clarify their phylogenetic and taxonomic status. Previous studies have suggested that the Sihong catarrhines might be closely related to the proconsulids from the early Miocene of East Africa. However, with more extensive material available for comparison, the Sihong primates can now be shown to share a number of key derived features with pliopithecids. This new evidence helps to resolve a longstanding problem concerning the origins of the Pliopithecidae. It was previously considered that specialized pliopithecids migrated into Europe during MN 5, originating from an unknown antecedent and location in Africa. Recognition that the Sihong primates have affinities with pliopithecids, but are more primitive, suggests that the initial differentiation and diversification of the clade may have taken place in Asia rather than Africa. The earliest Eurasian catarrhines probably migrated into tropical Asia as part of a major faunal interchange with Africa that occurred during MN 3.
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Affiliation(s)
- T Harrison
- Department of Anthropology, New York University, New York, New York 10003, USA.
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Kelley J. Sex determination in miocene catarrhine primates. AMERICAN JOURNAL OF PHYSICAL ANTHROPOLOGY 1995; 96:391-417. [PMID: 7604893 DOI: 10.1002/ajpa.1330960406] [Citation(s) in RCA: 23] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/26/2023]
Abstract
Canines of fossil hominoids and primitive catarrhines from several early, middle, and late Miocene sites were analyzed according to the shape indices described in Kelley (1995) and compared to those of males and females of extant great apes. In bivariate plots of the fossil canines utilizing the indices, 90% of the upper canines and 85% of the lower canines fell within or just outside the exclusively male or exclusively female territories delimited by the extant great apes. The remainder fell in the male-female overlap zones. Sex assignments based on these distributions were nearly 100% concordant with classifications according to canine height, suggesting a high degree of accuracy. There were various taxon-specific shifts in bivariate space among fossil genera, reflecting subtle differences in canine shape between taxa within the overall pattern of similarity to extant great apes as a whole. In many cases these shifts are matched by particular extant-ape species and subspecies, while other fossil taxa have no exact analogue for canine shape among the extant great apes. However, the pattern of spatial segregation of canines identified as either male or female at each of the sites largely mirrors that of males and females within the extant-ape sample, indicating that Miocene catarrhines shared with extant great apes a common pattern of shape differences between male and female canines, regardless of taxon-specific morphologies. These observations demonstrate that the canines of fossil catarrhines can be sexed with a high degree of confidence based solely on intrinsic features of shape. This will permit more reliable characterizations of morphological sexual dimorphism among fossil species. It is also argued that canine shape is a more reliable indicator of sex in fossil taxa than are canine/molar size ratios.
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Affiliation(s)
- J Kelley
- Department of Oral Biology, College of Dentistry, University of Illinois at Chicago 60612, USA
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Kelley J. Sexual dimorphism in canine shape among extant great apes. AMERICAN JOURNAL OF PHYSICAL ANTHROPOLOGY 1995; 96:365-89. [PMID: 7604892 DOI: 10.1002/ajpa.1330960405] [Citation(s) in RCA: 39] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/26/2023]
Abstract
There have been numerous attempts to sex fossil specimens using the canine dentition. Whether focused on canine size or canine shape, most of these efforts share two deficiencies: lack of quantification of male-female differences in the adopted criteria and a failure to adequately explore among extant species the discriminatory power of these criteria. Here, canine shape indices relating to relative canine height, upper canine root/crown proportionality, and relative length of the lower canine mesial ridge were calculated for males and females of all species and subspecies of extant great apes and two species of gibbons. The accuracy of these indices for identifying the sex of the extant ape specimens was investigated through discriminant analysis and the use of bivariate plots of the two upper and two lower canine indices. The indices were found to be highly accurate in identifying the sex of great ape individuals, not only in single-species and subspecies samples but in mixed-species samples as well; assignment error rates were mostly between 0 and 4%. Accuracy was lowest in Pan (error rates as high as 15%) and highest in Pongo (one error). In most cases, error rates were lower in the upper canines. The effectiveness of these shape indices for sexing might be related to the degree of absolute canine size dimorphism; the indices did not effectively segregate males and females among minimally canine-dimorphic gibbons. The mixed-species results reveal that same-sex index values are remarkably concordant across great ape species, as are the patterns of spatial segregation of males and females in the bivariate plots. Results suggest that, while the indices can be used with some confidence to sex individual fossil specimens, their greatest utility will be for identifying the sex of groups of canines united by size and morphology.
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Affiliation(s)
- J Kelley
- Department of Oral Biology, College of Dentistry, University of Illinois at Chicago 60612, USA
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A reassessment of the taxonomic and phylogenetic affinities of the fossil catarrhines from fort Ternan, Kenya. Primates 1992. [DOI: 10.1007/bf02381152] [Citation(s) in RCA: 24] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/24/2022]
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Conroy GC, Pickford M, Senut B, Van Couvering J, Mein P. Otavipithecus namibiensis, first Miocene hominoid from southern Africa. Nature 1992; 356:144-8. [PMID: 1545864 DOI: 10.1038/356144a0] [Citation(s) in RCA: 68] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/27/2022]
Abstract
We report here the discovery of a Miocene hominoid from Berg Aukas, Namibia, the first known from the African continent south of equatorial East Africa. This represents a major range extension of Miocene Hominoidea in Africa to latitude 20 degrees S. The holotype, a right mandibular corpus preserving the crowns of the P4-M3, partial crown and root of the P3, partial root of the canine, alveoli for all four incisors, and partial alveolus for the left canine, was found during paleontological explorations of karst-fill breccias in the Otavi region of northern Namibia. The mandible has unique characteristics that differentiate it from other middle Miocene hominoids of Africa and Eurasia and represents the only fossil evidence documenting a pre-australopithecine stage of hominoid evolution in southern Africa. Faunal analyses indicate that the breccia block containing the specimen accumulated during the latter part of the middle Miocene, about 13 +/- 1 Myr. Fauna from other breccia blocks at Berg Aukas are of diverse ages, including the earlier part of the middle Miocene, the upper Miocene, Plio-Pleistocene and Holocene.
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Affiliation(s)
- G C Conroy
- Department of Anatomy & Neurobiology, Washington University Medical School, St. Louis, Missouri 63110
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Abstract
During the later Palaeocene and early Miocene, catarrhine primates and the evolving hominoids had adaptations for frugivorous diets, with the emphasis on soft foods. Early in the middle Miocene the hominoids underwent a major shift, both in morphology and in habitat, with the morphology characterized by thickened enamel on the molars, enlarged incisors and massive jaws. The diet indicated by this morphology is interpreted as still mainly frugivorous but with changed emphasis, possibly towards harder objects. The thick-enamelled hominoids are found associated with more open forest habitats, and the distribution of food resources in equivalent habitats today is discontinuous both in time and in space, leading to evolutionary pressures particularly affecting locomotion, brain size and social behaviour. The earliest known hominid fossils differed little in dental and mandibular morphology from the middle Miocene apes, and the implied dietary similarity, together with ape-like patterns of dental development and retained arboreal adaptations of the postcrania, suggests little change in the foraging strategies of the earliest hominids compared with their ape ancestors and further suggests similarity in evolutionary grade. This similarity may have extended to other aspects of behaviour, for example to patterns of tool making and use, which may have been similar in the common ancestor of apes and humans to the pattern shared by the earliest australopithecines and chimpanzees.
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Harrison T, Delson E, Jian G. A new species of Pliopithecus from the middle Miocene of China and its implications for early catarrhine zoogeography. J Hum Evol 1991. [DOI: 10.1016/0047-2484(91)90112-9] [Citation(s) in RCA: 26] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/26/2022]
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Hill A, Behrensmeyer K, Brown B, Deino A, Rose M, Saunders J, Ward S, Winkler A. Kipsaramon: a lower Miocene hominoid site in the Tugen Hills, Baringo District, Kenya. J Hum Evol 1991. [DOI: 10.1016/0047-2484(91)90046-x] [Citation(s) in RCA: 10] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/25/2022]
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Rose M. New postcranial specimens of catarrhines from the Middle Miocene Chinji Formation, Pakistan: descriptions and a discussion of proximal humeral functional morphology in anthropoids. J Hum Evol 1989. [DOI: 10.1016/0047-2484(89)90067-5] [Citation(s) in RCA: 80] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/25/2022]
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