0520233697.Pdf

Total Page:16

File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb

0520233697.Pdf THE HUNT FOR THE DAWN MONKEY University of California Press Berkeley and Los Angeles, California University of California Press, Ltd. London, England © 2004 by the Regents of the University of California Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Beard, K. Chris. The hunt for the dawn monkey : unearthing the origins of monkeys, apes, and humans / Chris Beard; illustrations by Mark Klingler. p. cm. Includes bibliographical references and index. isbn 0–520–23369–7 (cloth : alk. paper) 1. Primates, Fossil. 2. Monkeys, Fossil. 3. Fossil hominids. 4. Human beings—Origin. 5. Paleoanthropology. I. Title. qe882.p7b35 2004 569'.8—dc22 2004001403 Manufactured in the United States of America 13 12 11 10 09 08 07 06 05 04 10987654 321 The paper used in this publication meets the minimum requirements of ansi/niso z39.48–1992 (r 1997) (Permanence of Paper). For Sandi Amor vitae supervivit The Hunt for the Dawn Monkey Unearthing the Origins of Monkeys, Apes, and Humans CHRIS BEARD ILLUSTRATIONS BY MARK KLINGLER UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA PRESS Berkeley Los Angeles London Contents List of Illustrations / ix Preface / xiii 1 Missing Links and Dawn Monkeys / 1 2 Toward Egypt’s Sacred Bull / 29 3 A Gem from the Willwood / 61 4 The Forest in the Sahara / 87 5 Received Wisdom / 115 6 The Birth of a Ghost Lineage / 142 7 Initial Hints from Deep Time / 167 8 Ghost Busters / 194 9 Resurrecting the Ghost / 215 10 Into the African Melting Pot / 246 11 Paleoanthropology and Pithecophobia / 277 Notes / 295 References Cited / 313 Index / 331 Illustrations FIGURES 1. Cranial anatomy typical of prosimians and anthropoids 7 2. The author and Wen Chaohua 10 3. Barnum Brown’s expedition to Myanmar 17 4. Holotype lower jaw of Amphipithecus mogaungensis 19 5. Ladder and tree evolutionary paradigms 26 6. Georges Cuvier 31 7. Nineteenth-century exploitation of phosphatic fissure- fillings in France unearths Adapis and other primate fossils 37 8. Lower jaws of two European adapiforms 46 9. Skull of Tetonius homunculus 65 10. Trogolemur and Shoshonius incisor morphology 69 11. Fragmentary specimen of lower jaw of Teilhardina 73 12. Gradual evolution documented in Bighorn Basin omomyids 77 13. Jacob Wortman and other notable paleontologists near Sheep Creek, Wyoming, 1899 85 14. Holotype lower jaw of Apidium phiomense 91 15. Elwyn Simons and Tom Bown in the Fayum 98 16. Face of Aegyptopithecus zeuxis 101 ix x LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS 17. Fossil Epipremnum fruits 106 18. Artist’s rendering of Arsinoitherium 109 19. William Diller Matthew 119 20. Philip D. Gingerich 127 21. Frederick S. Szalay 130 22. Four competing versions of the primate family tree 137 23. Carnegie Museum of Natural History field party, Wind River Basin, Wyoming 149 24. Variation in the anatomy of the primate tibiofibular joint 162 25. Cartoon depicting the rationale behind the ghost lineage of early anthropoids 164 26. Marc Godinot searching for fossil primates in France 169 27. Fossil site of Glib Zegdou, Algeria 170 28. Isolated teeth of the early anthropoids Biretia and Algeripithecus 171 29. Holotype lower jaw of Eosimias sinensis 188 30. Schematic drawings of the lower dentition of some fossil primates 192 31. Skull of Catopithecus compared with that of a living pygmy marmoset 210 32. J. G. Andersson 218 33. Schematic drawings of the holotype specimens of Oligopithecus savagei and Hoanghonius stehlini 224 34. Holotype lower jaw of Xanthorhysis tabrumi 228 35. The divergent skull morphology of a living tarsier and squirrel monkey, compared with the holotype specimen of Phenacopithecus krishtalkai 233 36. Complete lower dentition of Hoanghonius stehlini 237 37. Part of the complete lower dentition of Eosimias centennicus 240 38. Eosimiid, omomyid, and tarsier lower jaws 241 39. Elongation of the calcaneus in tarsier, baboon, Shoshonius, and eosimiid 244 40. Jean-Jacques Jaeger in the field in Myanmar 256 41. Virtually complete lower jaw of Siamopithecus eocaenus 258 42. P4s of Eosimias sinensis, Eosimias centennicus, Siamopithecus eocaenus, and Proteopithecus sylviae 261 43. Cartoon depicting the early dispersal of anthropoids from Asia to Africa 268 44. Schematic drawings showing similarities in upper and LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS xi lower molar structure shared by adapiforms and omomyids and by Altiatlasius and Eosimias 271 45. A provisional primate family tree 275 46. Henry Fairfield Osborn, proponent of the “dawn man” theory of human origins 281 47. The “dawn man” theory of human origins 284 PLATES Plates follow page 112. 1. Tarsier 2. Skull of Adapis parisiensis 3. Artist’s rendering of Adapis parisiensis 4. Artist’s rendering of Notharctus venticolus 5. Skull of Necrolemur antiquus 6. Artist’s rendering of Necrolemur antiquus 7. Skull of Shoshonius compared with that of a living tarsier 8. Artist’s rendering of Shoshonius cooperi 9. The L-41 site in the Fayum region of Egypt 10. Shanghuang fissure-fillings 11. Prospecting for fossils at Locality 7 on the southern bank of the Yellow River in Henan Province, Yuanqu Basin, central China 12. Geographic distribution of various living and fossil primates in Eurasia and Africa 13. Map of Wyoming, showing the location of some of the key fossils, fossil sites, and other geographic features mentioned in the text 14. Artist’s rendering of Eosimias sinensis encountering a group of smaller eosimiid primates Preface The story of human evolution has been told many times before, and it will no doubt continue to be revised and updated as new fossils are dis- covered. My goal in writing this book has been to add a much-needed prologue to what is now a familiar tale. If the major outlines of human origins are settled, the search for anthropoid origins remains scientifically in its infancy. Great strides have been made over the past two centuries, but we remain fairly ignorant of such basic questions as when, where, how, and why our earliest anthropoid ancestors evolved. This appraisal is not meant as a critique. Ignorance is to science as economic opportu- nity is to capitalism. It is more rewarding to toil in earnest on an unset- tled issue than to tinker at the margins of a topic that is largely known. The story of anthropoid origins is fascinating precisely because so much of it remains in flux. At the same time, it is a story that has never been made available to a wide audience, one that extends beyond the narrow group of academic specialists who have devoted much of their profes- sional lives to solving its mysteries. Teamwork plays a vital role in paleontology, because scientific ad- vances in this field hinge on isolated discoveries that reach across vast swaths of space and time. Over the past decade or so, I have had the privilege of working with some of the finest and most accomplished pa- xiii xiv PREFACE leontologists in the world, in places that few ever get to visit. I have no doubt that I have learned more from my colleagues than vice versa. Throughout, we have been united by our mutual goal of illuminating the remote ancestry that we humans share with other anthropoid or “higher” primates. Paleontology is one of the few academic disciplines in which field ex- ploration remains a fundamental part of the quest to expand knowledge and understanding. This unique combination of the possibility for per- sonal adventure and intellectual fulfillment is what attracted me to pa- leontology in the first place. I hope that I am able to impart a fraction of what I have experienced and learned during these past few years in this book. My role in this story would not have been possible without the sup- port and cooperation of a large number of individuals and institutions. It gives me great pleasure to thank my colleagues at the Carnegie Mu- seum of Natural History, Mary Dawson and Luo Zhexi, who have often ventured into the field with me and who have served as frequent sound- ing boards for my ideas, while constantly providing me with their own unique expertise. Equally important have been a number of other col- leagues who have worked alongside me in the field in China: Dan Gebo, Marc Godinot, Wulf Gose, John Kappelman, Leonard Krishtalka, Ross MacPhee, Jay Norejko, Tim Ryan, and Alan Tabrum. I am also deeply indebted to my friends and colleagues at the Institute of Vertebrate Pa- leontology and Paleoanthropology in Beijing: Qi Tao, Wang Banyue, Li Chuankuei, Wang Yuanqing, Tong Yongsheng, Wang Jingwen, Huang Xueshi, and Guo Jianwei. For years, these world-class scholars and in- domitable scientists have welcomed my American colleagues and me into their country and into their homes. During our joint expeditions to var- ious parts of China, they have imparted their knowledge and persever- ance along with their unmatched organizational skills, without which none of the expeditions could ever have been launched. More important, they have extended a hand of friendship to me and many other wei guo ren that will always be cherished. I also want to thank some of the sci- entists who played such critical roles in my formal education and pro- fessional training, and who have enlightened and inspired me through the years, among them Rich Kay, Elwyn Simons, Ken Rose, Tom Bown, and Alan Walker. Fieldwork in distant locales can be expensive, and none of this research could have been conducted without the financial support of various in- stitutions, including the Carnegie Museum of Natural History, the PREFACE xv Leakey Foundation, the National Geographic Society, and the Physical Anthropology Program at the National Science Foundation. A fellow- ship from the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation gave me the flexibility to take on this challenge. In writing the manuscript, I have benefited from the wisdom and in- sight of numerous friends and colleagues, including Mary Dawson, Dan Gebo, Bert Covert, Ken Rose, Jean-Jacques Jaeger, Marc Godinot, and Hans Sues.
Recommended publications
  • The World at the Time of Messel: Conference Volume
    T. Lehmann & S.F.K. Schaal (eds) The World at the Time of Messel - Conference Volume Time at the The World The World at the Time of Messel: Puzzles in Palaeobiology, Palaeoenvironment and the History of Early Primates 22nd International Senckenberg Conference 2011 Frankfurt am Main, 15th - 19th November 2011 ISBN 978-3-929907-86-5 Conference Volume SENCKENBERG Gesellschaft für Naturforschung THOMAS LEHMANN & STEPHAN F.K. SCHAAL (eds) The World at the Time of Messel: Puzzles in Palaeobiology, Palaeoenvironment, and the History of Early Primates 22nd International Senckenberg Conference Frankfurt am Main, 15th – 19th November 2011 Conference Volume Senckenberg Gesellschaft für Naturforschung IMPRINT The World at the Time of Messel: Puzzles in Palaeobiology, Palaeoenvironment, and the History of Early Primates 22nd International Senckenberg Conference 15th – 19th November 2011, Frankfurt am Main, Germany Conference Volume Publisher PROF. DR. DR. H.C. VOLKER MOSBRUGGER Senckenberg Gesellschaft für Naturforschung Senckenberganlage 25, 60325 Frankfurt am Main, Germany Editors DR. THOMAS LEHMANN & DR. STEPHAN F.K. SCHAAL Senckenberg Research Institute and Natural History Museum Frankfurt Senckenberganlage 25, 60325 Frankfurt am Main, Germany [email protected]; [email protected] Language editors JOSEPH E.B. HOGAN & DR. KRISTER T. SMITH Layout JULIANE EBERHARDT & ANIKA VOGEL Cover Illustration EVELINE JUNQUEIRA Print Rhein-Main-Geschäftsdrucke, Hofheim-Wallau, Germany Citation LEHMANN, T. & SCHAAL, S.F.K. (eds) (2011). The World at the Time of Messel: Puzzles in Palaeobiology, Palaeoenvironment, and the History of Early Primates. 22nd International Senckenberg Conference. 15th – 19th November 2011, Frankfurt am Main. Conference Volume. Senckenberg Gesellschaft für Naturforschung, Frankfurt am Main. pp. 203.
    [Show full text]
  • Abstracts Volume
    SVPCA 58, Cambridge 2010, Preface Welcome to the 58th Symposium of Vertebrate Palaeontology and Comparative Anatomy, hosted by the University Museum of Zoology, Cambridge. We very much hope you find the meeting rewarding, and that you have time to enjoy the other attractions of the university, colleges, and city centre. The meeting logo was designed by Julia Molnar1 and depicts the finback whale (Balaenoptera physalus) on display above the Museum of Zoology. Enjoy your time in Cambridge! 1JuliaMolnar,RoyalVeterinaryCollege,jmolnar-at-rvc.ac.uk 1 SPPC/SVPCA 2010 Programme Overview Tuesday 14th September: SPPC Session 1, Chair: Matt Lowe 15.30-15.50 Christian Baars Infacol – if it’s good enough for babies, it’s good enough for ammonites. 15.50-15.10 Nigel R Larkin The joy of steel: How to master your awkward fossil in the field. 16.10-16.30 Frank Osbaeck Mechanical and chemical preparation methods used on the lower Eocene cementstone concretions from the Mo-Clay of northern Denmark 19.00 onwards EVENING RECEPTION, ZOOLOGY MUSEUM Wednesday 15th September 9.10-9.20 Welcome, notices for the day Session 1, Chair: Paul Barret 9.20-9.40 Eric Buffetaut et al. The Early Cretaceous vertebrate assemblage from the Napai Formation of Guangxi, southern China: a comparison with Thai assemblages 9.40-10.00 Michael J Benton et al. Recovery and expansion of marine vertebrate faunas in the Triassic of South China 10.00-10.20 Susan E Evans and Magdalend Borsuk-Bialynicka The Early Triassic faunal assemblage of Czatkowice, Poland 10.20-10.40 Sweetman, Steven C The first records of amphibians, lizards and maniraptoran dinosaurs from the Lower Cretaceous Hastings Group of south-east England 10.40-11.10 COFFEE BREAK Session 2, Chair: Jenny Clack 11.10-11.30 Tim Smithson and Stan Wood Eliminating Romer’s Gap: new tetrapods from the basal Carboniferous of the Scottish Borders 2 11.30-11.50 Per E Ahlberg et al.
    [Show full text]
  • Juvenile Hominoid Cranium from the Terminal Miocene of Yunnan, China
    Article Geology November 2013 Vol.58 No.31: 37713779 doi: 10.1007/s11434-013-6021-x Juvenile hominoid cranium from the terminal Miocene of Yunnan, China JI XuePing1,2, JABLONSKI Nina G3, SU Denise F4, DENG ChengLong5, FLYNN Lawrence J6, YOU YouShan7 & KELLEY Jay8* 1 Department of Paleoanthropology, Yunnan Institute of Cultural Relics and Archaeology, Kunming 650118, China; 2 Yunnan Key Laboratory for Paleobiology, Yunnan University, Kunming 650091, China; 3 Department of Anthropology, The Pennsylvania State University, University Park, PA 16802, USA; 4 Department of Paleobotany and Paleoecology, Cleveland Museum of Natural History, Cleveland, OH 44106, USA; 5 State Key Laboratory of Lithospheric Evolution, Institute of Geology and Geophysics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100029, China; 6 Peabody Museum of Archaeology and Ethnology, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA 02138, USA; 7 Zhaotong Institute of Cultural Relics, Zhaotong 657000, China; 8 Institute of Human Origins and School of Human Evolution and Social Change, Arizona State University, Tempe, AZ 85287, USA Received May 28, 2013; accepted July 8, 2013; published online August 7, 2013 Fossil apes are known from several late Miocene localities in Yunnan Province, southwestern China, principally from Shihuiba (Lufeng) and the Yuanmou Basin, and represent three species of Lufengpithecus. They mostly comprise large samples of isolated teeth, but there are also several partial or complete adult crania from Shihuiba and a single juvenile cranium from Yuanmou. Here we describe a new, relatively complete and largely undistorted juvenile cranium from the terminal Miocene locality of Shuitangba, also in Yunnan. It is only the second ape juvenile cranium recovered from the Miocene of Eurasia and it is provisionally assigned to the species present at Shihuiba, Lufengpithecus lufengensis.
    [Show full text]
  • 69Th Annual Meeting Society of Vertebrate Paleontology
    ISSN 0272-4634 September 2009 Society of Vertebrate Paleontology Society of Vertebrate Volume 29, Supplement to Number 3 Volume 69th Annual Meeting Paleontology Society of Vertebrate and Palaeontology of Vertebrate and the 57th Symposium Comparative Anatomy (SVPCA) University of Bristol Bristol, United Kingdom September 23-26, 2009 Program and Abstracts Vol. 29, Supplement to No. 3 September 2009 Wills Memorial 2 1/8” = 1/4 Mile Bristol/Precinct Map Building A4018, M5 junction 17 Badock Hall, Churchill Hall, Durdham Hall, Hiatt Baker Hall, KEY University Hall, Wills Hall Main Entrance to Sites Car Parks Traffic Flow Railway Station Victoria Rooms Burwalls via the Suspension Bridge A369, M5 junction 19 Bristol Marriott B3129 City Centre Hotel Avon Gorge Hotel to M32, M4 junction 19 (A38, A420, A421) Temple Meads Chemistry Building Broadmead Shopping Centre The Grand by Thistle Clifton Hill House Goldney Hall & Clifton Village DETAIL MAP Hotel Novotel Bristol Centre Bristol Temple Meads Railway Station Bristol Marriott A4 Royal Hotel A38, A420, M5 Bristol Airport Taunton, The South West Travelodge Bristol { Central Hotel SEE Bristol Hotel DETAIL MAP Hotel Ibis At-Bristol Bristol Centre Museum University of Bristol Vol. 29, Supplement to No. 3, September 2009 Vol. Technical Session IV, Wednesday 3:30 from the road, is very accessible. All these factors – together with its status as part of the PALEOECOLOGY OF SOUTH ASIAN PRIMATES: PALEOENVIRONMENTAL Ichnite Route of Soria, an open-air museographical area with 15 sites that can be visited IMPLICATIONS and a visitors’ centre – underlay the interest of the local authorities in converting it into a RAMDARSHAN, Anusha, Institut des Sciences de l’Evolution de Montpellier (UMR-CNRS point of tourist and cultural interest that is also accessible to the physically and visually 5554), Montpellier, France; MARIVAUX, Laurent, Institut des Sciences de l’Evolution de handicapped.
    [Show full text]
  • The Cambridge Dictionary of Human Biology and Evolution Larry L
    Cambridge University Press 0521664861 - The Cambridge Dictionary of Human Biology and Evolution Larry L. Mai, Marcus Young Owl and M. Patricia Kersting Excerpt More information Abdur Reef A. n dates: see Oakley’s dating series in box below. A antigen: epitope that specifies the A in the ABO AAA: abbreviation for several societies of interest to blood group. It consists of four precursor sugars human evolutionary biologists, including the attached to glycoproteins of the cell membrane, American Anthropological Association and the aka H substance, plus a specific fifth terminal sugar, American Anatomical Association. N-acetylgalactosamine, that is attached by an enzyme. A Oakley’s absolute dating series A.1 date: highest of Oakley’s hierarchical levels of absolute dating, the direct dating of a specimen, e.g. by measuring the radiocarbon activity of a bone itself. A.2 date: one of Oakley’s hierarchical levels of absolute dating, dating derived from direct determination by physical measurement of the age of the sediments containing the fossil specimen. A.3 date: one of Oakley’s hierarchical levels of absolute dating, the correlation of a fossil-bearing horizon with another deposit whose age has been determined directly by A.1 or A.2 methods. See biostratigraphy. A.4 date: lowest of Oakley’s hierarchical levels of absolute dating, estimating an absolute age on the basis of some theoretical consideration, such as matching climatic fluctuations observed in strata with astro- nomically derived curves of effective solar radiation, or matching terrestrial glacial and interglacial episodes with the known marine paleotemperature or oxygen isotope stage. (Cf.
    [Show full text]
  • 8. Primate Evolution
    8. Primate Evolution Jonathan M. G. Perry, Ph.D., The Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine Stephanie L. Canington, B.A., The Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine Learning Objectives • Understand the major trends in primate evolution from the origin of primates to the origin of our own species • Learn about primate adaptations and how they characterize major primate groups • Discuss the kinds of evidence that anthropologists use to find out how extinct primates are related to each other and to living primates • Recognize how the changing geography and climate of Earth have influenced where and when primates have thrived or gone extinct The first fifty million years of primate evolution was a series of adaptive radiations leading to the diversification of the earliest lemurs, monkeys, and apes. The primate story begins in the canopy and understory of conifer-dominated forests, with our small, furtive ancestors subsisting at night, beneath the notice of day-active dinosaurs. From the archaic plesiadapiforms (archaic primates) to the earliest groups of true primates (euprimates), the origin of our own order is characterized by the struggle for new food sources and microhabitats in the arboreal setting. Climate change forced major extinctions as the northern continents became increasingly dry, cold, and seasonal and as tropical rainforests gave way to deciduous forests, woodlands, and eventually grasslands. Lemurs, lorises, and tarsiers—once diverse groups containing many species—became rare, except for lemurs in Madagascar where there were no anthropoid competitors and perhaps few predators. Meanwhile, anthropoids (monkeys and apes) emerged in the Old World, then dispersed across parts of the northern hemisphere, Africa, and ultimately South America.
    [Show full text]
  • Early Eocene Primates from Gujarat, India
    ARTICLE IN PRESS Journal of Human Evolution xxx (2009) 1–39 Contents lists available at ScienceDirect Journal of Human Evolution journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/jhevol Early Eocene Primates from Gujarat, India Kenneth D. Rose a,*, Rajendra S. Rana b, Ashok Sahni c, Kishor Kumar d, Pieter Missiaen e, Lachham Singh b, Thierry Smith f a Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, Maryland 21205, USA b H.N.B. Garhwal University, Srinagar 246175, Uttarakhand, India c Panjab University, Chandigarh 160014, India d Wadia Institute of Himalayan Geology, Dehradun 248001, Uttarakhand, India e University of Ghent, B-9000 Ghent, Belgium f Royal Belgian Institute of Natural Sciences, B-1000 Brussels, Belgium article info abstract Article history: The oldest euprimates known from India come from the Early Eocene Cambay Formation at Vastan Mine Received 24 June 2008 in Gujarat. An Ypresian (early Cuisian) age of w53 Ma (based on foraminifera) indicates that these Accepted 8 January 2009 primates were roughly contemporary with, or perhaps predated, the India-Asia collision. Here we present new euprimate fossils from Vastan Mine, including teeth, jaws, and referred postcrania of the Keywords: adapoids Marcgodinotius indicus and Asiadapis cambayensis. They are placed in the new subfamily Eocene Asiadapinae (family Notharctidae), which is most similar to primitive European Cercamoniinae such as India Donrussellia and Protoadapis. Asiadapines were small primates in the size range of extant smaller Notharctidae Adapoidea bushbabies. Despite their generally very plesiomorphic morphology, asiadapines also share a few derived Omomyidae dental traits with sivaladapids, suggesting a possible relationship to these endemic Asian adapoids. In Eosimiidae addition to the adapoids, a new species of the omomyid Vastanomys is described.
    [Show full text]
  • Primates, Adapiformes) Skull from the Uintan (Middle Eocene) of San Diego County, California
    AMERICAN JOURNAL OF PHYSICAL ANTHROPOLOGY 98:447-470 (1995 New Notharctine (Primates, Adapiformes) Skull From the Uintan (Middle Eocene) of San Diego County, California GREGG F. GUNNELL Museum of Paleontology, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan 481 09-1079 KEY WORDS Californian primates, Cranial morphology, Haplorhine-strepsirhine dichotomy ABSTRACT A new genus and species of notharctine primate, Hespero- lemur actius, is described from Uintan (middle Eocene) aged rocks of San Diego County, California. Hesperolemur differs from all previously described adapiforms in having the anterior third of the ectotympanic anulus fused to the internal lateral wall of the auditory bulla. In this feature Hesperolemur superficially resembles extant cheirogaleids. Hesperolemur also differs from previously known adapiforms in lacking bony canals that transmit the inter- nal carotid artery through the tympanic cavity. Hesperolemur, like the later occurring North American cercamoniine Mahgarita steuensi, appears to have lacked a stapedial artery. Evidence from newly discovered skulls ofNotharctus and Smilodectes, along with Hesperolemur, Mahgarita, and Adapis, indicates that the tympanic arterial circulatory pattern of these adapiforms is charac- terized by stapedial arteries that are smaller than promontory arteries, a feature shared with extant tarsiers and anthropoids and one of the character- istics often used to support the existence of a haplorhine-strepsirhine dichot- omy among extant primates. The existence of such a dichotomy among Eocene primates is not supported by any compelling evidence. Hesperolemur is the latest occurring notharctine primate known from North America and is the only notharctine represented among a relatively diverse primate fauna from southern California. The coastal lowlands of southern California presumably served as a refuge area for primates during the middle and later Eocene as climates deteriorated in the continental interior.
    [Show full text]
  • Evolution of the Patellar Sesamoid Bone in Mammals
    Evolution of the patellar sesamoid bone in mammals Mark E. Samuels1,2, Sophie Regnault3 and John R. Hutchinson3 1 Department of Medicine, University of Montreal, Montreal, QC, Canada 2 Centre de Recherche du CHU Ste-Justine, Montreal, QC, Canada 3 Department of Comparative Biomedical Sciences, Structure and Motion Laboratory, The Royal Veterinary College, London Hertfordshire, UK ABSTRACT The patella is a sesamoid bone located in the major extensor tendon of the knee joint, in the hindlimb of many tetrapods. Although numerous aspects of knee morphology are ancient and conserved among most tetrapods, the evolutionary occurrence of an ossified patella is highly variable. Among extant (crown clade) groups it is found in most birds, most lizards, the monotreme mammals and almost all placental mammals, but it is absent in most marsupial mammals as well as many reptiles. Here, we integrate data from the literature and first-hand studies of fossil and recent skeletal remains to reconstruct the evolution of the mammalian patella. We infer that bony patellae most likely evolved between four and six times in crown group Mammalia: in monotremes, in the extinct multituberculates, in one or more stem-mammal genera outside of therian or eutherian mammals and up to three times in therian mammals. Furthermore, an ossified patella was lost several times in mammals, not including those with absent hindlimbs: once or more in marsupials (with some re-acquisition) and at least once in bats. Our inferences about patellar evolution in mammals are reciprocally informed by the existence of several human genetic conditions in which the patella is either absent or severely reduced.
    [Show full text]
  • Nous Primats De L'eocè De La Península Ibèrica
    Departament de Biologia Animal, de Biologia Vegetal i d’Ecologia Unitat d’Antropologia Biològica Nous primats de l’Eocè de la Península Ibèrica: implicacions filogenètiques i paleobiogeogràfiques Judit Marigó Cortés Tesi Doctoral 2013 Il·lustració de la portada: Óscar Sanisidro Departament de Biologia Animal, de Biologia Vegetal i d’Ecologia Unitat d’Antropologia Biològica Nous primats de l’Eocè de la Península Ibèrica: implicacions filogenètiques i paleobiogeogràfiques Memòria presentada per Judit Marigó Cortés per optar al títol de Doctor en Biologia, programa de doctorat en Biodiversitat del Departament de Biologia Animal, de Biologia Vegetal i d’Ecologia de la Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, dirigida per: - Dr. Salvador Moyà Solà, ICREA a l’Institut Català de Paleontologia Miquel Crusafont i a la Unitat d’Antropologia Biològica del Departament de Biologia Animal, de Biologia Vegetal i d’Ecologia de la Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona. - Dr. Raef Minwer-Barakat Requena, Institut Català de Paleontologia Miquel Crusafont. Dr. Salvador Moyà Solà Dr. Raef Minwer-Barakat Requena Judit Marigó Cortés TREBALL FINANÇAT PER: - Institut Català de Paleontologia Miquel Crusafont. - Generalitat de Catalunya, Departament d’Innovació, Universitats i Empresa i AGAUR, beca predoctoral 2010FIB176 i beques de mobilitat BE i CTP (2010BE00758, 2011BE100009 i 2011CTP00011), i Grup de Recerca Consolidat "Grup de Paleoprimatologia i Paleontologia Humana PIPH". - Gobierno de España, Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovación y Ministerio de Economía y Competitividad, proyectos "Grandes simios fósiles (Hominoidea) del Mioceno del area Mediterránea: origen, paleobiología y evolución (CGL2008-00325/BTE)” e “Historia Evolutiva de los Primates del Paleógeno y Neógeno de la Península Ibérica (CGL2011-27343)”. - Synthesys Project (grants FR-TAF-80 and FR-TAF-1735; http://www.synthesys.info/), financed by the European Community Research Infrastructure Action under the FP6 “Structuring the European Research Area” Programme.
    [Show full text]
  • University of Michigan University Library
    CONTRIBUTIONS FROM THE MUSEUM OF PALEONTOLOGY THE UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN Vol. 24, No. 15, p. 163-170 (3 text-figs.) September 5, 1975 A NEW GENUS OF ADAPIDAE (MAMMALIA, PRIMATES) FROM THE LATE EOCENE OF SOUTHERN FRANCE, AND ITS SIGNIFICANCE FOR THE ORIGIN OF HIGHER PRIMATES BY PHILIP D. GINGERICH MUSEUM OF PALEONTOLOGY THE UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN ANN ARBOR CONTRIBUTIONS FROM THE MUSEUM OF PALEONTOLOGY Gerald R. Smith, Director Robert V. Kesling, Editor Nancy E. Friedland, Editor for this number The series of contributions from the Museum of Paleontology is a medium for the publication of papers based chiefly upon the collection in the Museum. When the number of pages issued is sufficient to make a volume, a title page and a table of contents will be sent to libraries on the mailing list, and to individuals upon request. A list of the separate papers may also be obtained. Correspondence should be directed to the Museum of Paleontology, The University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan, 481 04. VOLS. 11-XXIV. Parts of volumes may be obtained if available. Price lists available upon inquiry. printed in Ann Arbor, Michigan by Litho Crafters, Inc. A NEW GENUS OF ADAPIDAE (MAMMALIA, PRIMATES) FROM THE LATE EOCENE OF SOUTHERN FRANCE, AND ITS SIGNIFICANCE FOR THE ORIGIN OF HIGHER PRIMATES BY Philip D. Gingerich Abstract.- A primate mandible from the late Eocene Phosphorites du Quercy of south- ern France, originally described by Stehlin (1 91 2) as Protoadapis brachyrhynchus, is here placed in the new genus Cercamonius. Comparison with other Eocene primates indicates that the genus represents a new subfamily, Cercamoninae, of the lemuriform family Adapidae.
    [Show full text]
  • A Lynx Natural Brain Endocast from Ingarano (Southern Italy; Late Pleistocene): Taphonomic, Morphometric and Phylogenetic Approaches
    Published by Associazione Teriologica Italiana Volume 26 (2): 110–117, 2015 Hystrix, the Italian Journal of Mammalogy Available online at: http://www.italian-journal-of-mammalogy.it/article/view/11465/pdf doi:10.4404/hystrix-26.2-11465 Research Article A lynx natural brain endocast from Ingarano (Southern Italy; Late Pleistocene): Taphonomic, Morphometric and Phylogenetic approaches Dawid A. Iurinoa,b,∗, Antonio Proficob,c, Marco Cherinb,d, Alessio Venezianob,e, Loïc Costeurb,f, Raffaele Sardellaa,b aDipartimento di Scienze della Terra, Sapienza Università di Roma, Piazzale Aldo Moro 5, 00185, Rome, Italy bPaleoFactory, Sapienza Università di Roma, Piazzale Aldo Moro 5, 00185, Rome, Italy cDipartimento di Biologia Ambientale, Sapienza Università di Roma, Piazzale Aldo Moro 5, 00185 Roma, Italy dDipartimento di Fisica e Geologia, Università degli Studi di Perugia, Via Alessandro Pascoli, 06123 Perugia, Italy eSchool of Natural Sciences and Psychology, John Moores University, James Parsons Building, Byrom Street L3 3AF, Liverpool, United Kingdom fNaturhistorisches Museum Basel, Augustinergasse 2, 4001 Basel, Switzerland Keywords: Abstract Natural brain endocast Carnivora A natural brain endocast from the Late Pleistocene site of Ingarano (Apulia, Southern Italy) has Felidae been investigated in detail using CT scanning, image processing techniques and Geometric Morpho- Lynx metrics to obtain information about the taxonomy and taphonomy of the specimen. Based on its paleontology characteristically felid shape, we compared several measurements of the endocast with those of the geometric morphometrics brains of living Felidae, with a special emphasis on Panthera pardus, Lynx lynx and Felis silvestris phylogenetic signal earlier reported from the same locality. The applied combination of techniques revealed that this specimen is morphometrically closest to the brains of lynxes, and so can be reported as the first Article history: natural endocranial cast of Late Pleistocene Lynx sp.
    [Show full text]