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Kirk EC, Lundeen IK. New observations of the nasal fossa and interorbital region of Shoshonius cooperi based on microcomputerized tomography. J Hum Evol 2020. [DOI: 10.1016/j.jhevol.2020.102748] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/25/2022]
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2
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Schottenstein NH, Hubbe M, Hunter J. Modules and Mosaics in the Evolution of the Tetonius – Pseudotetonius Dentition. J MAMM EVOL 2019. [DOI: 10.1007/s10914-019-09488-3] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/30/2022]
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3
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New fossils, systematics, and biogeography of the oldest known crown primate Teilhardina from the earliest Eocene of Asia, Europe, and North America. J Hum Evol 2019; 128:103-131. [DOI: 10.1016/j.jhevol.2018.08.005] [Citation(s) in RCA: 54] [Impact Index Per Article: 10.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/15/2017] [Revised: 08/15/2018] [Accepted: 08/20/2018] [Indexed: 01/26/2023]
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4
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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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5
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Rossie JB, Smith TD, Beard KC, Godinot M, Rowe TB. Nasolacrimal anatomy and haplorhine origins. J Hum Evol 2017; 114:176-183. [PMID: 29447758 DOI: 10.1016/j.jhevol.2017.11.004] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/06/2017] [Revised: 11/13/2017] [Accepted: 11/15/2017] [Indexed: 11/29/2022]
Abstract
Computed tomography X-ray imaging of the internal face in well-preserved primate fossil crania permits reconstruction of the nature of their nasal anatomy, including some soft-tissue features. These features are diagnostic of the primate suborder Haplorhini, and allow reevaluation of the phylogenetic status of several purported early members of the group. Here we examine the nasolacrimal morphology of a broad sample of extant primates, as well as a number of Paleogene fossils. The extant sample confirms the distinctiveness of the two suborders. Of the fossils studied, only Shoshonius cooperi from the late-early Eocene exhibits evidence of a haplorhine nose. This suggests that the haplorhine oronasal complex may have evolved before the postorbital septum, and strengthens the claim that Shoshonius is a close relative of tarsiers and anthropoids. These results indicate that Omomyiformes is not a monophyletic group, and that few of its members possessed the derived oronasal morphology that characterizes crown haplorhines.
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Affiliation(s)
- James B Rossie
- Department of Anthropology, Stony Brook University, Stony Brook, NY 11794, USA.
| | - Timothy D Smith
- School of Physical Therapy, Slippery Rock University, Slippery Rock, PA 16057, USA; Department of Anthropology, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA 15260, USA
| | - K Christopher Beard
- Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of Kansas, Lawrence, KS 66045, USA; Biodiversity Institute, University of Kansas, Lawrence, KS 66045, USA
| | - Marc Godinot
- Ecole Pratique des Hautes Etudes, PSL, Sorbonne Universités - CR2P - MNHN, CNRS, UPMC - Paris 6, Muséum National d'Histoire Naturelle, Paris, France
| | - Timothy B Rowe
- Jackson School of Geosciences, The University of Texas at Austin, Austin, TX 78712, USA
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6
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Rosenberger AL, Smith TD, DeLeon VB, Burrows AM, Schenck R, Halenar LB. Eye Size and Set in Small-Bodied Fossil Primates: A Three-Dimensional Method. Anat Rec (Hoboken) 2016; 299:1671-1689. [DOI: 10.1002/ar.23479] [Citation(s) in RCA: 26] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/16/2016] [Accepted: 08/23/2016] [Indexed: 11/06/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Alfred L. Rosenberger
- Department of Anthropology and Archaeology; Brooklyn College, City University of New York; Brooklyn New York
- New York Consortium in Evolutionary Primatology (NYCEP), Department of Anthropology; The Graduate Center, City University of New York; New York New York
- Department of Mammalogy; American Museum of Natural History; New York New York
| | - Tim D. Smith
- School of Physical Therapy; Slippery Rock University; Slippery Rock Pennsylvania
- Department of Anthropology; University of Pittsburgh; Pittsburgh Pennsylvania
| | - Valerie B. DeLeon
- Department of Anthropology; University of Florida; Gainesville Florida
| | - Anne M. Burrows
- Department of Physical Therapy; Duquesne University; Pittsburgh Pennsylvania
| | - Robert Schenck
- Earth and Environmental Sciences; CUNY Graduate Center; New York New York
| | - Lauren B. Halenar
- Department of Biology; Farmingdale State College (SUNY); Farmingdale New York
- New York Consortium in Evolutionary Primatology Morphometrics Group (NMG), City University of New York; New York New York
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7
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The pioneering role of PRDM9 indel mutations in tarsier evolution. Sci Rep 2016; 6:34618. [PMID: 27698394 PMCID: PMC5048142 DOI: 10.1038/srep34618] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/04/2016] [Accepted: 09/09/2016] [Indexed: 01/01/2023] Open
Abstract
PRDM9 is currently the sole speciation gene found in vertebrates causing hybrid sterility probably due to incompatible alleles. Its role in defining the double strand break loci during the meiotic prophase I is crucial for proper chromosome segregation. Therefore, the rapid turnover of the loci determining zinc finger array seems to be causative for incompatibilities. We here investigated the zinc finger domain-containing exon of PRDM9 in 23 tarsiers. Tarsiers, the most basal extant haplorhine primates, exhibit two frameshifting indels at the 5'-end of the array. The first mutation event interrupts the reading frame and function while the second compensates both. The fixation of this allele variant in tarsiers led to hypothesize that de- and reactivation of the zinc finger domain drove the speciation in early haplorhine or tarsiiform primates. Moreover, the high allelic diversity within Tarsius points to multiple effects of genetic drift reflecting their phylogeographic history since the Miocene.
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Bloch JI, Chester SG, Silcox MT. Cranial anatomy of Paleogene Micromomyidae and implications for early primate evolution. J Hum Evol 2016; 96:58-81. [DOI: 10.1016/j.jhevol.2016.04.001] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/19/2015] [Revised: 04/04/2016] [Accepted: 04/06/2016] [Indexed: 11/29/2022]
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9
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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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10
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Beard KC, Coster PMC. Upper molar morphology of the early oligocene egyptian anthropoidQatrania wingi. AMERICAN JOURNAL OF PHYSICAL ANTHROPOLOGY 2015; 159:714-21. [DOI: 10.1002/ajpa.22913] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/14/2015] [Revised: 10/08/2015] [Accepted: 11/19/2015] [Indexed: 11/06/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- K. Christopher Beard
- Biodiversity Institute, University of Kansas; Lawrence KS 66045
- Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology; University of Kansas; Lawrence KS 66045
| | - Pauline M. C. Coster
- Biodiversity Institute, University of Kansas; Lawrence KS 66045
- Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology; University of Kansas; Lawrence KS 66045
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11
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Rosenberger AL. The Face of Strigorhysis: Implications of Another Tarsier-like, Large-Eyed Eocene North American Tarsiiform Primate. Anat Rec (Hoboken) 2011; 294:797-812. [DOI: 10.1002/ar.21367] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/22/2010] [Accepted: 11/03/2010] [Indexed: 11/06/2022]
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12
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The Skull of Tarsius: Functional Morphology, Eyeballs, and the Nonpursuit Predatory Lifestyle. INT J PRIMATOL 2010. [DOI: 10.1007/s10764-010-9447-x] [Citation(s) in RCA: 29] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/24/2022]
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13
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Elucidating geological and biological processes underlying the diversification of Sulawesi tarsiers. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A 2009; 106:8459-64. [PMID: 19451646 DOI: 10.1073/pnas.0900319106] [Citation(s) in RCA: 54] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/18/2022] Open
Abstract
Because of their exceptionally long independent evolution, a range diminution of their Eocene relatives, and a remarkable subsequent diversification in Southeast Asia, tarsiers are of particular importance to evolutionary primatologists. Little is known, however, on the processes shaping the radiation of these small enigmatic primates-especially on the Indonesian island of Sulawesi, their center of endemism. Geological reconstructions and progress in applying DNA sequence information to divergence dating now provide us with the tools and background to comprehend tarsier dispersal. Here, we describe effects of plate-tectonic movements, Pleistocene sea level changes, and hybridization on the divergence of central Sulawesi tarsiers. We analyzed 12 microsatellites, the cytochrome b gene, the hypervariable region I of the mitochondrial control region, and the sex-determining region on the Y-chromosome from 144 specimens captured along a transect crossing a species boundary and a contact zone between 2 microplates. Based on these differentially inherited genetic markers, geographic information, and recordings of vocalizations, we demonstrate that the species boundary coincides with a tectonic suture. We estimate the most recent common ancestor of the 2 taxa to have lived 1.4 Mya, we describe asymmetrical introgressive hybridization, and we give evidence of unbiased dispersal in one species and male-biased dispersal in another species. This study exemplifies that the distribution of tarsier acoustic forms on Sulawesi is consistent with the allocation of genetic variability and that plate-tectonic and glacial events have left traceable marks in the biogeography of this island's unique fauna.
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Rosenberger AL, Pagano AS. Frontal fusion: collapse of another anthropoid synapomorphy. Anat Rec (Hoboken) 2008; 291:308-17. [PMID: 18231970 DOI: 10.1002/ar.20647] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/10/2022]
Abstract
We test the hypothesis that the fused interfrontal suture of anthropoids is a uniquely distinguishing feature and a derived characteristic indicative of their monophyletic origin. Our survey of nonanthropoid primates and several archontan families indicates frontal fusion is widespread. It is most variable (fused, open or partially fused) inter- and intra-specifically among strepsirhines. The frontal bone is more commonly fused in living lemuroids and indrioids than among lorisoids. It appears to be fused regularly among Eocene adapids. Among nonanthropoid haplorhines, the interfrontal is fused in Tarsius, even in neonates and invariably in adults, probably also in all fossil tarsiiforms preserving the frontal bone, and in the late Eocene protoanthropoid Rooneyia. The plesiadapiform pattern remains uncertain, but fusion is ubiquitous among living tree shrews, colugos and bats. Distributional evidence implies that interfrontal fusion was present in the last common ancestor (LCA) of haplorhine primates and possibly in the LCA of euprimates as well. Anthropoids, therefore, cannot be defined cladistically by interfrontal fusion, not out of concern for homoplasy but because it is probably a primitive feature inherited from other taxa related to anthropoids. Fusion of the large anthropoid frontal bone, which was extended anteriorly to roof the orbits and expanded laterally in connection with a wide forebrain in the LCA of anthropoids and protoanthropoids, may have been preadaptive to the evolution of the postorbital septum. The zygomatico-frontal suture of the septum may provide an alternative mechanism for dissipating the calvarial strains of mastication formerly taken up by an open interfrontal suture.
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Affiliation(s)
- Alfred L Rosenberger
- Department of Anthropology and Archaeology, Brooklyn College, CUNY, Brooklyn, NY 10016-4309, USA
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Tornow MA. Systematic Analysis of the Eocene Primate Family Omomyidae Using Gnathic and Postcranial Data. BULLETIN OF THE PEABODY MUSEUM OF NATURAL HISTORY 2008. [DOI: 10.3374/0079-032x(2008)49[43:saotep]2.0.co;2] [Citation(s) in RCA: 27] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/06/2022]
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16
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Jeffery N, Davies K, Köckenberger W, Williams S. Craniofacial growth in fetal Tarsius bancanus: brains, eyes and nasal septa. J Anat 2007; 210:703-22. [PMID: 17451471 PMCID: PMC2375756 DOI: 10.1111/j.1469-7580.2007.00725.x] [Citation(s) in RCA: 37] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Accepted: 02/22/2007] [Indexed: 11/27/2022] Open
Abstract
The tarsier skull has been of particular interest in studies of primate taxonomy and functional morphology for several decades. Despite this, there remains no comprehensive data on how the tarsier skull develops, especially in relation to the soft-tissues of the head. Here we have documented for the first time fetal development of the skull and brain as well as the nasal septum and eyes in T. bancanus. We have also tested for the possible influence of these tissues in shaping skull architecture. Nineteen post-mortem specimens were imaged using high-resolution magnetic resonance imaging and magnetic resonance microscopy. Landmarks and volume data were collected and analysed. Findings demonstrated massive increases of brain size and eye size as well as flattening of the midline cranial base, facial projection and orbital margin frontation. Little evidence was found to support the notion that growth of the brain or nasal septum physically drives the observed changes of the skull. However, increases in the size of the eyes relative to skull size were associated with orbital margin frontation. With the possible exception of the results for eye size, the findings indicate that rather than forcing change the soft-tissues form a framework that physically constrains the morphogenetic template of the skeletal elements. This suggests, for example, that the degree of cranial base angulation seen in adulthood is not directly determined by brain expansion bending the basicranium, but by brain enlargement limiting the extent of cranial base flattening (retroflexion) in the fetus.
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Affiliation(s)
- Nathan Jeffery
- Division of Human Anatomy & Cell Biology, School of Biomedical Sciences, University of Liverpool, UK.
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17
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Protoanthropoidea (Primates, Simiiformes): A New Primate Higher Taxon and a Solution to the Rooneyia Problem. J MAMM EVOL 2006. [DOI: 10.1007/s10914-006-9009-3] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/24/2022]
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18
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Rossie JB, Ni X, Beard KC. Cranial remains of an Eocene tarsier. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A 2006; 103:4381-5. [PMID: 16537385 PMCID: PMC1450180 DOI: 10.1073/pnas.0509424103] [Citation(s) in RCA: 40] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/28/2005] [Indexed: 11/18/2022] Open
Abstract
The phylogenetic position of tarsiers relative to anthropoids and Paleogene omomyids remains a subject of lively debate that lies at the center of research into anthropoid origins. Omomyids have long been regarded as the nearest relatives of tarsiers, but a sister group relationship between anthropoids and tarsiers has also been proposed. These conflicting phylogenetic reconstructions rely heavily on comparisons of cranial anatomy, but until now, the fossil record of tarsiers has been limited to a single jaw and several isolated teeth. In this article, we describe cranial material of a fossil tarsiid from the middle-Eocene Shanghuang fissure-fillings in southern Jiangsu Province, China. This facial fragment, which is allocated to Tarsius eocaenus, is virtually identical to the corresponding anatomy in living tarsiers and differs substantially from that of early anthropoids such as Bahinia, Phenacopithecus, and Parapithecus. This new specimen indicates that tarsiers already possessed greatly enlarged orbits and a haplorhine oronasal configuration by the time they are first documented in the fossil record during the middle Eocene.
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Affiliation(s)
- James B Rossie
- Department of Anthropology, Stony Brook University, Stony Brook, NY 11794, USA.
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19
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Stevens NJ, Heesy CP. Malagasy Primate Origins: Phylogenies, Fossils, and Biogeographic Reconstructions. Folia Primatol (Basel) 2006; 77:419-33. [PMID: 17053328 DOI: 10.1159/000095389] [Citation(s) in RCA: 45] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/19/2022]
Abstract
The geographic origin of Malagasy primates is a rich source of debate, providing a useful context for understanding effects of differing phylogenetic interpretations upon area of origin reconstructions. This study has evaluated the biogeographic implications of competing primate phylogenies in order to reconstruct the area of origin of Malagasy strepsirhines. The robusticity of biogeographic inference is examined based on sensitivity to tree topology. The results demonstrate extreme vulnerability to both out-group choice and internal tree topology, suggesting caution for area of origin interpretations from phylogenies that exclude fossil taxa. Moreover, even a single taxon can have a powerful effect upon biogeographic interpretations. Perhaps not surprisingly, it is only with greater phylogenetic resolution that a clearer understanding of the biogeographic origins of Malagasy primates will emerge.
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Affiliation(s)
- Nancy J Stevens
- Department of Biomedical Sciences, Ohio University, Athens, Ohio 45701, USA.
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20
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MaClatchy LM, Ross CF. Primate paleontology. Evol Anthropol 2005. [DOI: 10.1002/evan.1360040204] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/11/2022]
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22
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Beard KC, Wang J. The eosimiid primates (Anthropoidea) of the Heti Formation, Yuanqu Basin, Shanxi and Henan Provinces, People's Republic of China. J Hum Evol 2004; 46:401-32. [PMID: 15066378 DOI: 10.1016/j.jhevol.2004.01.002] [Citation(s) in RCA: 41] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/22/2003] [Revised: 01/02/2004] [Accepted: 01/04/2004] [Indexed: 10/26/2022]
Abstract
We describe the eosimiid primate fossils collected during the course of four field seasons in the late middle Eocene Heti Formation of central China. In addition to providing new information about the anatomy of Eosimias centennicus, the Heti Formation sample documents substantial taxonomic diversity in the Asian eosimiid radiation. One new genus and three new species of Eosimiidae are proposed here. These include Eosimias dawsonae, n. sp.; Phenacopithecus xueshii, n. gen. and sp.; and Phenacopithecus krishtalkai, n. sp. The anatomy of the upper dentition of eosimiids is described in detail for the first time. As is the case for the lower dentition, a unique combination of primitive and derived traits characterizes the upper dentition of Eosimias and Phenacopithecus. Eosimiid upper molars bear many of the same derived features-including strong protocone cristae and the absence of a postprotocingulum-that have been cited as evidence for a special relationship between anthropoids and certain adapiforms. However, the upper molars of eosimiids further approximate those of other basal anthropoids in having reduced or absent conules and complete lingual cingula. These features are lacking in Periconodon and other adapiforms that have been regarded by some workers as being phylogenetically close to anthropoids. Given that similarities in upper molar anatomy are among the only derived features that can be cited in support of a possible adapiform ancestry for anthropoids, the occurrence of these same features in eosimiids significantly weakens the adapiform hypothesis of anthropoid origins. The holotype maxillary fragment of Phenacopithecus krishtalkai reveals that eosimiids possessed a relatively small infraorbital foramen and a deep lower face between the inferior orbital margin and the alveolar border. Eosimiids therefore lacked the orbital hypertrophy characteristic of living tarsiers and many fossil omomyids and microchoerids. Eosimiids apparently had relatively small orbits, suggesting that they maintained a diurnal activity cycle.
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Affiliation(s)
- K Christopher Beard
- Section of Vertebrate Paleontology, Carnegie Museum of Natural History, 4400 Forbes Avenue, Pittsburgh, PA 15213, USA.
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Gebo DL, Dagosto M, Beard KC, Qi T. Middle Eocene primate tarsals from China: implications for haplorhine evolution. AMERICAN JOURNAL OF PHYSICAL ANTHROPOLOGY 2001; 116:83-107. [PMID: 11590584 DOI: 10.1002/ajpa.1105] [Citation(s) in RCA: 47] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/10/2022]
Abstract
We describe tarsal remains of primates recovered from the Middle Eocene (approximately 45 mya) Shanghuang fissures in southern Jiangsu Province, China. These tarsals document the existence of four higher-level taxa of haplorhine primates and at least two adapid species. The meager and poorly preserved adapid material exhibits some similarities to European adapines like Adapis. The haplorhine primates are divided into two major groups: a "prosimian group" consisting of Tarsiidae and an unnamed group that is anatomically similar to Omomyidae; and an "anthropoid group" consisting of Eosimiidae and an unnamed group of protoanthropoids. The anthropoid tarsals are morphologically transitional between omomyids (or primitive haplorhines) and extant telanthropoids, providing the first postcranial evidence for primates which bridge the prosimian-anthropoid gap. All of the haplorhines are extremely small (most are between 50-100 g), and the deposits contain the smallest euprimates ever documented. The uniqueness of this fauna is further highlighted by the fact that no modern primate community contains as many tiny primates as does the fauna from Shanghuang.
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Affiliation(s)
- D L Gebo
- Department of Anthropology, Northern Illinois University, DeKalb, Illinois 60115, USA.
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Takai M, Shigehara N, Aung AK, Tun ST, Soe AN, Tsubamoto T, Thein T. A new anthropoid from the latest middle Eocene of Pondaung, central Myanmar. J Hum Evol 2001; 40:393-409. [PMID: 11322801 DOI: 10.1006/jhev.2001.0463] [Citation(s) in RCA: 41] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/22/2022]
Abstract
A new genus and species of medium-sized fossil primate, Myanmarpithecus yarshensis, is described from the lastest middle Eocene sediments of Pondaung, central Myanmar (Burma). The specimens consist of right maxillary fragments with P(4)-M(3)and a left mandibular corpus with C-P(3)and M(2-3). To date, three purported anthropoids have been discovered from the Pondaung Formation: Pondaungia and Amphipithecus (Amphipithecidae) and Bahinia (Eosimiidae). Myanmarpithecus differs from these other Pondaung primates in having cingular hypocones on upper molars and in lacking paraconids on M(2-3). Although Myanmarpithecus resembles some utahiin omomyines in superficial aspects of the morphology of M(2-3)(i.e., mesiodistally compressed molar trigonid and enamel crenulation), the morphological analysis of upper molars and lower premolars indicates that it is neither an omomyoid nor an adapoid but is more derived than fossil prosimians (such as adapoids, omomyoids, and tarsiers) and more anthropoid-like. On the other hand, it is more primitive (prosimian-like) than early anthropoids from the late Eocene/early Oligocene of the Fayum, Egypt. Myanmarpithecus is likely to be an early, primitive anthropoid ("protoanthropoid").
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Affiliation(s)
- M Takai
- Primate Research Institute, Kyoto University, Inuyama, 484-8506, Japan.
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25
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Heesy CP, Ross CF. Evolution of activity patterns and chromatic vision in primates: morphometrics, genetics and cladistics. J Hum Evol 2001; 40:111-49. [PMID: 11161957 DOI: 10.1006/jhev.2000.0447] [Citation(s) in RCA: 122] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/22/2022]
Abstract
Hypotheses for the adaptive origin of primates have reconstructed nocturnality as the primitive activity pattern for the entire order based on functional/adaptive interpretations of the relative size and orientation of the orbits, body size and dietary reconstruction. Based on comparative data from extant taxa this reconstruction implies that basal primates were also solitary, faunivorous, and arboreal. Recently, primates have been hypothesized to be primitively diurnal, based in part on the distribution of color-sensitive photoreceptor opsin genes and active trichromatic color vision in several extant strepsirrhines, as well as anthropoid primates (Tan & Li, 1999 Nature402, 36; Li, 2000 Am. J. phys. Anthrop. Supple.30, 318). If diurnality is primitive for all primates then the functional and adaptive significance of aspects of strepsirrhine retinal morphology and other adaptations of the primate visual system such as high acuity stereopsis, have been misinterpreted for decades. This hypothesis also implies that nocturnality evolved numerous times in primates. However, the hypothesis that primates are primitively diurnal has not been analyzed in a phylogenetic context, nor have the activity patterns of several fossil primates been considered. This study investigated the evolution of activity patterns and trichromacy in primates using a new method for reconstructing activity patterns in fragmentary fossils and by reconstructing visual system character evolution at key ancestral nodes of primate higher taxa. Results support previous studies that reconstruct omomyiform primates as nocturnal. The larger body sizes of adapiform primates confound inferences regarding activity pattern evolution in this group. The hypothesis of diurnality and trichromacy as primitive for primates is not supported by the phylogenetic data. On the contrary, nocturnality and dichromatic vision are not only primitive for all primates, but also for extant strepsirrhines. Diurnality, and possibly X-linked polymorphic trichromacy, evolved at least in the stem lineage of Anthropoidea, or the stem lineage of all haplorhines.
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Affiliation(s)
- C P Heesy
- Interdepartmental Doctoral Program in Anthropological Sciences, Department of Anatomical Sciences, Health Sciences Center, State University of New York at Stony Brook, Stony Brook, New York 11794-8081, USA.
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26
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Stratigraphy and Taphonomy of Grizzly Buttes, Bridger Formation, and the Middle Eocene of Wyoming. ACTA ACUST UNITED AC 2001. [DOI: 10.1007/978-1-4615-1271-4_6] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 02/21/2023]
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27
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Affiliation(s)
- Callum F. Ross
- Anatomical Sciences, Health Sciences Center, State University of New York, Stony Brook, New York 11794-8081; e-mail:
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Kay RF, Kirk EC. Osteological evidence for the evolution of activity pattern and visual acuity in primates. AMERICAN JOURNAL OF PHYSICAL ANTHROPOLOGY 2000; 113:235-62. [PMID: 11002207 DOI: 10.1002/1096-8644(200010)113:2<235::aid-ajpa7>3.0.co;2-9] [Citation(s) in RCA: 181] [Impact Index Per Article: 7.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/08/2022]
Abstract
Examination of orbit size and optic foramen size in living primates reveals two adaptive phenomena. First, as noted by many authors, orbit size is strongly correlated with activity pattern. Comparisons of large samples of extant primates consistently reveal that nocturnal species exhibit proportionately larger orbits than diurnal species. Furthermore, nocturnal haplorhines (Tarsius and Aotus) have considerably larger orbits than similar-sized nocturnal strepsirrhines. Orbital hypertrophy in Tarsius and Aotus accommodates the enormously enlarged eyes of these taxa. This extreme ocular hypertrophy seen in extant nocturnal haplorhines is an adaptation for both enhanced visual acuity and sensitivity in conditions of low light intensity. Second, the relative size of the optic foramen is highly correlated with the degree of retinal summation and inferred visual acuity. Diurnal haplorhines exhibit proportionately larger optic foramina, less central retinal summation, and much higher visual acuity than do all other primates. Diurnal strepsirrhines exhibit a more subtle but significant parallel enlargement of the optic foramen and a decrease in retinal summation relative to the condition seen in nocturnal primates. These twin osteological variables of orbit size and optic foramen size may be used to draw inferences regarding the activity pattern, retinal anatomy, and visual acuity of fossil primates. Our measurements demonstrate that the omomyiforms Microchoerus, Necrolemur, Shoshonius, and Tetonius, adapiform Pronycticebus, and the possible lorisiform Plesiopithecus were likely nocturnal on the basis of orbit diameter. The adapiforms Leptadapis, Adapis, and Notharctus, the phylogenetically enigmatic Rooneyia, the early anthropoids Proteopithecus, Catopithecus, and Aegyptopithecus, and early platyrrhine Dolichocebus were likely diurnal. The activity pattern of the platyrrhine Tremacebus is obscure. Plesiopithecus, Pronycticebus, Microchoerus, and Necrolemur probably had eyes that were very similar to those of extant nocturnal primates, with a high degree of retinal summation and rod-dominated retinae. Leptadapis and Rooneyia likely had eyes similar to those of extant diurnal strepsirrhines, with moderate degrees of retinal summation, a larger cone:rod ratio than in nocturnal primates, and, more speculatively, well-developed areae centrales similar to those of diurnal strepsirrhines. Adapis exhibited uncharacteristically high degrees of retinal summation for a small-eyed (likely diurnal) primate. None of the adapiform or omomyiform taxa for which we were able to obtain optic foramen dimensions exhibited the extremely high visual acuity characteristic of extant diurnal haplorhines.
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Affiliation(s)
- R F Kay
- Department of Biological Anthropology and Anatomy, Duke University Medical Center, Durham, North Carolina 27710, USA.
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Abstract
The first omomyine petrosals, those of Omomys carteri, are described. Omomys probably had a tympanic bulla and canals for the intratympanic carotid circulation derived from the petrosal bone. The stapedial and promontory canals were complete, large and subequal. The posterior carotid foramen entered the bulla posteromedially. The intratympanic portion of the facial nerve was fully enclosed in bone, the stapedius fossa is extrabullar and the parotic fissure is patent. The mastoid was pneumatized from the epitympanic recess and a supracochlear cavity may have been present. The Omomys petrosals exhibit a generic omomyiform morphology, exhibiting no features that can be interpreted as autapomorphies and only one feature shared with adapiforms. The monophyly of Omomyiformes is based on other cranial characters, dental and postcranial characters assessed elsewhere. The similarity of the Shanghuang petrosal to the petrosals of omomyiforms, as well as the ambiguous evidence of its association, suggest that an omomyiform affinity for that petrosal cannot be ruled out.
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Affiliation(s)
- C F Ross
- Anatomical Sciences, Health Sciences Center, State University of New York, Stony Brook 11794-8081, USA.
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Gebo DL, Dagosto M, Beard KC, Qi T, Wang J. The oldest known anthropoid postcranial fossils and the early evolution of higher primates. Nature 2000; 404:276-8. [PMID: 10749208 DOI: 10.1038/35005066] [Citation(s) in RCA: 50] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/01/2023]
Abstract
The middle Eocene primate family Eosimiidae, which is known from sites in central and eastern China and Myanmar, is central to efforts to reconstruct the origin and early evolution of anthropoid or 'higher' primates (monkeys, apes and humans). Previous knowledge of eosimiid anatomy has been restricted to the dentition and an isolated petrosal bone, and this limited anatomical information has led to conflicting interpretations of early anthropoid phylogeny. Here we describe foot bones of Eosimias from the same middle Eocene sites in China that yield abundant dental remains of this primate. Tarsals of Eosimias show derived anatomical traits that are otherwise restricted to living and fossil anthropoids. These new fossils substantiate the anthropoid status of Eosimias and clarify the phylogenetic position of anthropoids with respect to other major primate clades. Early anthropoids possessed a mosaic of primitive and derived traits in their postcranial skeletons, reflecting their derivation from haplorhine ancestors that retained many prosimian-like features.
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Affiliation(s)
- D L Gebo
- Department of Antrophology, Northern Illinois University, DeKalb 60115, USA.
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Rasmussen DT, Conroy GC, Simons EL. Tarsier-like locomotor specializations in the oligocene primate afrotarsius. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A 1998; 95:14848-50. [PMID: 9843978 PMCID: PMC24538 DOI: 10.1073/pnas.95.25.14848] [Citation(s) in RCA: 19] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/18/2022] Open
Abstract
Tarsiers and extinct tarsier-like primates have played a central role in views of primate phylogeny and evolution for more than a century. Because of the importance of tarsiers in so many primatological problems, there has been particular interest in questions about the origin of tarsier specializations and the biogeography of early tarsioid radiations. We report on a new fossil of rare Afrotarsius that shows near identity to modern Tarsius in unique specializations of the leg, which provides information about the locomotor behavior and clarifies the phylogenetic position of this previously controversial primate. These specializations constitute evidence that Afrotarsius is a tarsiid, closely related to extant Tarsius; hence, it is now excluded from being a generalized sister taxon to Anthropoidea.
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Affiliation(s)
- D T Rasmussen
- Department of Anthropology, Washington University, St. Louis, MO 63130, USA.
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32
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Abstract
The relationships of anthropoids to other primates are currently debated, as are the relationships among early fossil anthropoids and crown anthropoids. To resolve these issues, data on 291 morphological characters were collected for 57 taxa of living and fossil primates and analyzed using PAUP and MacClade. The dental evidence provides weak support for the notion of an adapid origin for anthropoids, the cranial evidence supports the tarsier-anthropoid hypothesis, and the postcranial evidence supports a monophyletic Prosimii and a monophyletic Anthropoidea. Combining these data into a single data set produces almost universal support for a tarsier-anthropoid clade nested within omomyids. Eosimias and Afrotarsius are certainly members of this clade, and probably basal anthropoids, although the Shanghuang petrosal may not belong to Eosimias. The tree derived from the combined data set resembles the tree derived from the cranial data set rather than the larger dental data set. This may be attributable to relatively slower evolution in the cranial characters. The combined data set shows Anthropoidea to be monophyletic but the features traditionally held to be anthropoid synapomorphies are found to have evolved mosaically. Parapithecines are the sister taxon to crown anthropoids; qatraniines and oligopithecids are more distantly related sister taxa. There is support for a relationship of a Tarsius + Anthropoidea clade with either washakiines on Uintanius. These elements of tree topology remain fairly stable under different assumptions sets, but overall, tree topology is not robust. Previously divergent hypotheses regarding anthropoid relationships are attributable to the use of restricted data sets. This large data set enables the adapid-anthropoid hypothesis to be rejected, and unites Tarsius, Anthropoidea and Omomyiformes within a clade, Haplorhini. However, relationships among these three taxa cannot be convincingly resolved at present.
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Affiliation(s)
- C Ross
- Department of Anatomical Sciences, State University of New York at Stony Brook 11794-8081, USA
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Abstract
Recent fossil discoveries have greatly increased our knowledge of the morphology and diversity of early Anthropoidea, the suborder to which humans belong. Phylogenetic analysis of Recent and fossil taxa supports the hypotheses that a haplorhine-strepsirrhine dichotomy existed at least at the time of the earliest record of fossil primates (earliest Eocene) and that eosimiids (middle Eocene, China) are primitive anthropoids. Functional analysis suggests that stem haplorhines were small, nocturnal, arboreal, visually oriented insectivore-frugivores with a scurrying-leaping locomotion. A change from nocturnality to diurnality was the fundamental adaptive shift that occurred at the base of the tarsier-eosimiid-anthropoid clade. Stem anthropoids remained small diurnal arborealists but adopted locomotor patterns with more arboreal quadrupedalism and less leaping. A shift to a more herbivorous diet occurred in several anthropoid lineages.
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Affiliation(s)
- R F Kay
- Department of Biological Anthropology and Anatomy, Box 3170, Duke University Medical Center, Durham, NC 27710, USA
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Simons EL, Rasmussen DT. Skull of Catopithecus browni, an early tertiary catarrhine. AMERICAN JOURNAL OF PHYSICAL ANTHROPOLOGY 1996; 100:261-92. [PMID: 8771315 DOI: 10.1002/(sici)1096-8644(199606)100:2<261::aid-ajpa7>3.0.co;2-#] [Citation(s) in RCA: 41] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 02/02/2023]
Abstract
Fossil crania from quarry L-41, Fayum, Egypt, representing Catopithecus browni, a primate similar in size to callitrichids but with a catarrhine dental formula, provide the geologically earliest record of an anthropoidean skull. Catopithecus had postorbital closure developed to the stage seen in extant anthropoideans, with direct contact between zygomatic plate and maxillary tuber, isolating an anterior orbital fissure from the inferior orbital fissure. The auditory region also resembles that of later anthropoideans: The posterior carotid foramen is placed adjacent to the jugular fossa; a large promontory canal crosses the promontorium; and the annular ectotympanic is fused ventrally to the bulla. The incisors and canines show an assemblage of features found only among modern anthropoideans and adapoids. The face is characterized by a relatively deep maxilla, broad ascending wing of the premaxilla, and long nasal bones, yielding a moderate muzzle similar to that of Aegyptopithecus. The small braincase bears an anteriorly broad frontal trigon and a posteriorly developed sagittal crest. The mandibular symphysis is unfused even in mature adults. The encephalization quotient (EQ) probably falls within the range of Eocene prosimians, much lower than the EQs of Neogene anthropoideans.
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Affiliation(s)
- E L Simons
- Department of Biological Anthropology and Anatomy, Duke University, Durham, North Carolina 27705, USA
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Beard KC, Tong Y, Dawson MR, Wang J, Huang X. Earliest Complete Dentition of an Anthropoid Primate from the Late Middle Eocene of Shanxi Province, China. Science 1996. [DOI: 10.1126/science.272.5258.82] [Citation(s) in RCA: 130] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/02/2022]
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Ross C. Adaptive explanation for the origins of the anthropoidea (primates). Am J Primatol 1996; 40:205-230. [DOI: 10.1002/(sici)1098-2345(1996)40:3<205::aid-ajp1>3.0.co;2-1] [Citation(s) in RCA: 117] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/02/1995] [Revised: 06/11/1996] [Indexed: 11/11/2022]
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Jaworski CJ. A reassessment of mammalian alpha A-crystallin sequences using DNA sequencing: implications for anthropoid affinities of tarsier. J Mol Evol 1995; 41:901-8. [PMID: 8587135 DOI: 10.1007/bf00173170] [Citation(s) in RCA: 15] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/31/2023]
Abstract
alpha A-crystallin, a major structural protein in the ocular lenses of all vertebrates, has been a valuable tool for molecular phylogenetic studies. This paper presents the complete sequence for human alpha A-crystallin derived from cDNA and genomic clones. The deduced amino acid sequence differs at two phylogenetically informative positions from that previously inferred from peptide composition. This led us to examine the same region of the alpha A-crystallin gene in 12 other mammalian species using direct sequencing of PCR-amplified genomic DNA. New sequences were added to the database, and corrections were made to all anthropoid sequences, defining clear synapomorphies for anthropoids as a clade distinct from prosimians. Within the anthropoids there are further synapomorphies delineating hominoids, Old World monkeys, and New World monkeys. Significantly, sequence revisions and the addition of new sequence for a prosimian, the sifaka, eliminate the previous support for the proposed anthropoid affinities of the tarsier inferred from alpha A-crystallin protein sequences. In addition, DNA sequences provide greater resolution of certain relationships. For example, although they are identical in protein sequence, comparison of DNA sequences clearly separates mouse and the common tree shrew, grouping the tree shrew closer to prosimians. These results show that adding DNA sequences to the existing alpha A-crystallin database can enhance its value in resolving phylogenetic relationships.
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Affiliation(s)
- C J Jaworski
- Section on Molecular Structure and Function, National Eye Institute, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD 28092, USA
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38
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Ross C. Muscular and osseous anatomy of the primate anterior temporal fossa and the functions of the postorbital septum. AMERICAN JOURNAL OF PHYSICAL ANTHROPOLOGY 1995; 98:275-306. [PMID: 8572154 DOI: 10.1002/ajpa.1330980304] [Citation(s) in RCA: 46] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/31/2023]
Abstract
Many adaptive explanations for anthropoid origins incorporate hypotheses regarding the function of the postorbital septum. Two hypotheses are evaluated here: Cachel's ([1979b] Am. J. Phys. Anthropol. 50:1-18) hypothesis that the anthropoid postorbital septum evolved to augment muscle attachment area in the anterior temporal fossa and Cartmill's ([1980] in RL Ciochon and AB Chiarelli (eds.): Evolutionary Biology of the New World Monkeys and Continental Drift. New York: Plenum, pp. 243-274.) hypothesis that the septum evolved to insulate the foveate eye of haplorhines from movements in the temporal fossa during mastication. Dissections of the masticatory muscles of 55 species of primates, with emphasis on the anatomy of the anterior temporal fossa, reveal that in all anthropoids the temporal muscles take origin from the portion of the septum formed by the frontal bone. In some platyrrhines this muscle is anterior temporalis, and in others it is zygomatico-mandibularis. In tarsiers and most platyrrhines, muscle attachment to the zygomatic portion of the postorbital septum is very restricted (and of possibly varying homologies), whereas in catarrhines the zygomatico-mandibularis arises from the postorbital ridge on the zygomatic portion of the septum. This suggests that, contrary to Cachel's hypothesis, the earliest anthropoids did not have extensive areas of muscle attachment on the postorbital septum, a suggestion supported by the bony morphology of Catopithecus browni. Dissections also indicate that in all haplorhines the anteriormost temporal fibers curve around the postorbital septum between origin and insertion, implying that, were the septum not present, the anterior temporal muscles would disturb the orbital contents when contracting. This suggests that insulation may have been the septum's original function, even in the absence of a retinal fovea. In anthropoids, the rostral migration of the line of action of the anterior temporal muscles relative to the eye is attributed to their possession of extreme degrees of both orbital frontation and convergence; in tarsiers it is attributed to their possession of both massively hypertrophied eyes and moderately convergent and frontated orbits. It is argued that the postorbital septum is most likely to have evolved in a morphological context similar to that exhibited by omomyids.
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Affiliation(s)
- C Ross
- Department of Biological Anthropology and Anatomy, Duke University Medical Center, Durham, North Carolina 27710, USA
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Beard KC, Qi T, Dawson MR, Wang B, Li C. A diverse new primate fauna from middle Eocene fissure-fillings in southeastern China. Nature 1994; 368:604-9. [PMID: 8145845 DOI: 10.1038/368604a0] [Citation(s) in RCA: 125] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/29/2023]
Abstract
We report the discovery of a fauna of primates from Eocene (approximately 45 Myr) deposits in China having a diversity greater than in European and North American localities of similar antiquity. From the many forms that will illuminate questions of primate phylogeny comes evidence for a basal radiation of primitive simians.
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Affiliation(s)
- K C Beard
- Section of Vertebrate Paleontology, Carnegie Museum of Natural History, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania 15213
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41
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Abstract
Recent discoveries of fossil primate specimens have produced several surprises and challenged prevailing views of early primate evolution. Plesiadapiformes, long regarded as 'archaic primates', may perhaps be linked to the peculiar colugos instead. Inferred relationships of the earliest known undoubted primates (adapids and omomyids) are in turmoil. Both groups have been proposed as sources for the simian primates. Although the origin of the simian primates is obscure, new fossil evidence could push it further back by at least 10 million years. Such uncertainties reflect the low sampling level of the primate fossil record, which can potentially also lead to underestimation of times of origin within the primate tree.
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Affiliation(s)
- R D Martin
- Anthropologisches Institut und Museum, Universität Zürich-Irchel, Switzerland
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42
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Diamond MK. Homology and evolution of the orbitotemporal venous sinuses of humans. AMERICAN JOURNAL OF PHYSICAL ANTHROPOLOGY 1992; 88:211-44. [PMID: 1605319 DOI: 10.1002/ajpa.1330880209] [Citation(s) in RCA: 24] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/27/2022]
Abstract
The orbitotemporal venous sinuses accompany the intracranial branches of the stapedial artery. These sinuses are large in primitive primates and drain the extensive territories supplied by the stapedial artery as well as the brain. The orbit is drained by a wide cranio-orbital sinus which empties into the postglenoid emissary vein. Also emptying into the postglenoid vein is the petrosquamous sinus. The latter diverts cerebral blood from the transverse sinus and also drains the temporalis muscle. Emptying into both the cranio-orbital and petrosquamous sinuses are meningeal tributaries, which drain the cranial side wall and the dura mater. The relatively small sinus communicans runs in the angle between the petrosal bone and the cranial side wall. It commences at the postglenoid vein and connects the distal end of the petrosquamous sinus to the pterygoid venous plexus. In humans, the orbitotemporal sinus system is greatly modified. Its remnants persist for the most part as "middle meningeal veins." The system no longer drains the orbit, the temporal fossa, or the brain. The petrosquamous sinus becomes attenuated or obliterated along part or all of its length. The postglenoid vein vanishes. The cranio-orbital sinus is reduced in diameter and its connection to the orbit is feeble or absent. During development, the posterior end of the cranio-orbital sinus migrates inferiorly along the sinus communicans. In most individuals, this migration ceases at the foramen spinosum, site of the emissary vein of the sinus communicans. Meningeal tributaries are relatively large in humans, and drain principally into the cranio-orbital sinus or sphenoparietal sinus. The sphenoparietal sinus is an evolutionary novelty restricted to hominoids and is frequently developed in only Homo and Pongo.
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Affiliation(s)
- M K Diamond
- Department of Organismal Biology and Anatomy, University of Chicago, Illinois 60637
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Abstract
The record of early fossil Simiiformes (Anthropoidea) from the Late Eocene and Early Oligocene of Africa and the Arabian Peninsula has increased dramatically in recent years. We report here the discovery of a new, diminutive and much older (Early or Middle Eocene) simian from an Algerian locality, Glib Zegdou. This species is smaller than any other living or fossil African simiiform. Derived similarities shared with Aegyptopithecus suggest that the new genus is more closely related to propliopithecines than to oligopithecines, implying that these two subfamilies differentiated during the Early Eocene. The new discovery confirms predictions about the great antiquity of Simiiformes and emphasizes a long and endemic African history for higher primates.
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Affiliation(s)
- M Godinot
- Institut des Sciences de l'Evolution (CNRS, URA 327), Université Montpellier, France
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Cachel S. A balanced synthesis of primate evolution. Review ofPrimate Evolution, by Glenn C. Conroy. New York, W.W. Norton and Company, Inc., 1990, 492 pp, $34.95, paperback. Am J Primatol 1992. [DOI: 10.1002/ajp.1350280409] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/08/2022]
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45
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Covert HH, Williams BA. The anterior lower dentition of Washakius insignis and adapid-anthropoidean affinities. J Hum Evol 1991. [DOI: 10.1016/0047-2484(91)90096-e] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/26/2022]
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46
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Beard KC, Wang B. Phylogenetic and biogeographic significance of the tarsiiform primateAsiomomys changbaicus from the eocene of Jilin Province, people's Republic of China. AMERICAN JOURNAL OF PHYSICAL ANTHROPOLOGY 1991. [DOI: 10.1002/ajpa.1330850205] [Citation(s) in RCA: 39] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/07/2022]
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47
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