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Arranz SG, Casanovas-Vilar I, Žliobaitė I, Abella J, Angelone C, Azanza B, Bernor R, Cirilli O, DeMiguel D, Furió M, Pandolfi L, Robles JM, Sánchez IM, van den Hoek Ostende LW, Alba DM. Paleoenvironmental inferences on the Late Miocene hominoid-bearing site of Can Llobateres (NE Iberian Peninsula): An ecometric approach based on functional dental traits. J Hum Evol 2023; 185:103441. [PMID: 37857126 DOI: 10.1016/j.jhevol.2023.103441] [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: 02/01/2023] [Revised: 09/14/2023] [Accepted: 09/15/2023] [Indexed: 10/21/2023]
Abstract
Hispanopithecus laietanus from the Late Miocene (9.8 Ma) of Can Llobateres 1 (CLL1; Vallès-Penedès Basin, NE Iberian Peninsula) represents one of the latest occurrences of fossil apes in Western mainland Europe, where they are last recorded at ∼9.5 Ma. The paleoenvironment of CLL1 is thus relevant for understanding the extinction of European hominoids. To refine paleoenvironmental inferences for CLL1, we apply ecometric models based on functional crown type (FCT) variables-a scoring scheme devised to capture macroscopic functional traits of occlusal shape and wear surfaces of herbivorous large mammal molars. Paleotemperature and paleoprecipitation estimates for CLL1 are provided based on published regional regression models linking average FCT of large herbivorous mammal communities to climatic conditions. A mapping to Whittaker's present-day biome classification is also attempted based on these estimates, as well as a case-based reasoning via canonical variate analysis of FCT variables from five relevant biomes. Estimates of mean annual temperature (25 °C) and mean annual precipitation (881 mm) classify CLL1 as a tropical seasonal forest/savanna, only in partial agreement with the canonical variate analysis results, which classify CLL1 as a tropical rainforest with a higher probability. The former biome agrees better with previous inferences derived from fossil plants and mammals, as well as preliminary isotopic data. The misclassification of CLL1 as a tropical forest is attributed to the mixture of forest-adapted taxa with others adapted to more open environments, given that faunal and plant composition indicates the presence of a dense wetland/riparian forest with more open woodlands nearby. The tested FCT ecometric approaches do not provide unambiguous biome classification for CLL1. Nevertheless, our results are consistent with those from other approaches, thus suggesting that FCT variables are potentially useful to investigate paleoenvironmental changes through time and space-including those that led to the extinction of European Miocene apes.
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Affiliation(s)
- Sara G Arranz
- Institut Català de Paleontologia Miquel Crusafont, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, c/ Columnes s/n, 08193 Cerdanyola del Vallès, Barcelona, Spain.
| | - Isaac Casanovas-Vilar
- Institut Català de Paleontologia Miquel Crusafont, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, c/ Columnes s/n, 08193 Cerdanyola del Vallès, Barcelona, Spain
| | - Indrė Žliobaitė
- Department of Computer Science, University of Helsinki, P.O. Box 68, 00014 Helsinky, Finland; Department of Geosciences and Geography, University of Helsinki, P.O. Box 64, 00014 Helsinky, Finland
| | - Juan Abella
- Institut Català de Paleontologia Miquel Crusafont, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, c/ Columnes s/n, 08193 Cerdanyola del Vallès, Barcelona, Spain; Grup d'Investigació en Paleontologia de Vertebrats del Cenozoic (PVC-GIUV), Departament de Botànica i Geologia, Universitat de València, 46100 Burjassot, València, Spain; Instituto Nacional de Biodiversidad (INABIO), Pje. Rumipamba N. 341 y Av. de los Shyris (Parque La Carolina), Quito, Ecuador
| | - Chiara Angelone
- Dipartimento di Scienze, Università degli Studi Roma Tre, 00146 Roma, Italy; Key Laboratory of Vertebrate Evolution and Human Origins, Institute of Vertebrate Paleontology and Paleoanthropology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, 100044 Beijing, China
| | - Beatriz Azanza
- Departamento de Ciencias de la Tierra, and Instituto Universitario de Investigación en Ciencias Ambientales de Aragón (IUCA), Universidad de Zaragoza, 50009, Zaragoza, Spain
| | - Raymond Bernor
- College of Medicine, Department of Anatomy, Laboratory of Evolutionary Biology, Howard University, 520 W St. N.W., 20059, Washington D.C., USA; Human Origins Program, Department of Anthropology, National Museum of Natural History, Smithsonian Institution, 20013, Washington D.C., USA
| | - Omar Cirilli
- College of Medicine, Department of Anatomy, Laboratory of Evolutionary Biology, Howard University, 520 W St. N.W., 20059, Washington D.C., USA; Department of Paleobiology, National Museum of Natural History, Smithsonian Institution, MRC 121, 20013, Washington, D.C., USA
| | - Daniel DeMiguel
- Institut Català de Paleontologia Miquel Crusafont, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, c/ Columnes s/n, 08193 Cerdanyola del Vallès, Barcelona, Spain; Departamento de Ciencias de la Tierra, and Instituto Universitario de Investigación en Ciencias Ambientales de Aragón (IUCA), Universidad de Zaragoza, 50009, Zaragoza, Spain; ARAID Foundation, 50018, Zaragoza, Spain
| | - Marc Furió
- Institut Català de Paleontologia Miquel Crusafont, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, c/ Columnes s/n, 08193 Cerdanyola del Vallès, Barcelona, Spain; Serra Húnter Fellow, Departament de Geologia, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, Campus de la UAB, 08193 Cerdanyola del Vallès, Barcelona, Spain
| | - Luca Pandolfi
- Dipartimento di Scienze, Università della Basilicata, Via dell'Ateneo Lucano, 10, 85100, Potenza, Italy
| | - Josep M Robles
- Institut Català de Paleontologia Miquel Crusafont, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, c/ Columnes s/n, 08193 Cerdanyola del Vallès, Barcelona, Spain
| | - Israel M Sánchez
- Institut Català de Paleontologia Miquel Crusafont, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, c/ Columnes s/n, 08193 Cerdanyola del Vallès, Barcelona, Spain
| | | | - David M Alba
- Institut Català de Paleontologia Miquel Crusafont, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, c/ Columnes s/n, 08193 Cerdanyola del Vallès, Barcelona, Spain.
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2
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MacLatchy LM, Cote SM, Deino AL, Kityo RM, Mugume AAT, Rossie JB, Sanders WJ, Cosman MN, Driese SG, Fox DL, Freeman AJ, Jansma RJW, Jenkins KEH, Kinyanjui RN, Lukens WE, McNulty KP, Novello A, Peppe DJ, Strömberg CAE, Uno KT, Winkler AJ, Kingston JD. The evolution of hominoid locomotor versatility: Evidence from Moroto, a 21 Ma site in Uganda. Science 2023; 380:eabq2835. [PMID: 37053310 DOI: 10.1126/science.abq2835] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 04/15/2023]
Abstract
Living hominoids are distinguished by upright torsos and versatile locomotion. It is hypothesized that these features evolved for feeding on fruit from terminal branches in forests. To investigate the evolutionary context of hominoid adaptive origins, we analyzed multiple paleoenvironmental proxies in conjunction with hominoid fossils from the Moroto II site in Uganda. The data indicate seasonally dry woodlands with the earliest evidence of abundant C4 grasses in Africa based on a confirmed age of 21 million years ago (Ma). We demonstrate that the leaf-eating hominoid Morotopithecus consumed water-stressed vegetation, and postcrania from the site indicate ape-like locomotor adaptations. These findings suggest that the origin of hominoid locomotor versatility is associated with foraging on leaves in heterogeneous, open woodlands rather than forests.
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Affiliation(s)
- Laura M MacLatchy
- Department of Anthropology, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI 48109, USA
- Museum of Paleontology, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI 48109, USA
| | - Susanne M Cote
- Department of Anthropology and Archaeology, University of Calgary, Calgary, Alberta T2N 1N4, Canada
| | - Alan L Deino
- Berkeley Geochronology Center, Berkeley, CA 94709, USA
| | - Robert M Kityo
- Department of Zoology, Entomology and Fisheries Sciences, Makerere University, Kampala, Uganda
| | - Amon A T Mugume
- Department of Zoology, Entomology and Fisheries Sciences, Makerere University, Kampala, Uganda
- Uganda National Museum, Department of Museums and Monuments, Ministry of Tourism, Wildlife and Antiquities, Kampala, Uganda
| | - James B Rossie
- Department of Anthropology, Stony Brook University, Stony Brook, NY 11794, USA
| | - William J Sanders
- Department of Anthropology, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI 48109, USA
- Museum of Paleontology, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI 48109, USA
| | - Miranda N Cosman
- Department of Anthropology, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI 48109, USA
| | - Steven G Driese
- Department of Geosciences, Baylor University, Waco, TX 76798, USA
| | - David L Fox
- Department of Earth & Environmental Sciences, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN 55455, USA
| | - April J Freeman
- Department of Geosciences, Baylor University, Waco, TX 76798, USA
| | - Rutger J W Jansma
- Institute of Human Origins, School of Human Evolution and Social Change, Arizona State University, Tempe, AZ 85281, USA
| | - Kirsten E H Jenkins
- Department of Social Sciences, Tacoma Community College, Tacoma, WA 98466, USA
| | - Rahab N Kinyanjui
- Earth Sciences Department, National Museums of Kenya, Nairobi, Kenya
- Max Planck Institute for Geoanthropology, Jena D-07743, Germany
- Human Origins Program, National Museum of Natural History, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, DC 20013, USA
| | - William E Lukens
- Department of Geology & Environmental Science, James Madison University, Harrisonburg, VA 22807, USA
| | - Kieran P McNulty
- Department of Anthropology, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN 55455, USA
| | - Alice Novello
- CEREGE, Aix-Marseille Université, CNRS, IRD, Collège de France, INRAE, Aix en Provence, France
- Department of Biology & Burke Museum of Natural History and Culture, University of Washington, Seattle, WA 98195, USA
| | - Daniel J Peppe
- Department of Geosciences, Baylor University, Waco, TX 76798, USA
| | - Caroline A E Strömberg
- Department of Biology & Burke Museum of Natural History and Culture, University of Washington, Seattle, WA 98195, USA
| | - Kevin T Uno
- Division of Biology and Paleo Environment, Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory of Columbia University, Palisades, NY 10964, USA
| | - Alisa J Winkler
- Roy M. Huffington Department of Earth Sciences, Southern Methodist University, Dallas, TX 75275, USA
- Section of Anatomy, Department of Surgery, University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, Dallas, TX 75390, USA
| | - John D Kingston
- Department of Anthropology, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI 48109, USA
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Zanolli C, Bouchet F, Fortuny J, Bernardini F, Tuniz C, Alba DM. A reassessment of the distinctiveness of dryopithecine genera from the Iberian Miocene based on enamel-dentine junction geometric morphometric analyses. J Hum Evol 2023; 177:103326. [PMID: 36863301 DOI: 10.1016/j.jhevol.2023.103326] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/23/2022] [Revised: 01/21/2023] [Accepted: 01/21/2023] [Indexed: 03/04/2023]
Abstract
A vast diversity of catarrhines primates has been uncovered in the Middle to Late Miocene (12.5-9.6 Ma) of the Vallès-Penedès Basin (northeastern Spain), including several hominid species (Pierolapithecus catalaunicus, Anoiapithecus brevirostris, Dryopithecus fontani, Hispanopithecus laietanus, and Hispanopithecus crusafonti) plus some remains attributed to 'Sivapithecus' occidentalis (of uncertain taxonomic validity). However, Pierolapithecus and Anoiapithecus have also been considered junior synonyms of Dryopithecus by some authors, which entail a lower generic diversity and an inflated intrageneric variation of the latter genus. Since the distinction of these taxa partly relies on dental features, the detailed and quantitative analysis of tooth shape might help disentangling the taxonomic diversity of these Miocene hominids. Using diffeomorphic surface matching and three-dimensional geometric morphometrics, we investigate the enamel-dentine junction shape (which is a reliable taxonomic proxy) of these Miocene hominids, with the aim of investigating their degree of intra- and intergeneric variation compared with that of extant great ape genera. We conducted statistical analyses, including between-group principal component analyses, canonical variate analyses, and permutation tests, to investigate whether the individual and combined (i.e., Dryopithecus s.l.) variation of the extinct genera exceeds that of the extant great apes. Our results indicate that Pierolapithecus, Anoiapithecus, Dryopithecus, and Hispanopithecus show morphological differences of enamel-dentine junction shape relative to the extant great apes that are consistent with their attribution to different genera. Specifically, the variation displayed by the Middle Miocene taxa combined exceeds that of extant great ape genera, thus undermining the single-genus hypothesis. 'Sivapithecus' occidentalis specimens fall close to Dryopithecus but in the absence of well-preserved comparable teeth for Pierolapithecus and Anoiapithecus, their taxonomic attribution remains uncertain. Among the Hispanopithecus sample, IPS1802 from Can Llobateres stands out and might either be an outlier in terms of morphology, or represent another dryopithecine taxon.
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Affiliation(s)
- Clément Zanolli
- Univ. Bordeaux, CNRS, MCC, PACEA, UMR 5199, F-33600 Pessac, France.
| | - Florian Bouchet
- 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
| | - Josep Fortuny
- 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
| | - Federico Bernardini
- Department of Humanistic Studies, Università Ca'Foscari, Venezia, Italy; Multidisciplinary Laboratory, 'Abdus Salam' International Centre for Theoretical Physics, Via Beirut 31, 34151 Trieste, Italy
| | - Claudio Tuniz
- Multidisciplinary Laboratory, 'Abdus Salam' International Centre for Theoretical Physics, Via Beirut 31, 34151 Trieste, Italy
| | - 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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4
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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: 11] [Impact Index Per Article: 11.0] [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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5
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Alba DM, Fortuny J, Robles JM, Bernardini F, Pérez de Los Ríos M, Tuniz C, Moyà-Solà S, Zanolli C. A new dryopithecine mandibular fragment from the middle Miocene of Abocador de Can Mata and the taxonomic status of 'Sivapithecus' occidentalis from Can Vila (Vallès-Penedès Basin, NE Iberian Peninsula). J Hum Evol 2020; 145:102790. [PMID: 32652257 DOI: 10.1016/j.jhevol.2020.102790] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/26/2019] [Revised: 03/18/2020] [Accepted: 03/19/2020] [Indexed: 10/23/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- David M Alba
- Institut Català de Paleontologia Miquel Crusafont, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, Edifici ICTA-ICP, Carrer de les Columnes s/n, Campus de la UAB, Cerdanyola del Vallès, Barcelona, 08193, Spain.
| | - Josep Fortuny
- Institut Català de Paleontologia Miquel Crusafont, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, Edifici ICTA-ICP, Carrer de les Columnes s/n, Campus de la UAB, Cerdanyola del Vallès, Barcelona, 08193, Spain
| | - Josep M Robles
- Institut Català de Paleontologia Miquel Crusafont, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, Edifici ICTA-ICP, Carrer de les Columnes s/n, Campus de la UAB, Cerdanyola del Vallès, Barcelona, 08193, Spain
| | - Federico Bernardini
- Centro Fermi, Museo Storico della Fisica e Centro di Studi e Ricerche 'Enrico Fermi', Piazza del Viminale 1, Roma, 00184, Italy; Multidisciplinary Laboratory, The 'Abdus Salam' International Centre for Theoretical Physics, Via Beirut 31, Trieste, 34151, Italy
| | - Miriam Pérez de Los Ríos
- Departamento de Antropología, Facultad de Ciencias Sociales, Universidad de Chile, Ignacio Carrera Pinto, 1045, Ñuñoa, Santiago, Chile
| | - Claudio Tuniz
- Multidisciplinary Laboratory, The 'Abdus Salam' International Centre for Theoretical Physics, Via Beirut 31, Trieste, 34151, Italy; Centro Fermi, Museo Storico della Fisica e Centro di Studi e Ricerche 'Enrico Fermi', Piazza del Viminale 1, Roma, 00184, Italy; Center for Archaeological Science, University of Wollongong, Northfields Ave, Wollongong, NSW, 2522, Australia
| | - Salvador Moyà-Solà
- Institut Català de Paleontologia Miquel Crusafont, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, Edifici ICTA-ICP, Carrer de les Columnes s/n, Campus de la UAB, Cerdanyola del Vallès, Barcelona, 08193, Spain; Unitat d'Antropologia Biològica, Department de Biologia Animal, Biologia Vegetal i Ecologia, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, Campus de la UAB, Cerdanyola del Vallès, Barcelona, Spain; Institució Catalana de Recerca i Estudis Avançats (ICREA), Pg. Lluís Companys 23, Barcelona, 08010, Spain
| | - Clément Zanolli
- Laboratoire PACEA, UMR 5199 CNRS, Université de Bordeaux, allée Geoffroy Saint Hilaire, 33615 Pessac Cedex, France.
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Abstract
The relationship of evolution with diet and environment can provide insights into modern disease. Fossil evidence shows apes, and early human ancestors were fruit eaters living in environments with strongly seasonal climates. Rapid cooling at the end of the Middle Miocene (15-12 Ma: millions of years ago) increased seasonality in Africa and Europe, and ape survival may be linked with a mutation in uric acid metabolism. Climate stabilized in the later Miocene and Pliocene (12-5 Ma), and fossil apes and early hominins were both adapted for life on ground and in trees. Around 2.5 Ma, early species of Homo introduced more animal products into their diet, and this coincided with developing bipedalism, stone tool technology and increase in brain size. Early species of Homo such as Homo habilis still lived in woodland habitats, and the major habitat shift in human evolution occurred at 1.8 Ma with the origin of Homo erectus. Homo erectus had increased body size, greater hunting skills, a diet rich in meat, control of fire and understanding about cooking food, and moved from woodland to savannah. Group size may also have increased at the same time, facilitating the transmission of knowledge from one generation to the next. The earliest fossils of Homo sapiens appeared about 300 kyr, but they had separated from Neanderthals by 480 kyr or earlier. Their diet shifted towards grain-based foods about 100 kyr ago, and settled agriculture developed about 10 kyr ago. This pattern remains for many populations to this day and provides important insights into current burden of lifestyle diseases.
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Affiliation(s)
- P Andrews
- From the, Natural History Museum, London University College, London, UK
| | - R J Johnson
- University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus, Aurora, Colorado, USA
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7
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Alba DM, Garcés M, Casanovas-Vilar I, Robles JM, Pina M, Moyà-Solà S, Almécija S. Bio- and magnetostratigraphic correlation of the Miocene primate-bearing site of Castell de Barberà to the earliest Vallesian. J Hum Evol 2019; 132:32-46. [DOI: 10.1016/j.jhevol.2019.04.006] [Citation(s) in RCA: 10] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/26/2018] [Revised: 04/14/2019] [Accepted: 04/15/2019] [Indexed: 11/30/2022]
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8
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Can Pallars i Llobateres: A new hominoid-bearing locality from the late Miocene of the Vallès-Penedès Basin (NE Iberian Peninsula). J Hum Evol 2018; 121:193-203. [PMID: 29786505 DOI: 10.1016/j.jhevol.2018.04.008] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/27/2017] [Revised: 04/18/2018] [Accepted: 04/19/2018] [Indexed: 11/20/2022]
Abstract
In the Iberian Peninsula, Miocene apes (Hominoidea) are generally rare and mostly restricted to the Vallès-Penedès Basin. Here we report a new hominoid maxillary fragment with M2 from this basin. It was surface-collected in March 2017 from the site of Can Pallars i Llobateres (CPL, Sant Quirze del Vallès), where fossil apes had not been previously recorded. The locality of provenance (CPL-M), which has delivered no further fossil remains, is located very close (ca. 50 m) to previously known CPL outcrops, and not very far (ca. 500 m in NW direction) from the classical hominoid-bearing locality of Can Poncic 1. Here we describe the new fossil and, based on the size and proportions of the M2, justify its taxonomic attribution to Hispanopithecus cf. laietanus, a species previously recorded from several Vallesian sites of the Vallès-Penedès Basin. Based on the associated mammalian fauna from CPL, we also provide a biochronological dating and a paleoenvironmental reconstruction for the site. The associated fauna enables an unambiguous correlation to the Cricetulodon hartenbergeri - Progonomys hispanicus interval local subzone, with an estimated age of 9.98-9.73 Ma (late Vallesian, MN10). Therefore, CPL-M is roughly coeval with the Hispanopithecus laietanus-bearing localities of Can Llobateres 1 and Can Feu 1, and minimally older than those of La Tarumba 1 and Can Llobateres 2. In contrast, CPL-M is younger than the early Vallesian (MN9) localities of Can Poncic 1 (the type locality of Hispanopithecus crusafonti) as well as Polinyà 2 (Gabarró) and Estació Depuradora d'Aigües Residuals-Riu Ripoll 13, where Hispanopithecus sp. is recorded. The associated fauna from CPL indicates a densely forested and humid paleoenvironment with nearby freshwater. This supports the view that Hispanopithecus might have been restricted to dense wetland forests soon before its extinction during the late Vallesian, due to progressive climatic deterioration. Coupled with the existence of other fossiliferous outcrops in the area, this find is most promising for the prospect of discovering additional fossil hominoid remains in the future.
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9
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DeMiguel D, Rook L. Understanding climate's influence on the extinction of Oreopithecus (late Miocene, Tusco-Sardinian paleobioprovince, Italy). J Hum Evol 2018; 116:14-26. [PMID: 29477179 DOI: 10.1016/j.jhevol.2017.11.008] [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: 02/13/2017] [Revised: 11/20/2017] [Accepted: 11/24/2017] [Indexed: 10/18/2022]
Abstract
Despite its long history of scientific study, the causes underlying the extinction of the insular hominoid Oreopithecus bambolii are still a matter of ongoing debate. While some authors consider intense tectonism and invading species the cause of its extinction ca. 6.7 Ma, others propose climatic change as the main contributing factor. We rely on long-term patterns of tooth wear and hypsodonty of the Baccinello and Fiume Santo herbivore-faunas to reconstruct changes in habitat prior to, during and after the extinction. While a mosaic of habitats was represented in Baccinello V1 (as shown by a record of browsers, mixed feeders and species engaged in grazing), more closed forests (higher proportion of browsers, shortage of mixed feeders and lack of grazers) characterised Baccinello V2. Finally, there was a partial loss of canopy cover and development of open-patches and low-abrasive grasses in Baccinello V3 (as denoted by new records of taxa involved in grazing)-although still dominated by a forested habitat (since browse was a component in all diets). Our results provide evidence for two perceptible shifts in climate, one between 8.1 and 7.1 Ma and other ca. 6.7 Ma, though this latter was not drastic enough to lead to intensive forest loss, substantially alter the local vegetation or affect Oreopithecus lifestyle-especially if considering the growing evidence of its versatile diet. Although the disappearance of Oreopithecus is complex, our data reject the hypothesis of environmental change as the main factor in the extinction of Oreopithecus and Maremma fauna. When our results are analysed together with other evidence, faunal interaction and predation by invading species from mainland Europe seems to be the most parsimonious explanation for this extinction event. This contrasts with European hominoid extinctions that were associated with major climatic shifts that led to environmental uniformity and restriction of the preferred habitats of Miocene apes.
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Affiliation(s)
- Daniel DeMiguel
- Institut Català de Paleontologia Miquel Crusafont, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, Edifici ICTA-ICP, Carrer de Les Columnes S/n, 08193, Cerdanyola Del Vallès, Barcelona, Spain; Departamento de Ciencias de La Tierra, Área de Paleontología, Universidad de Zaragoza, Pedro Cerbuna 12, 50009, Zaragoza, Spain; Fundación ARAID, Zaragoza, Spain.
| | - Lorenzo Rook
- Dipartimento di Scienze Della Terra, Università Degli Studi di Firenze, Via La Pira 4, 50121 Firenze, Italy
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Senut B. Morphology and environment in some fossil Hominoids and Pedetids (Mammalia). J Anat 2015; 228:700-15. [PMID: 26712383 DOI: 10.1111/joa.12427] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Accepted: 11/04/2015] [Indexed: 11/27/2022] Open
Abstract
Linking the environment to functional anatomy is not an easy exercise, especially when dealing with fossils, which are often fragmentary and represent animals that are extinct. A holistic approach permits us to fill the gaps in reconstructing the evolutionary patterns in fossil groups. Identifying the environment where animals lived can help to interpret some anatomical structures and, vice versa, the functional morphological pattern can help to refine some fossil environments. Two examples focusing on locomotor behaviours in fossil mammals are considered in this paper: the hominoids and the origins of hominid bipedalism and the springing adaptations in fossil rodents (Pedetidae) in connection with different habitats. In the first case, the limits of the chimp-based models and the necessity to take into account detailed environmental reconstructions will be addressed. The famous 'savannah hypothesis' is no longer tenable because the palaeontological data support a more vegetated environment for the origins of bipedal hominids. Data from the environment will be considered. The earliest putative hominid fossils which preserve skeletal remains of the locomotor apparatus show mixed adaptations to terrestrial bipedalism and arboreal activities. The second example focuses on the variation in springing adaptations in Pedetidae in the Lower Miocene of East Africa and Southern Africa. In the East, the sites where Pedetidae were preserved were mainly forested, whereas in the South the region was more open and drier, with extensive grassy patches. In the first case, pedetids were robust and heavy jumpers, whereas in the South they were smaller, their skeleton more gracile and their springing was lighter. During the desertification of the southern part of Africa, the large pedetid species became extinct, but a smaller species developed. In the case of primates, as in the case of rodents, the skeletal morphology was adapted to its environment.
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Affiliation(s)
- Brigitte Senut
- Sorbonne-Universités - CR2P, MNHN, CNRS, UPMC - Paris 06, Paris, France
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Alba DM, Montoya P, Pina M, Rook L, Abella J, Morales J, Delson E. First record of Mesopithecus (Cercopithecidae, Colobinae) from the Miocene of the Iberian Peninsula. J Hum Evol 2015; 88:1-14. [DOI: 10.1016/j.jhevol.2015.08.003] [Citation(s) in RCA: 19] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/25/2015] [Revised: 08/07/2015] [Accepted: 08/11/2015] [Indexed: 11/16/2022]
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12
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Everything Ape, with a Side of Human Evolution. J MAMM EVOL 2015. [DOI: 10.1007/s10914-015-9289-6] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/25/2022]
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13
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DeMiguel D, Alba DM, Moyà-Solà S. Dietary specialization during the evolution of Western Eurasian hominoids and the extinction of European Great Apes. PLoS One 2014; 9:e97442. [PMID: 24848272 PMCID: PMC4029579 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0097442] [Citation(s) in RCA: 21] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/21/2014] [Accepted: 04/14/2014] [Indexed: 12/04/2022] Open
Abstract
Given the central adaptive role of diet, paleodietary inference is essential for understanding the relationship between evolutionary and paleoenvironmental change. Here we rely on dental microwear analysis to investigate the role of dietary specialization in the diversification and extinction of Miocene hominoids from Western Eurasian between 14 and 7 Ma. New microwear results for five extinct taxa are analyzed together with previous data for other Western Eurasian genera. Except Pierolapithecus (that resembles hard-object feeders) and Oreopithecus (a soft-frugivore probably foraging opportunistically on other foods), most of the extinct taxa lack clear extant dietary analogues. They display some degee of sclerocarpy, which is most clearly expressed in Griphopithecus and Ouranopithecus (adapted to more open and arid environments), whereas Anoiapithecus, Dryopithecus and, especially, Hispanopithecus species apparently relied more strongly on soft-frugivory. Thus, contrasting with the prevailing sclerocarpic condition at the beginning of the Eurasian hominoid radiation, soft- and mixed-frugivory coexisted with hard-object feeding in the Late Miocene. Therefore, despite a climatic trend towards cooling and increased seasonality, a progressive dietary diversification would have occurred (probably due to competitive exclusion and increased environmental heterogeneity), although strict folivory did not evolve. Overall, our analyses support the view that the same dietary specializations that enabled Western Eurasian hominoids to face progressive climatic deterioration were the main factor ultimately leading to their extinction when more drastic paleoenvironmental changes took place.
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Affiliation(s)
- Daniel DeMiguel
- Institut Català de Paleontologia Miquel Crusafont, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, Barcelona, Spain
- * E-mail:
| | - David M. Alba
- Institut Català de Paleontologia Miquel Crusafont, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, Barcelona, Spain
- Dipartimento di Scienze della Terra, Università di Torino, Torino, Italy
| | - Salvador Moyà-Solà
- ICREA at Institut Català de Paleontologia Miquel Crusafont and Unitat d’Antropologia Biològica (Dept. BABVE), Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, Barcelona, Spain
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15
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Alba DM, Casanovas-Vilar I, Almécija S, Robles JM, Arias-Martorell J, Moyà-Solà S. New dental remains of Hispanopithecus laietanus (Primates: Hominidae) from Can Llobateres 1 and the taxonomy of Late Miocene hominoids from the Vallès-Penedès Basin (NE Iberian Peninsula). J Hum Evol 2012; 63:231-46. [PMID: 22739574 DOI: 10.1016/j.jhevol.2012.05.009] [Citation(s) in RCA: 13] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/19/2011] [Revised: 05/21/2012] [Accepted: 05/23/2012] [Indexed: 11/17/2022]
Abstract
Here we report 12 teeth of the fossil great ape Hispanopithecus (Hominidae: Dryopithecinae: Hispanopithecini), recovered in 2011 from the locality of Can Llobateres 1 (MN9, early Vallesian, Late Miocene, ca. 9.7 Ma [millions of years ago]) in the Vallès-Penedès Basin (Catalonia, Spain). Besides an isolated dP(3) from layer CLL1.1b in the eastern (classical) sector of the site, all of the remaining teeth come from facies CLL1.0 (roughly equivalent to CLL1.2 and CLL1.1b), located in the newly excavated western sector, and representing at least two different individuals. Based on facet congruence and degree of wear, all of the upper cheek teeth, a central incisor and a lateral incisor most likely correspond to a single young adult individual of unknown sex, whereas a very worn I(2) and a female C(1) represent one or two additional individual(s). Morphological and metrical comparisons allow us to attribute these remains to Hispanopithecus laietanus, which is the single hominoid species recognized at CLL1. The newly described teeth represent a significant addition to the hypodigm of this taxon, enabling us to more completely assess the degree of variation displayed by several teeth. In light of the new specimens, the previous tooth position assignment of several upper molars from Can Llobateres and Can Poncic is revised, and the criteria employed to distinguish Hispanopithecus crusafonti from H. laietanus are critically evaluated. On the basis of the available upper cheek teeth from these localities, a distinction at the species level between both samples is tentatively favored, mainly on the basis of P(3), M(1) and M(2) proportions as well as I(1) lingual morphology and proportions. The results of the 2011 field season unambiguously confirm that hominoid-bearing fossiliferous layers from CLL1 are not exhausted. Additional excavations at this site are promising for the discovery of additional remains of H. laietanus in the near future.
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Affiliation(s)
- David M Alba
- Institut Català de Paleontologia Miquel Crusafont, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, Edifici ICP, Campus de la UAB s/n, 08193 Cerdanyola del Vallès, Barcelona, Spain.
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