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Monclús-Gonzalo O, Alba DM, Duhamel A, Fabre AC, Marigó J. Early euprimates already had a diverse locomotor repertoire: Evidence from ankle bone morphology. J Hum Evol 2023; 181:103395. [PMID: 37320961 DOI: 10.1016/j.jhevol.2023.103395] [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: 08/09/2022] [Revised: 05/04/2023] [Accepted: 05/08/2023] [Indexed: 06/17/2023]
Abstract
The morphological adaptations of euprimates have been linked to their origin and early evolution in an arboreal environment. However, the ancestral and early locomotor repertoire of this group remains contentious. Although some tarsal bones like the astragalus and the calcaneus have been thoroughly studied, the navicular remains poorly studied despite its potential implications for foot mobility. Here, we evaluate early euprimate locomotion by assessing the shape of the navicular-an important component of the midtarsal region of the foot-using three-dimensional geometric morphometrics in relation to quantified locomotor repertoire in a wide data set of extant primates. We also reconstruct the locomotor repertoire of representatives of the major early primate lineages with a novel phylogenetically informed discriminant analysis and characterize the changes that occurred in the navicular during the archaic primate-euprimate transition. To do so, we included in our study an extensive sample of naviculars (36 specimens) belonging to different species of adapiforms, omomyiforms, and plesiadapiforms. Our results indicate that navicular shape embeds a strong functional signal, allowing us to infer the type of locomotion of extinct primates. We demonstrate that early euprimates displayed a diverse locomotor behavior, although they did not reach the level of specialization of some living forms. Finally, we show that the navicular bone experienced substantial reorganization throughout the archaic primate-euprimate transition, supporting the major functional role of the tarsus during early primate evolution. This study demonstrates that navicular shape can be used as a reliable proxy for primate locomotor behavior. In addition, it sheds light on the diverse locomotor behavior of early primates as well as on the archaic primate-euprimate transition, which involved profound morphological changes within the tarsus, including the navicular bone.
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Affiliation(s)
- Oriol Monclús-Gonzalo
- Institut Català de Paleontologia Miquel Crusafont, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, Edifici ICTA-ICP, c/ Columnes s/n, 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, 08193 Cerdanyola del Vallès, Barcelona, Spain
| | - Anaïs Duhamel
- University of Lyon, ENSL, CNRS, LGL-TPE, Villeurbanne 69622, France
| | - Anne-Claire Fabre
- Naturhistorisches Museum Bern, 3005 Bern, Switzerland; Institute of Ecology and Evolution, University of Bern, 3012 Bern, Switzerland; Life Sciences Department, Vertebrates Division, Natural History Museum, London SW7 5BD, UK.
| | - Judit Marigó
- Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, Departament de Geologia, 08193 Cerdanyola del Vallès, Barcelona, Spain; Institut Català de Paleontologia Miquel Crusafont, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, Edifici ICTA-ICP, c/ Columnes s/n, 08193 Cerdanyola del Vallès, Barcelona, Spain.
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2
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Spear JK, Grabowski M, Sekhavati Y, Costa CE, Goldstein DM, Petrullo LA, Peterson AL, Lee AB, Shattuck MR, Gómez-Olivencia A, Williams SA. Evolution of vertebral numbers in primates, with a focus on hominoids and the last common ancestor of hominins and panins. J Hum Evol 2023; 179:103359. [PMID: 37099927 DOI: 10.1016/j.jhevol.2023.103359] [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: 10/12/2022] [Revised: 03/14/2023] [Accepted: 03/14/2023] [Indexed: 04/28/2023]
Abstract
The primate vertebral column has been extensively studied, with a particular focus on hominoid primates and the last common ancestor of humans and chimpanzees. The number of vertebrae in hominoids-up to and including the last common ancestor of humans and chimpanzees-is subject to considerable debate. However, few formal ancestral state reconstructions exist, and none include a broad sample of primates or account for the correlated evolution of the vertebral column. Here, we conduct an ancestral state reconstruction using a model of evolution that accounts for both homeotic (changes of one type of vertebra to another) and meristic (addition or loss of a vertebra) changes. Our results suggest that ancestral primates were characterized by 29 precaudal vertebrae, with the most common formula being seven cervical, 13 thoracic, six lumbar, and three sacral vertebrae. Extant hominoids evolved tail loss and a reduced lumbar column via sacralization (homeotic transition at the last lumbar vertebra). Our results also indicate that the ancestral hylobatid had seven cervical, 13 thoracic, five lumbar, and four sacral vertebrae, and the ancestral hominid had seven cervical, 13 thoracic, four lumbar, and five sacral vertebrae. The last common ancestor of humans and chimpanzees likely either retained this ancestral hominid formula or was characterized by an additional sacral vertebra, possibly acquired through a homeotic shift at the sacrococcygeal border. Our results support the 'short-back' model of hominin vertebral evolution, which postulates that hominins evolved from an ancestor with an African ape-like numerical composition of the vertebral column.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jeffrey K Spear
- Center for the Study of Human Origins, Department of Anthropology, New York University, New York, NY, USA; New York Consortium in Evolutionary Primatology, New York, NY, USA.
| | - Mark Grabowski
- Research Centre in Evolutionary Anthropology and Paleoecology, Liverpool John Moores University, Liverpool, UK; Department of Biosciences, Centre for Ecological and Evolutionary Synthesis, University of Oslo, Oslo, Norway
| | - Yeganeh Sekhavati
- Department of Anthropology, Washington University in St. Louis, St. Louis, MO, USA
| | - Christina E Costa
- Center for the Study of Human Origins, Department of Anthropology, New York University, New York, NY, USA; New York Consortium in Evolutionary Primatology, New York, NY, USA
| | - Deanna M Goldstein
- Department of Anatomical Sciences, Renaissance School of Medicine, Stony Brook University, Stony Brook, NY, USA
| | - Lauren A Petrullo
- Department of Psychology, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, USA
| | - Amy L Peterson
- Smithsonian Institution, National Museum of Natural History, Washington DC, USA
| | - Amanda B Lee
- Data Scientist, Jellyfish, Suite 3033, 220 N Green St, Chicago, IL, USA
| | | | - Asier Gómez-Olivencia
- Departamento de Geología, Facultad de Ciencia y Tecnología, Universidad Del País Vasco/Euskal Herriko Unibertsitatea (UPV/EHU), Barrio Sarriena S/n, 48940 Bilbao, Spain; Sociedad de Ciencias Aranzadi, Zorroagagaina 11, 20014 Donostia-San Sebastián, Spain; Centro UCM-ISCIII de Investigación Sobre Evolución y Comportamiento Humanos, Avda. Monforte de Lemos 5 (Pabellón 14), 28029 Madrid, Spain
| | - Scott A Williams
- Center for the Study of Human Origins, Department of Anthropology, New York University, New York, NY, USA; New York Consortium in Evolutionary Primatology, New York, NY, USA
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3
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Li P, Ross CF, Luo ZX. Morphological disparity and evolutionary transformations in the primate hyoid apparatus. J Hum Evol 2021; 162:103094. [PMID: 34808474 DOI: 10.1016/j.jhevol.2021.103094] [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: 01/09/2021] [Revised: 10/03/2021] [Accepted: 10/03/2021] [Indexed: 10/19/2022]
Abstract
The hyoid apparatus plays an integral role in swallowing, respiration, and vocalization in mammals. Most placental mammals have a rod-shaped basihyal connected to the basicranium via both soft tissues and a mobile bony chain-the anterior cornu-whereas anthropoid primates have broad, shield-like or even cup-shaped basihyals suspended from the basicranium by soft tissues only. How the unique anthropoid hyoid morphology evolved is unknown, and hyoid morphology of nonanthropoid primates is poorly documented. Here we use phylogenetic comparative methods and linear morphometrics to address knowledge gaps in hyoid evolution among primates and their euarchontan outgroups. We find that dermopterans have variable reduction of cornu elements. Cynocephalus volans are sexually dimorphic in hyoid morphology. Tupaia and all lemuroids except Daubentonia have a fully ossified anterior cornu connecting a rod-shaped basihyal to the basicranium; this is the ancestral mammalian pattern that is also characteristic of the last common ancestor of Primates. Haplorhines exhibit a reduced anterior cornu, and anthropoids underwent further increase in basihyal aspect ratio values and in relative basihyal volume. Convergent with haplorhines, lorisoid strepsirrhines independently evolved a broad basihyal and reduced anterior cornua. While a reduced anterior cornu is hypothesized to facilitate vocal tract lengthening and lower formant frequencies in some mammals, our results suggest vocalization adaptations alone are unlikely to drive the iterative reduction of anterior cornua within Primates. Our new data on euarchontan hyoid evolution provide an anatomical basis for further exploring the form-function relationships of the hyoid across different behaviors, including vocalization, chewing, and swallowing.
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Affiliation(s)
- Peishu Li
- Department of Organismal Biology and Anatomy, The University of Chicago, Chicago, IL, 60637, USA.
| | - Callum F Ross
- Department of Organismal Biology and Anatomy, The University of Chicago, Chicago, IL, 60637, USA
| | - Zhe-Xi Luo
- Department of Organismal Biology and Anatomy, The University of Chicago, Chicago, IL, 60637, USA
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4
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Marigó J, Minwer-Barakat R, Moyà-Solà S, Boyer DM. First navicular remains of a European adapiform (Anchomomys frontanyensis) from the Middle Eocene of the Eastern Pyrenees (Catalonia, Spain): implications for early primate locomotor behavior and navicular evolution. J Hum Evol 2020; 139:102708. [PMID: 31972428 DOI: 10.1016/j.jhevol.2019.102708] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/11/2018] [Revised: 10/24/2019] [Accepted: 11/01/2019] [Indexed: 10/25/2022]
Abstract
We describe the first known navicular bones for an Eocene euprimate from Europe and assess their implications for early patterns of locomotor evolution in primates. Recovered from the fossil site of Sant Jaume de Frontanyà-3C (Barcelona, Spain), the naviculars are attributed to Anchomomys frontanyensis. The small size of A. frontanyensis allows us to consider behavioral implications of comparisons with omomyiforms, regardless of allometric sources of navicular variation. Researchers usually consider omomyiforms to be more prone to leaping than contemporaneous adapiforms partly because of the more pronounced elongation of omomyiform tarsal elements. However, A. frontanyensis differs from other adapiforms and is similar to some omomyiforms in its more elongated navicular proportions. Although this might raise questions about attribution of these naviculars to A. frontanyensis, the elements exhibit clear strepsirrhine affinities leaving little doubt about the attribution: the bones' mesocuneiform facets contact their cuboid facets. We further propose that this strepsirrhine-specific feature in A. frontanyensis and other adapiforms reflects use of more inverted foot postures and potentially smaller substrates than sympatric omomyiforms that lack it. Thus substrate differences may have influenced niche partitioning in Eocene euprimate communities along with differences in locomotor agility. As previous studies on the astragalus and the calcaneus have suggested, this study on the navicular is consistent with the hypothesis that the locomotor mode of A. frontanyensis was similar to that of extant cheirogaleids, especially species of Microcebus and Mirza.
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Affiliation(s)
- Judit Marigó
- Institut Català de Paleontologia Miquel Crusafont, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, Cerdanyola del Vallès, Barcelona, Spain; Department of Evolutionary Anthropology, Duke University, Durham, NC, USA.
| | - Raef Minwer-Barakat
- Institut Català de Paleontologia Miquel Crusafont, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, Cerdanyola del Vallès, Barcelona, Spain; Departamento de Estratigrafía y Paleontología, Universidad de Granada, Avda. Fuente Nueva s/n, 18071, Granada, Spain
| | - Salvador Moyà-Solà
- Institut Català de Paleontologia Miquel Crusafont, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, Cerdanyola del Vallès, Barcelona, Spain; Unit of Anthropology, BABVE Department, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, 08193, Cerdanyola del Vallès, Barcelona, Spain; ICREA, Pg. Lluís Companys 23, 08010, Barcelona, Spain
| | - Doug M Boyer
- Department of Evolutionary Anthropology, Duke University, Durham, NC, USA
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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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Sansom RS, Wills MA, Williams T. Dental Data Perform Relatively Poorly in Reconstructing Mammal Phylogenies: Morphological Partitions Evaluated with Molecular Benchmarks. Syst Biol 2017; 66:813-822. [PMID: 28003534 PMCID: PMC5790133 DOI: 10.1093/sysbio/syw116] [Citation(s) in RCA: 19] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/17/2016] [Revised: 11/30/2016] [Accepted: 12/20/2016] [Indexed: 01/27/2023] Open
Abstract
Phylogenetic trees underpin reconstructions of evolutionary history and tests of evolutionary hypotheses. They are inferred from both molecular and morphological data, yet the relative value of morphology has been questioned in this context due to perceived homoplasy, developmental linkage, and nonindependence of characters. Nevertheless, fossil data are limited to incomplete subsets of preserved morphology, and different regions are treated as equivalent. Through meta-analysis of 40 data sets, we show here that the dental and osteological characters of mammals convey significantly different phylogenetic signals, and that osteological characters are significantly more compatible with molecular trees. Furthermore, the application of simplified paleontological filters (retaining only dental data) results in significantly greater loss of phylogenetic signal than random character ablation. Although the mammal fossil record is largely comprised of teeth, dental data alone are generally found to be less reliable for phylogenetic reconstruction given their incongruence with osteological and molecular data. These findings highlight the need for rigorous meta-analyses of distributions of homoplasy in morphological data. These tests, and consequent refinements to phylogenetic analyses that they permit, promise to improve the quality of all macroevolutionary studies that hinge on accurate trees. [Homoplasy; Mammalia; morphology; osteology; phylogeny; teeth.
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Affiliation(s)
- Robert S. Sansom
- School of Earth and Environmental Sciences, University of Manchester, Oxford Road, Manchester M13 9PT, UK
| | - Matthew Albion Wills
- Department of Biology and Biochemistry, University of Bath, Claverton Down, Bath BA2 7AY, UK
| | - Tamara Williams
- School of Earth and Environmental Sciences, University of Manchester, Oxford Road, Manchester M13 9PT, UK
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7
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Harrington AR, Silcox MT, Yapuncich GS, Boyer DM, Bloch JI. First virtual endocasts of adapiform primates. J Hum Evol 2016; 99:52-78. [DOI: 10.1016/j.jhevol.2016.06.005] [Citation(s) in RCA: 12] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/23/2015] [Revised: 06/06/2016] [Accepted: 06/30/2016] [Indexed: 12/23/2022]
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8
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The phylogenetic system of primates—character evolution in the light of a consolidated tree. ORG DIVERS EVOL 2016. [DOI: 10.1007/s13127-016-0279-1] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/26/2022]
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9
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Mayr G. The early Eocene birds of the Messel fossil site: a 48 million-year-old bird community adds a temporal perspective to the evolution of tropical avifaunas. Biol Rev Camb Philos Soc 2016; 92:1174-1188. [DOI: 10.1111/brv.12274] [Citation(s) in RCA: 22] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/27/2015] [Revised: 03/14/2016] [Accepted: 03/17/2016] [Indexed: 11/29/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Gerald Mayr
- Senckenberg Research Institute and Natural History Museum Frankfurt, Ornithological Section; Senckenberganlage 25 D-60325 Frankfurt am Main Germany
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10
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Marigó J, Roig I, Seiffert ER, Moyà-Solà S, Boyer DM. Astragalar and calcaneal morphology of the middle Eocene primate Anchomomys frontanyensis (Anchomomyini): Implications for early primate evolution. J Hum Evol 2016; 91:122-43. [PMID: 26852816 DOI: 10.1016/j.jhevol.2015.08.011] [Citation(s) in RCA: 20] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/12/2014] [Revised: 07/07/2015] [Accepted: 08/29/2015] [Indexed: 10/22/2022]
Abstract
Astragali and calcanei of Anchomomys frontanyensis, a small adapiform from the middle Eocene of Sant Jaume de Frontanyà (Southern Pyrenean basins, northeastern Spain) are described in detail. Though these bones have been known for some time, they have never been carefully analyzed in a context that is comprehensively comparative, quantitative, considers sample variation (astragalus n = 4; calcaneus n = 16), and assesses the phylogenetic significance of the material in an explicit cladistic context, as we do here. Though these bones are isolated, regression analyses provide the first formal statistical support for attribution to A. frontanyensis. The astragalus presents features similar to those of the small stem strepsirrhine Djebelemur from the middle Eocene of Tunisia, while the calcaneus more closely resembles those of the basal omomyiform Teilhardina. The new phylogenetic analyses that include Anchomomys' postcranial and dental data recover anchomomyins outside of the adapiform clade, and closer to djebelemurids, azibiids, and crown strepsirrhines. The small size of A. frontanyensis allows comparison of similarly small adapiforms and omomyiforms (haplorhines) such that observed variation has more straightforward implications for function. Previous studies have demonstrated that distal calcaneal elongation is reflective of leaping proclivity when effects of body mass are appropriately accounted for; in this context, A. frontanyensis has calcaneal elongation suggesting a higher degree of leaping specialization than other adapiforms and even some early omomyiforms. Moreover, comparison to a similarly-sized early adapiform from India, Marcgodinotius (which shows no calcaneal elongation) confirms that high distal calcaneal elongation in A. frontanyensis cannot be simply explained by allometric effects of small size compared to larger adapiform taxa. This pattern is consistent with the idea that significant distal calcaneal elongation evolved at least twice in early euprimates, and that early primate niche space frequently included demands for increased leaping specialization.
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Affiliation(s)
- Judit Marigó
- Department of Evolutionary Anthropology, Duke University, Durham, NC, USA; Institut Català de Paleontologia Miquel Crusafont (ICP), Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, Edifici Z (ICTA-ICP), Carrer de les Columnes s/n, Campus UAB, 08193 Cerdanyola del Vallès, Barcelona, Spain.
| | - Imma Roig
- Institut Català de Paleontologia Miquel Crusafont (ICP), Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, Edifici Z (ICTA-ICP), Carrer de les Columnes s/n, Campus UAB, 08193 Cerdanyola del Vallès, Barcelona, Spain
| | - Erik R Seiffert
- Department of Anatomical Sciences, Stony Brook University, Stony Brook, NY, USA
| | - Salvador Moyà-Solà
- ICREA at Institut Català de Paleontologia Miquel Crusafont (ICP), Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, Edifici Z (ICTA-ICP), Carrer de les Columnes s/n, Campus UAB, 08193 Cerdanyola del Vallès, Barcelona, Spain
| | - Doug M Boyer
- Department of Evolutionary Anthropology, Duke University, Durham, NC, USA
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11
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López-Torres S, Schillaci MA, Silcox MT. Life history of the most complete fossil primate skeleton: exploring growth models for Darwinius. ROYAL SOCIETY OPEN SCIENCE 2015; 2:150340. [PMID: 26473056 PMCID: PMC4593690 DOI: 10.1098/rsos.150340] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/13/2015] [Accepted: 08/11/2015] [Indexed: 06/05/2023]
Abstract
Darwinius is an adapoid primate from the Eocene of Germany, and its only known specimen represents the most complete fossil primate ever found. Its describers hypothesized a close relationship to Anthropoidea, and using a Saimiri model estimated its age at death. This study reconstructs the ancestral permanent dental eruption sequences for basal Euprimates, Haplorhini, Anthropoidea, and stem and crown Strepsirrhini. The results show that the ancestral sequences for the basal euprimate, haplorhine and stem strepsirrhine are identical, and similar to that of Darwinius. However, Darwinius differs from anthropoids by exhibiting early development of the lower third molars relative to the lower third and fourth premolars. The eruption of the lower second premolar marks the point of interruption of the sequence in Darwinius. The anthropoid Saimiri as a model is therefore problematic because it exhibits a delayed eruption of P2. Here, an alternative strepsirrhine model based on Eulemur and Varecia is presented. Our proposed model shows an older age at death than previously suggested (1.05-1.14 years), while the range for adult weight is entirely below the range proposed previously. This alternative model is more consistent with hypotheses supporting a stronger relationship between adapoids and strepsirrhines.
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Affiliation(s)
- Sergi López-Torres
- Department of Anthropology, University of Toronto Scarborough, 1265 Military Trail, Toronto, Ontario, Canada M1C 1A4
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12
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Pattinson DJ, Thompson RS, Piotrowski AK, Asher RJ. Phylogeny, Paleontology, and Primates: Do Incomplete Fossils Bias the Tree of Life? Syst Biol 2014; 64:169-86. [DOI: 10.1093/sysbio/syu077] [Citation(s) in RCA: 29] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/14/2022] Open
Affiliation(s)
- David J. Pattinson
- Department of Zoology, Downing Street, Cambridge, CB2 3EJ; 2Division of Ecology and Evolution, Imperial College London, South Kensington Campus, London, SW7 2AZ; 3Department of Life Sciences, Natural History Museum, Cromwell Road, London, SW7 5BD; and 4Department of Physics, Cavendish Laboratory, JJ Thomson Avenue, Cambridge, CB3 0HE, UK
- Department of Zoology, Downing Street, Cambridge, CB2 3EJ; 2Division of Ecology and Evolution, Imperial College London, South Kensington Campus, London, SW7 2AZ; 3Department of Life Sciences, Natural History Museum, Cromwell Road, London, SW7 5BD; and 4Department of Physics, Cavendish Laboratory, JJ Thomson Avenue, Cambridge, CB3 0HE, UK
- Department of Zoology, Downing Street, Cambridge, CB2 3EJ; 2Division of Ecology and Evolution, Imperial College London, South Kensington Campus, London, SW7 2AZ; 3Department of Life Sciences, Natural History Museum, Cromwell Road, London, SW7 5BD; and 4Department of Physics, Cavendish Laboratory, JJ Thomson Avenue, Cambridge, CB3 0HE, UK
| | - Richard S. Thompson
- Department of Zoology, Downing Street, Cambridge, CB2 3EJ; 2Division of Ecology and Evolution, Imperial College London, South Kensington Campus, London, SW7 2AZ; 3Department of Life Sciences, Natural History Museum, Cromwell Road, London, SW7 5BD; and 4Department of Physics, Cavendish Laboratory, JJ Thomson Avenue, Cambridge, CB3 0HE, UK
| | - Aleks K. Piotrowski
- Department of Zoology, Downing Street, Cambridge, CB2 3EJ; 2Division of Ecology and Evolution, Imperial College London, South Kensington Campus, London, SW7 2AZ; 3Department of Life Sciences, Natural History Museum, Cromwell Road, London, SW7 5BD; and 4Department of Physics, Cavendish Laboratory, JJ Thomson Avenue, Cambridge, CB3 0HE, UK
| | - Robert J. Asher
- Department of Zoology, Downing Street, Cambridge, CB2 3EJ; 2Division of Ecology and Evolution, Imperial College London, South Kensington Campus, London, SW7 2AZ; 3Department of Life Sciences, Natural History Museum, Cromwell Road, London, SW7 5BD; and 4Department of Physics, Cavendish Laboratory, JJ Thomson Avenue, Cambridge, CB3 0HE, UK
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13
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Boyer DM, Yapuncich GS, Chester SG, Bloch JI, Godinot M. Hands of early primates. AMERICAN JOURNAL OF PHYSICAL ANTHROPOLOGY 2013; 152 Suppl 57:33-78. [DOI: 10.1002/ajpa.22392] [Citation(s) in RCA: 43] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/09/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Doug M. Boyer
- Department of Evolutionary Anthropology; Duke University; Durham NC
- New York Consortium in Evolutionary Primatology; New York NY
| | - Gabriel S. Yapuncich
- Department of Evolutionary Anthropology; Duke University; Durham NC
- New York Consortium in Evolutionary Primatology; New York NY
| | - Stephen G.B. Chester
- New York Consortium in Evolutionary Primatology; New York NY
- Department of Anthropology and Archaeology, Brooklyn College; CUNY; Brooklyn NY
| | - Jonathan I. Bloch
- Florida Museum of Natural History; University of Florida; Gainesville FL
| | - Marc Godinot
- Ecole Pratique des Hautes Etudes; UMR; 5143 Paris France
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14
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Boyer DM, Seiffert ER. Patterns of astragalar fibular facet orientation in extant and fossil primates and their evolutionary implications. AMERICAN JOURNAL OF PHYSICAL ANTHROPOLOGY 2013; 151:420-47. [DOI: 10.1002/ajpa.22283] [Citation(s) in RCA: 33] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/07/2013] [Accepted: 03/28/2013] [Indexed: 11/09/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Doug M. Boyer
- Department of Evolutionary Anthropology; Duke University; Durham; NC; 27708
| | - Erik R. Seiffert
- Department of Anatomical Sciences; Stony Brook University, Health Sciences Center T-8; Stony Brook; NY; 11794-8081
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15
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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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Maiolino S, Boyer DM, Bloch JI, Gilbert CC, Groenke J. Evidence for a grooming claw in a North American adapiform primate: implications for anthropoid origins. PLoS One 2012; 7:e29135. [PMID: 22253707 PMCID: PMC3254620 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0029135] [Citation(s) in RCA: 70] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/20/2011] [Accepted: 11/21/2011] [Indexed: 11/19/2022] Open
Abstract
Among fossil primates, the Eocene adapiforms have been suggested as the closest relatives of living anthropoids (monkeys, apes, and humans). Central to this argument is the form of the second pedal digit. Extant strepsirrhines and tarsiers possess a grooming claw on this digit, while most anthropoids have a nail. While controversial, the possible presence of a nail in certain European adapiforms has been considered evidence for anthropoid affinities. Skeletons preserved well enough to test this idea have been lacking for North American adapiforms. Here, we document and quantitatively analyze, for the first time, a dentally associated skeleton of Notharctus tenebrosus from the early Eocene of Wyoming that preserves the complete bones of digit II in semi-articulation. Utilizing twelve shape variables, we compare the distal phalanges of Notharctus tenebrosus to those of extant primates that bear nails (n = 21), tegulae (n = 4), and grooming claws (n = 10), and those of non-primates that bear claws (n = 7). Quantitative analyses demonstrate that Notharctus tenebrosus possessed a grooming claw with a surprisingly well-developed apical tuft on its second pedal digit. The presence of a wide apical tuft on the pedal digit II of Notharctus tenebrosus may reflect intermediate morphology between a typical grooming claw and a nail, which is consistent with the recent hypothesis that loss of a grooming claw occurred in a clade containing adapiforms (e.g. Darwinius masillae) and anthropoids. However, a cladistic analysis including newly documented morphologies and thorough representation of characters acknowledged to have states constituting strepsirrhine, haplorhine, and anthropoid synapomorphies groups Notharctus tenebrosus and Darwinius masillae with extant strepsirrhines rather than haplorhines suggesting that the form of pedal digit II reflects substantial homoplasy during the course of early primate evolution.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - Doug M. Boyer
- Brooklyn College, City University of New York, Brooklyn, New York, United States of America
| | - Jonathan I. Bloch
- Florida Museum of Natural History, University of Florida, Gainesville, Florida, United States of America
| | - Christopher C. Gilbert
- Hunter College, City University of New York, New York, New York, United States of America
| | - Joseph Groenke
- Stony Brook University, Stony Brook, New York, United States of America
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Maiolino S, Boyer DM, Rosenberger A. Morphological Correlates of the Grooming Claw in Distal Phalanges of Platyrrhines and Other Primates: A Preliminary Study. Anat Rec (Hoboken) 2011; 294:1975-90. [DOI: 10.1002/ar.21498] [Citation(s) in RCA: 18] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/15/2011] [Accepted: 09/16/2011] [Indexed: 11/09/2022]
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Rosenberger AL, Gunnell GF, Ciochon RL. The anthropoid-like face of Siamopithecus: cherry picking trees, phylogenetic corroboration, and the adapiform-anthropoid hypothesis. Anat Rec (Hoboken) 2011; 294:1783-6. [PMID: 21956829 DOI: 10.1002/ar.21468] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/11/2010] [Accepted: 06/10/2011] [Indexed: 11/12/2022]
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New adapiform primate of Old World affinities from the Devil's Graveyard Formation of Texas. J Hum Evol 2011; 61:156-68. [PMID: 21571354 DOI: 10.1016/j.jhevol.2011.02.014] [Citation(s) in RCA: 18] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/15/2010] [Revised: 02/18/2011] [Accepted: 02/18/2011] [Indexed: 11/23/2022]
Abstract
Most adapiform primates from North America are members of an endemic radiation of notharctines. North American notharctines flourished during the Early and early Middle Eocene, with only two genera persisting into the late Middle Eocene. Here we describe a new genus of adapiform primate from the Devil's Graveyard Formation of Texas. Mescalerolemur horneri, gen. et sp. nov., is known only from the late Middle Eocene (Uintan) Purple Bench locality. Phylogenetic analyses reveal that Mescalerolemur is more closely related to Eurasian and African adapiforms than to North American notharctines. In this respect, M. horneri is similar to its sister taxon Mahgarita stevensi from the late Duchesnean of the Devil's Graveyard Formation. The presence of both genera in the Big Bend region of Texas after notharctines had become locally extinct provides further evidence of faunal interchange between North America and East Asia during the middle Eocene. The fact that Mescalerolemur and Mahgarita are both unknown outside of Texas also supports prior hypotheses that low-latitude faunal assemblages in North America demonstrate increased endemism by the late middle Eocene.
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Boyer DM, Seiffert ER, Simons EL. Astragalar morphology of Afradapis, a large adapiform primate from the earliest late Eocene of Egypt. AMERICAN JOURNAL OF PHYSICAL ANTHROPOLOGY 2011; 143:383-402. [PMID: 20949610 DOI: 10.1002/ajpa.21328] [Citation(s) in RCA: 74] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/09/2022]
Abstract
The ∼37 million-year-old Birket Qarun Locality 2 (BQ-2), in the Birket Qarun Formation of Egypt's Fayum Depression, yields evidence for a diverse primate fauna, including the earliest known lorisiforms, parapithecoid anthropoids, and Afradapis longicristatus, a large folivorous adapiform. Phylogenetic analysis has placed Afradapis as a stem strepsirrhine within a clade of caenopithecine adapiforms, contradicting the recently popularized alternative hypothesis aligning adapiforms with haplorhines or anthropoids. We describe an astragalus from BQ-2 (DPC 21445C), attributable to Afradapis on the basis of size and relative abundance. The astragalus is remarkably similar to those of extant lorises, having a low body, no posterior shelf, a broad head and neck. It is like extant strepsirrhines more generally, in having a fibular facet that slopes gently away from the lateral tibial facet, and in having a groove for the tendon of flexor fibularis that is lateral to the tibial facet. Comparisons to a sample of euarchontan astragali show the new fossil to be most similar to those of adapines and lorisids. The astragali of other adapiforms are most similar to those of lemurs, but distinctly different from those of all anthropoids. Our measurements show that in extant strepsirrhines and adapiforms the fibular facet slopes away from the lateral tibial facet at a gradual angle (112-126°), in contrast to the anthropoid fibular facet, which forms a sharper angle (87-101°). Phylogenetic analyses incorporating new information from the astragalus continue to support strepsirrhine affinities for adapiforms under varying models of character evolution.
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Affiliation(s)
- Doug M Boyer
- Department of Anthropology and Archaeology, Brooklyn College, City University of New York, Brooklyn, NY 11210, USA.
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Gingerich PD, Franzen JL, Habersetzer J, Hurum JH, Smith BH. Darwinius masillae is a Haplorhine — Reply to Williams et al. (2010). J Hum Evol 2010. [DOI: 10.1016/j.jhevol.2010.07.013] [Citation(s) in RCA: 15] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/19/2022]
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Palaeontologists go to bat for Ida. Nature 2010. [DOI: 10.1038/news.2010.501] [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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