DOCSLIB.ORG

Evolution of Religious Capacity in the Genus Homo: Origins and Building Blocks

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text
Evolution of Religious Capacity in the Genus Homo: Origins and Building Blocks EVOLUTION OF RELIGIOUS CAPACITY IN THE GENUS HOMO: ORIGINS AND BUILDING BLOCKS Item Type Article Authors Rappaport, Margaret Boone; Corbally, Christopher Citation Rappaport, M. B. and Corbally, C. (2018), EVOLUTION OF RELIGIOUS CAPACITY IN THE GENUS HOMO: ORIGINS AND BUILDING BLOCKS. Zygon®, 53: 123-158. doi:10.1111/zygo.12386 DOI 10.1111/zygo.12386 Publisher WILEY Journal ZYGON Rights © 2018 by the Joint Publication Board of Zygon. Download date 28/09/2021 04:07:18 Item License http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/ Version Final accepted manuscript Link to Item http://hdl.handle.net/10150/628191 This is the accepted version of the following article: EVOLUTION OF RELIGIOUS CAPACITY IN THE GENUS HOMO: ORIGINS AND BUILDING BLOCKS by Margaret Boone Rappaport, Christopher J. Corbally, in Zygon: Journal of Religion and Science, vol. 53, no. 1 (March 2018), pp.123-158, which has been published in final form at https://authorservices.wiley.com/api/pdf/fullArticle/14854784. This article may be used for non-commercial purposes in accordance with the Wiley Self- Archiving Policy [https://authorservices.wiley.com/author-resources/Journal-Authors/licensing- open-access/open-access/self-archiving.html] Abstract. The large, ancient ape population of the Miocene reached across Eurasia and down into Africa. From this genetically diverse group, the chimpanzees, bonobos, gorillas, and humans evolved from populations of successively reduced size. Using the findings of genomics, population genetics, cognitive science, neuroscience, and archaeology, the authors construct a theoretical framework of evolutionary innovations without which religious capacity could not have emerged as it did. They begin with primate sociality and strength from a basic ape model, and then explore how the human line came to be the most adaptive and flexible of all, while coming from populations with reduced genetic variability. Their analysis then delves into the importance of neurological plasticity and a lengthening developmental trajectory, and points to their following article and the last building block: the expansion of the parietal areas, which allowed visuospatial reckoning, and imagined spaces and beings essential to human theologies. Approximate times for the major cognitive building blocks of religious capacity are given. Keywords: ape; bottleneck; cognitive evolution; effective population size; founder effect; genetic drift; natural selection; plasticity; population genetics; sociality. Margaret Boone Rappaport is an anthropologist, biologist, and co-founder of the Human Sentience Project, Tucson, AZ, USA; e-mail: [email protected]. Christopher J. Corbally, SJ, is an astronomer with the Vatican Observatory and Department of Astronomy, University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ, USA and co-founder of the Human Sentience Project; e-mail: [email protected]. 1 EVOLUTION OF RELIGIOUS CAPACITY IN THE GENUS HOMO: ORIGINS AND BUILDING BLOCKS Margaret Boone Rappaport, Christopher J. Corbally The world can sometimes seem a violent place, but we are steadily becoming a more democratic and peaceful species, more cooperative, kinder, more empathetic, and more generous, descended from more aggressive ancestors in our not-too-distant past. We are still being tamed by culture, and if there are genetic differences among us that map onto these more peaceable natures, they will be finding favor in our ranks. Mark Pagel, Wired for Culture (2012, 266) INTRODUCTION This is the first in a series of three papers whose purpose is to describe the theoretical underpinnings for an evolutionary model of the biological emergence of religious capacity in the genus Homo (Table 1). Because religious capacity is essentially a cognitive trait, and the timing of human cognition has become an issue (MacLean 2016), our emphasis is on the timing of adaptations at the root of human religious capacity. In this first paper in a series of three (Rappaport and Corbally 2018a), important building blocks are identified, probed, and set in place for a model that is presented more fully in the next paper, “Evolution of Religious Capacity in the Genus Homo: Cognitive Time Sequence” (Rappaport and Corbally 2018b). The latter explores additional genomic, neurological, and cognitive findings that support construction of our model for religious capacity’s biological evolution. A third paper in the series, “Evolution of Religious Capacity in the Genus Homo: Trait Complexity in Action through Compassion” (Rappaport and Corbally 2018c) includes an analysis of the very complex human capacity for compassion using the stages in our evolutionary model; application of neural reuse theory and interpretation of it in a Darwinian context; and finally, a teaching tool on religious capacity in early Homo sapiens. The action in the latter frames the phenotypic expression of the human trait of religious capacity and the human ability to form compassion, both now and in the past. We use the term “trait” in the sense used by biologists (Varki and Altheide 2005, their Table 1). We hasten to add that our term “building block” implies a collection of traits or characteristics that appear together and are generally discrete both through time and sometimes among related species. The “building block” implies discreteness, strength, and adaptive advantage, and they are useful in demonstrating a solid biological foundation for religious capacity. We use “building block” to imply an adaptation or a set of related adaptations that are reliably reproduced in a species or a series of species. 2 Table 1. Classification of the Order Primates, Commonly Known Forms Kingdom Animalia Phylum Chordata Class Mammalia Order Primates Lemurs and lorises “lower primates” Tarsiers “monkeys” New World monkeys Old World monkeys Superfamily Hominoidea (lesser apes, great apes, humans) Family Hylobatidae: gibbons (lesser apes) Family Hominidae (great apes and humans) Subfamily Ponginae (orangutans) Subfamily Homininae (gorillas, chimpanzees, humans) Tribe Gorillini (gorillas) Tribe Hominini: (chimpanzees and humans) Genus Pan (chimpanzees and bonobos) Species Pan troglodydtes (chimpanzee) Species Pan paniscus (bonobo) Genus Homo (humans and extinct related forms) Species Homo habilis (extinct) Species Homo erectus (extinct) Species Homo heidelbergensis (extinct) Species Homo neanderthalensis (extinct) Species Homo sapiens Subspecies Homo sapiens idaltu (extinct) Subspecies Homo sapiens sapiens We hasten to add that our term “building block” implies a collection of traits or characteristics that appear together and are generally discrete both through time and sometimes among related species. The “building block” implies discreteness, strength, and adaptive advantage, and they are useful in demonstrating a solid biological foundation for religious capacity. We use “building block” to imply an adaptation or a set of related adaptations that are reliably reproduced in a species or a series of species. There is a naturally fuzzy quality to these building blocks because traits that are eventually called “human” may have very ancient genetic roots in our pre-sapiens ancestors. The building blocks appear variable because of the statistical methods used in population genetics, which is based on probability theory. We further explore this quality in fascinating detailed examples, below, and reveal that some members of Homo sapiens have gene copies that go back as much as two million years, maybe more. In a general way, we all have features that derive from the first primates, then the first apes, and then our closer ancestors, the earlier members of the genus Homo. 3 The human trait of religious capacity has very ancient roots – not religious behavior per se, but the roots of it. The “building block” is an analytic artifice that helps us image the most important evolutionary changes that led to a species with religious capacity, whether it finds overt expression in individuals or not. There is substantial overlap in these “building blocks,” which represent types of changes through time, although we consider them in their order of first appearance according to our model. It is especially important to note that religious capacity need not be expressed to be present and available in the biology of the population that constitutes our species today. Similarly, no human must learn to read in order for the cognitive capacity that allows us to learn to read to be a trait of our species (cf Colagè 2015; Rappaport and Corbally 2016). Our goal here is not to search for signs of “religion” in the fossil record of apes or in the archaeological record of early hominins, or, in the results of modern genomics. We are leery of simplistic answers to questions about religious capacity, and find claims of “God genes” and the like to be facile explanations that ignore how exceptionally elaborate human religious capacity is and how many brain capacities it may draw upon. We propose that the complexity of religious capacity has roots. When one adds evolutionary depth to the exploration of religious capacity’s underpinnings, the image that emerges is one of a rich texture of stepwise genetic changes through millions of years of adaptation to changing environments. Was there a single quantum jump that produced religion? Most assuredly, there was not. Were there adaptations without which religious capacity today would not exist, or would be very different? Most assuredly, there were. The Miocene ape radiation (Table 2) provided the genetic variability and the basic ape model that
Load more

Recommended publications
  • Hands-On Human Evolution: a Laboratory Based Approach
    Hands-on Human Evolution: A Laboratory Based Approach Developed by Margarita Hernandez Center for Precollegiate Education and Training Author: Margarita Hernandez Curriculum Team: Julie Bokor, Sven Engling A huge thank you to….. Contents: 4. Author’s note 5. Introduction 6. Tips about the curriculum 8. Lesson Summaries 9. Lesson Sequencing Guide 10. Vocabulary 11. Next Generation Sunshine State Standards- Science 12. Background information 13. Lessons 122. Resources 123. Content Assessment 129. Content Area Expert Evaluation 131. Teacher Feedback Form 134. Student Feedback Form Lesson 1: Hominid Evolution Lab 19. Lesson 1 . Student Lab Pages . Student Lab Key . Human Evolution Phylogeny . Lab Station Numbers . Skeletal Pictures Lesson 2: Chromosomal Comparison Lab 48. Lesson 2 . Student Activity Pages . Student Lab Key Lesson 3: Naledi Jigsaw 77. Lesson 3 Author’s note Introduction Page The validity and importance of the theory of biological evolution runs strong throughout the topic of biology. Evolution serves as a foundation to many biological concepts by tying together the different tenants of biology, like ecology, anatomy, genetics, zoology, and taxonomy. It is for this reason that evolution plays a prominent role in the state and national standards and deserves thorough coverage in a classroom. A prime example of evolution can be seen in our own ancestral history, and this unit provides students with an excellent opportunity to consider the multiple lines of evidence that support hominid evolution. By allowing students the chance to uncover the supporting evidence for evolution themselves, they discover the ways the theory of evolution is supported by multiple sources. It is our hope that the opportunity to handle our ancestors’ bone casts and examine real molecular data, in an inquiry based environment, will pique the interest of students, ultimately leading them to conclude that the evidence they have gathered thoroughly supports the theory of evolution.
    [Show full text]
  • Human Evolution: a Paleoanthropological Perspective - F.H
    PHYSICAL (BIOLOGICAL) ANTHROPOLOGY - Human Evolution: A Paleoanthropological Perspective - F.H. Smith HUMAN EVOLUTION: A PALEOANTHROPOLOGICAL PERSPECTIVE F.H. Smith Department of Anthropology, Loyola University Chicago, USA Keywords: Human evolution, Miocene apes, Sahelanthropus, australopithecines, Australopithecus afarensis, cladogenesis, robust australopithecines, early Homo, Homo erectus, Homo heidelbergensis, Australopithecus africanus/Australopithecus garhi, mitochondrial DNA, homology, Neandertals, modern human origins, African Transitional Group. Contents 1. Introduction 2. Reconstructing Biological History: The Relationship of Humans and Apes 3. The Human Fossil Record: Basal Hominins 4. The Earliest Definite Hominins: The Australopithecines 5. Early Australopithecines as Primitive Humans 6. The Australopithecine Radiation 7. Origin and Evolution of the Genus Homo 8. Explaining Early Hominin Evolution: Controversy and the Documentation- Explanation Controversy 9. Early Homo erectus in East Africa and the Initial Radiation of Homo 10. After Homo erectus: The Middle Range of the Evolution of the Genus Homo 11. Neandertals and Late Archaics from Africa and Asia: The Hominin World before Modernity 12. The Origin of Modern Humans 13. Closing Perspective Glossary Bibliography Biographical Sketch Summary UNESCO – EOLSS The basic course of human biological history is well represented by the existing fossil record, although there is considerable debate on the details of that history. This review details both what is firmly understood (first echelon issues) and what is contentious concerning humanSAMPLE evolution. Most of the coCHAPTERSntention actually concerns the details (second echelon issues) of human evolution rather than the fundamental issues. For example, both anatomical and molecular evidence on living (extant) hominoids (apes and humans) suggests the close relationship of African great apes and humans (hominins). That relationship is demonstrated by the existing hominoid fossil record, including that of early hominins.
    [Show full text]
  • Using Sub-Species Level Phylogenies
    1 Reconstructing the ancestral phenotypes of great apes and 2 humans (Homininae) using sub-species level phylogenies 3 Keaghan Yaxley1 and Robert Foley2 4 1Leverhulme Centre for Human Evolutionary Studies, University of Cambridge, UK 5 2Leverhulme Centre for Human Evolutionary Studies, University of Cambridge, UK 6 7 8 1 9 Abstract 10 By their close affinity, the African great apes are of interest to the study of human evolution. 11 While numerous researchers have described the ancestors we share with these species with 12 reference to extant great apes, few have done so with phylogenetic comparative methods. 13 One obstacle to the application of these techniques is the within-species phenotypic variation 14 found in this group. Here we leverage this variation, modelling common ancestors using 15 Ancestral State Reconstructions (ASRs) with reference to subspecies level trait data. A 16 subspecies level phylogeny of the African great apes and humans was estimated from full- 17 genome mtDNA sequences and used to implement ASRs for fifteen continuous traits known 18 to vary between great ape subspecies. While including within-species phenotypic variation 19 increased phylogenetic signal for our traits and improved the performance of our ASRs, 20 whether this was done through the inclusion of subspecies phylogeny or through the use of 21 existing methods made little difference. Our ASRs corroborate previous findings that the Last 22 Common Ancestor (LCA) of humans, chimpanzees and bonobos was a chimp-like animal, 23 but also suggest that the LCA of humans, chimpanzees, bonobos and gorillas was an animal 24 unlike any extant African great ape.
    [Show full text]
  • Environmental Hypotheses of Hominin Evolution
    YEARBOOK OF PHYSICAL ANTHROPOLOGY 41:93–136 (1998) Environmental Hypotheses of Hominin Evolution RICHARD POTTS Human Origins Program, National Museum of Natural History, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, DC 20560-0112 KEY WORDS climate; habitat; adaptation; variability selection; fossil humans; stone tools ABSTRACT The study of human evolution has long sought to explain major adaptations and trends that led to the origin of Homo sapiens. Environmental scenarios have played a pivotal role in this endeavor. They represent statements or, more commonly, assumptions concerning the adap- tive context in which key hominin traits emerged. In many cases, however, these scenarios are based on very little if any data about the past settings in which early hominins lived. Several environmental hypotheses of human evolution are presented in this paper. Explicit test expectations are laid out, and a preliminary assessment of the hypotheses is made by examining the environmental records of Olduvai, Turkana, Olorgesailie, Zhoukoudian, Combe Grenal, and other hominin localities. Habitat-specific hypotheses have pre- vailed in almost all previous accounts of human adaptive history. The rise of African dry savanna is often cited as the critical event behind the develop- ment of terrestrial bipedality, stone toolmaking, and encephalized brains, among other traits. This savanna hypothesis has been countered recently by the woodland/forest hypothesis, which claims that Pliocene hominins had evolved in and were primarily attracted to closed habitats. The ideas that human evolution was fostered by cold habitats in higher latitudes or by seasonal variations in tropical and temperate zones also have their propo- nents. An alternative view, the variability selection hypothesis, states that large disparities in environmental conditions were responsible for important episodes of adaptive evolution.
    [Show full text]
  • Part 7 Humans
    How do we recognise th 6 Extinction a human? • Walking on two legs (bipedal) We humans have destroyed over 80% of the habitat All non-human great apes are in the 34 continental biodiversity hotspots on Earth critically endangered. The biggest • Large brain relative to body size Biodiversity (see Part 2 of this series). threat is the loss of their habitat • Language, Symbolism, Happiness due to commercial logging, and the conversion of rainforest into palm oil plantations and biofuel Croplands of the Grazing agriculture. This in turn has led to lands take Earth occupy an an increase in human populations School activity & Extinction area about the up an area in forest areas and has led to an about the Part 7 size of South increase in bush meat trade. Why not set up a weekly Compiled by Dr John Anderson, Hominins America size of Africa debate on Democracy. Prof Francis Thackeray (ESI, Wits, anthropology) We humans, Homo sapiens, have arrived very late in the history of life. We’ve been Commercial Logging – The Why should we see the & Katherine Visser (Jhb Zoo, curator primates); cutting down of forest trees to layout by Ditshego Madopi & Anmari Hanekom around on Earth for only some 200,000 years. Our subtribe, the Hominina, have 7 bil world as ours alone? Bring all the cities sell wood and make room for Wouldn’t it be a good been around for some 7 million years; and our subfamily, the Homininae including Homo sapiens population Chimps agriculture is making less and less and towns and explosion population plan to give our close the chimps and gorillas, for some 10 million years.
    [Show full text]
  • A Unique Middle Miocene European Hominoid and the Origins of the Great Ape and Human Clade Salvador Moya` -Sola` A,1, David M
    A unique Middle Miocene European hominoid and the origins of the great ape and human clade Salvador Moya` -Sola` a,1, David M. Albab,c, Sergio Alme´ cijac, Isaac Casanovas-Vilarc, Meike Ko¨ hlera, Soledad De Esteban-Trivignoc, Josep M. Roblesc,d, Jordi Galindoc, and Josep Fortunyc aInstitucio´Catalana de Recerca i Estudis Avanc¸ats at Institut Catala`de Paleontologia (ICP) and Unitat d’Antropologia Biolo`gica (Dipartimento de Biologia Animal, Biologia Vegetal, i Ecologia), Universitat Auto`noma de Barcelona, Edifici ICP, Campus de Bellaterra s/n, 08193 Cerdanyola del Valle`s, Barcelona, Spain; bDipartimento di Scienze della Terra, Universita`degli Studi di Firenze, Via G. La Pira 4, 50121 Florence, Italy; cInstitut Catala`de Paleontologia, Universitat Auto`noma de Barcelona, Edifici ICP, Campus de Bellaterra s/n, 08193 Cerdanyola del Valle`s, Barcelona, Spain; and dFOSSILIA Serveis Paleontolo`gics i Geolo`gics, S.L. c/ Jaume I nu´m 87, 1er 5a, 08470 Sant Celoni, Barcelona, Spain Edited by David Pilbeam, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA, and approved March 4, 2009 (received for review November 20, 2008) The great ape and human clade (Primates: Hominidae) currently sediments by the diggers and bulldozers. After 6 years of includes orangutans, gorillas, chimpanzees, bonobos, and humans. fieldwork, 150 fossiliferous localities have been sampled from the When, where, and from which taxon hominids evolved are among 300-m-thick local stratigraphic series of ACM, which spans an the most exciting questions yet to be resolved. Within the Afro- interval of 1 million years (Ϸ12.5–11.3 Ma, Late Aragonian, pithecidae, the Kenyapithecinae (Kenyapithecini ؉ Equatorini) Middle Miocene).
    [Show full text]
  • Pathological Findings in a Captive Senile Western Lowland Gorilla (Gorilla Gorilla Gorilla) 29 with Chronic Renal Failure and Septic Polyarthritis
    Paixão et al.; Pathological Findings in a Captive Senile Western Lowland Gorilla (Gorilla gorilla gorilla) 29 With Chronic Renal Failure and Septic Polyarthritis. Braz J Vet Pathol, 2014, 7(1), 29 - 34 Case report Pathological Findings in a Captive Senile Western Lowland Gorilla (Gorilla gorilla gorilla) With Chronic Renal Failure and Septic Polyarthritis Tatiane Alves Paixão1, Herlandes Penha Tinoco2, Marcelo de Campos Cordeiro Malta2, Maria Elvira Loyola Teixeira da Costa2, Semíramis Azevedo Soave2, Angela Tinoco Pessanha2, Ana Patrícia Carvalho Silva3, Renato Lima Santos3* 1Departamento de Patologia Geral, Instituto de Ciências Biológicas, Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais, Belo Horizonte, MG, Brazil. 2Departamento de Jardim Zoológico da Fundação Zoo-Botânica de Belo Horizonte. Belo Horizonte, MG, Brazil. 3Departamento de Clínica e Cirurgia Veterinárias, Escola de Veterinária, Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais, Belo Horizonte, MG, Brazil. * Corresponding Author: Departamento de Clínica e Cirurgia Vet., Escola de Veterinária, Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais. Av. Antônio Carlos, 6627; 31270-901 Belo Horizonte, MG, Brazil. Phone: 55-31-34092239; Fax: 55-31-34092230; email: [email protected] Submitted February 20th 2014, Accepted March 10th 2014 Abstract A case of chronic renal failure associated with septic polyarthritis affecting a 39-year-old male Western lowland gorilla (Gorilla gorilla gorilla) is described. The gorilla developed a chronic interstitial nephritis associated with severe diffuse renal fibrosis, which was associated with several extra-renal uremic lesions, including uremic pneumopathy and gastropathy. Several joints presented gross and microscopic changes compatible with chronic active arthritis and athrosis, which were associated with inflammation of adjacent soft tissues. Staphylococcus aureus was cultured from sites of phlegmon and cellulitis, whereas Enterobacter sp.
    [Show full text]
  • Hominids Pdf Free Download
    HOMINIDS PDF, EPUB, EBOOK Sawyer | 448 pages | 07 Mar 2017 | St Martin's Press | 9780765345004 | English | New York, United States Hominids PDF Book The frequency of this genetic variant is due to the survival of immune persons. Annual Review of Nutrition. Retrieved August 2, Hominids can be broken down into two subfamilies, Ponginae, which includes orangutans Pongo and Hominae, which includes gorillas Gorilla , chimps Pan , and humans and their extinct close relatives such as Neanderthals Homo. Around six million years ago, the evolutionary line which gave rise to humans separated from the chimpanzees. Model of the phylogeny of Hominidae , with adjacent branches of Hominoidea , over the past 20 million years. Susman posited that modern anatomy of the human opposable thumb is an evolutionary response to the requirements associated with making and handling tools and that both species were indeed toolmakers. About 1. Homo erectus. Biennial Review of Anthropology. Perhaps in a sun-baked salt plain in Botswana," 31 Oct. Recent sequencing of Neanderthal [92] and Denisovan [93] genomes shows that some admixture with these populations has occurred. The immediate survival advantage of encephalization is difficult to discern, as the major brain changes from Homo erectus to Homo heidelbergensis were not accompanied by major changes in technology. Johnson Gad Saad. Brazilian Archives of Biology and Technology. Chiromyiformes Daubentoniidae. Although most living species are predominantly quadrupedal , they are all able to use their hands for gathering food or nesting materials, and, in some cases, for tool use. Dating back 11, years - with a coded message left by ancient man from the Mesolithic Age - the Shigir Idol is almost three times as old as the Egyptian pyramids.
    [Show full text]
  • Hominid/Human Evolution
    Hominid/Human Evolution Geology 331 Paleontology Primate Classification- 1980’s Order Primates Suborder Prosimii: tarsiers and lemurs Suborder Anthropoidea: monkeys, apes, and hominids Superfamily Hominoidea Family Pongidae: great apes Family Hominidae: Homo and hominid ancestors Primate Classification – 2000’s Order Primates Suborder Prosimii: tarsiers and lemurs Suborder Anthropoidea: monkeys, apes, and hominids Superfamily Hominoidea Family Hylobatidae: gibbons Family Hominidae Subfamily Ponginae: orangutans Subfamily Homininae: gorillas, chimps, Homo and hominin ancestors % genetic similarity 96% 100% with humans 95% 98% 84% 58% 91% Prothero, 2007 Tarsiers, a primitive Primate (Prosimian) from Southeast Asia. Tarsier sanctuary, Philippines A Galago or bush baby, a primitive Primate (Prosimian) from Africa. A Slow Loris, a primitive Primate (Prosimian) from Southeast Asia. Check out the fingers. Lemurs, primitive Primates (Prosimians) from Madagascar. Monkeys, such as baboons, have tails and are not hominoids. Smallest Primate – Pygmy Marmoset, a New World monkey from Brazil Proconsul, the oldest hominoid, 18 MY Hominoids A lesser ape, the Gibbon from Southeast Asia, a primitive living hominoid similar to Proconsul. Male Female Hominoids The Orangutan, a Great Ape from Southeast Asia. Dogs: Hominoids best friend? Gorillas, Great Apes from Africa. Bipedal Gorilla! Gorilla enjoying social media Chimp Gorilla Chimpanzees, Great I’m cool Apes from Africa. Pan troglodytes Chimps are simple tool users Chimp Human Neoteny in Human Evolution.
    [Show full text]
  • Supporting Information
    Supporting Information Moya` -Sola` et al. 10.1073/pnas.0811730106 SI Text netic relationships between all these taxa by classifying them all Systematic Framework. In Table S1 we provide a systematic into a single family Afropithecidae with 2 subfamilies (Keny- classification of living and fossil Hominoidea to the tribe level, apithecinae and Afropithecinae). by further including extant taxa and extinct genera discussed in The systematic scheme used here requires several nomencla- this paper. Hominoidea are defined as the group constituted by tural decisions, which deserve further explanation. The nomina Hylobatidae and Hominidae, plus all extinct taxa more closely Kenyapithecini and Kenyapithecinae are adopted instead of related to them than to Cercopithecoidea. Hominidae, in turn, Griphopithecinae and Griphopithecini (see also ref. 25) merely are defined as the group containing Ponginae and Homininae, because the former have priority. It is unclear why neither Begun plus all extinct forms more closely related to them than to (1) nor Kelley (2) specify the authorship of Griphopithecinae (or Hylobatidae. While this broad concept of Hominidae is currently Griphopithecidae), but, to our knowledge, the authorship of the used by many paleoprimatologists (e.g., refs. 1–2), the systematic latter nomina must be attributed to Begun (ref. 4, p. 232: Table position of primitive (or archaic) putative hominoids is far from 10.1), which therefore do not have priority over Kenyapithecinae clear (see below). Begun (3–5) employs the terms ‘‘Eohomi- Andrews, 1992. Griphopithecinae thus remains potentially valid noidea’’ and ‘‘Euhominoidea’’ to informally refer to hominoids only if Kenyapithecus (and Afropithecus, see below) are excluded of primitive and modern aspect, respectively.
    [Show full text]
  • The Evolutionary Ecology of the Hominoidea
    ANUARIO DE PSICOLOG~A Núm. 39 - 1988(2) THE EVOLUTIONARY ECOLOGY OF THE HOMINOIDEA COLIN P. GROVES Department of Prehistory and Antrhropology The Australian National University Colin P. Groves Department of Prehistory and Anthropology The Australian National University GP0 Box 4 Canberra, ACT 2601 Australia Introduction Despite ever intensifying studies since the Second World War, the ad- vance in the understanding of the Hominoidea has been patchy. In part this has because there have been too many assumptions; in part, because of acci- dents of history and accessibility. An example of both these factors is the concentration on Mountain Gorillas as representative of &he gorillaa: even a very recent sociobiological reconstruction (Ghiglieri, 1987) speaks of Moun- tain Gorillas as if they were the only gorillas, and it is true that for a long time the only really detailed available fieldwork was on this subspecies, although the observations since the late 1950s in West Africa of J. Sabater Pi (1966, 1977, etc.); Jones & Sabater Pi, (1971) indicate clearly that this is only very sketchily a valid proposition. In what follows, I hope to show how an evolutionary perspective on ho- minoid interrelationships and their socio-ecology offers a possibility of shed- ding light on the phylogeny of the human/ape lineage in a holistic way, per- haps bringing together the results of morphology, physiology, psychology, and etho-ecology. Hominoid Cladistics It is perfectly clear by now that, in Hominoid evolution, there was an initial split between the ancestors of the gibbons and those of the other taxa; the second of these lines then split into the orang-utan lineage and the hu- man/gorilla/chimpanzee lineage; and the second of these undenvent either a trifurcation or two closely spaced bifurcations.
    [Show full text]
  • Origins of the African Hominoids: an Assessment of the Palaeobiogeographical Evidence
    C. R. Palevol 3 (2004) 323–340 Human Paleontology and Prehistory (Paleoanthropology) Origins of the African hominoids: an assessment of the palaeobiogeographical evidence Susanne M. Cote Department of Anthropology, Harvard University, Peabody Museum, 11 Divinity Avenue, Cambridge, MA 02138, USA Received 29 September 2003; accepted after revision 29 March 2004 Written on invitation of the Editorial Board Abstract The origin of the African hominoid clade is a matter of current debate, with one hypothesis proposing that chimpanzees, humans, and gorillas originated in tropical Africa, while another suggests they originated in Eurasia. Support for the latter hypothesis includes biogeographical patterns inferred from the fossil record and proposed Miocene hominoid phylogenetic relationships. The absence of fossil apes from the African Late Miocene has been used as evidence that crown hominoids were not present in Africa during this period. An alternative explanation for the paucity of these hominoids is that biases in collection and preservation have affected the African Miocene fossil record. A survey of currently known African Later Miocene sites and their faunas shows that these sites generally do not contain hominoids because of small sample sizes, poor preservation, or inappropriate habitat sampling. These preservation biases have important implications for evaluating the origins of the Homininae. To cite this article: S.M. Cote, C. R. Palevol 3 (2004). © 2004 Académie des sciences. Published by Elsevier SAS. All rights reserved. Résumé Les origines des hominoïdes africains : évaluation des faits paléobiogéographiques. L’origine géographique du clade des hominoïdes africains est couramment débattue, les hypothèses suggérant d’une part l’Afrique tropicale, d’autre part l’Eurasie, pour l’origine des gorilles, des chimpanzés et des humains.
    [Show full text]