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COMMENTARY New apes fill the gap Raymond L. Bernor* Laboratory of Evolutionary Biology, Department of Anatomy, College of Medicine, Howard University, 520 W Street, NW, Washington, DC 20059; and Sedimentary Geology and Paleobiology Program, Geosciences/Earth Sciences, National Science Foundation, 4201 Wilson Boulevard, Arlington, VA 22230 he relative abundance of Eur- a time of sweeping paleoclimatic, faunal, or hominins from an area about 0.1% of asian apes between 12.5 and 8 and floral evolution in Western Eurasia the African continent as a whole.’’ Cote Ma—in contrast to a dearth of and Africa: a change from tropical and (21) has demonstrated that the abun- African apes during the same subtropical forested conditions to more dance of fossil ape remains in Eur- Tchronologic interval—has led some in- open-country, seasonal conditions. In asia,—compared with a dearth of vestigators (1, 2) to suggest that the Af- Eurasia, this change is recorded as the similar-aged apes in Africa—is due to rican ape–human clade evolved from a so-called Pikermian biome (18), when sampling: Eurasian localities are much Eurasian ancestor, specifically, a previ- large mammal faunas with the diverse richer and more diverse during this in- ously undescribed and unnamed ape lineages of horses, antelopes, giraffes, terval than African localities, and hence from Turkey (3). In the last several rhinoceroses, and distant relatives of their apes are better represented. Africa weeks, three new ape genera have been elephants evolved and extended their has yielded the oldest and most diverse reported, one from Turkey (Ouran- geographic ranges from Spain to China Miocene–Pliocene hominoids. It is the opithecus turkae), one from Ethiopia between 8 and 5 Ma. The origins of this only continent where the chimp and (Chororapithecus abyssinicus), and the community are not well understood, but gorilla live in the wild, and it has the latest, Nakalipithecus nakayamai, from the Sinap fauna in Turkey records their earliest bona fide hominid sensu stricto Kenya, which is the subject of the article remains. Moreover, there is no evidence by Kunimatsu et al. (4) in a recent issue of a mass ape extinction at the end of of PNAS. Molecular studies the Middle Miocene, nor is it likely that a Eurasian species founded the African Filling the Gap continue to provide ape–human clade as the result of a bio- N. nakayamai is described as a large geographic retreat from Eurasia (1). ape, the size of a female gorilla, dating robust hypotheses What the science of biogeography re- 9.9–9.8 Ma. Its dentognathic morphol- lentlessly teaches us is that species ex- ogy includes thick-enameled molars, a of ape–human tend their ranges when geographic and thickened mandibular body, and a low- paleoenvironmental circumstances allow crowned upper canine that is as broad divergence dates. it: nothing more, nothing less. as it is long. In these features, N. na- Japanese paleoanthropology is a rela- kayamai most closely resembles the tively small field, with few researchers slightly younger 9.6- to 8.7-Ma Greek earliest occurrence Ϸ10.6–9.7 Ma (19). compared with North American, Euro- ape Ouranopithecus macedoniensis (5–7). The Late Miocene of Africa records a pean, and African research schools. So it The Turkish ape, O. turkae,isthe cohort of these Pikermian taxa as immi- is remarkable that the two Japanese hu- youngest, with a biochronological place- grants into northern and eastern Africa man-origins research teams—one working ment of 8.7–7.4 Ma (8). The dental Ϸ8 Ma, including species of mustelids, with Ethiopian counterparts at Chorora, morphology of Nakalipithecus and of the hyaenids, felids, horses, giraffes, and Ethiopia, and the other working in the two Ouranopithecus species suggests antelopes (17). Few large mammals ex- Samburu Hills and Nakali, Kenya—have hard-object frugivory and, together with ited Africa at this time, but Nakalipithe- made three of the most exciting and im- their large sizes, implies terrestrial for- cus, being older and more primitive than portant East African ape discoveries in aging for at least a portion of their its reported descendent Ouranopithecus, the last few years. All three of these sites niche-space. is a plausible candidate for this distinc- were previously investigated by multiple The apparent 14- to 7-Ma African tion. It is not surprising that Kunimatsu research teams that found no ape fossils ‘‘ape gap’’ (9) is now populated not only et al. (4) report here that the associated at these localities. It is imperative to ac- by Nakalipithecus but also by the pene- paleoenvironments of Nakalipithecus knowledge that these recent discoveries contemporaneous Kenyan large ape and Samburupithecus are similar to the occurred only because of the expertise, Samburupithecus kiptalami (10), dated seasonal, sclerophyllous evergeen wood- tenacity, and hard work of these scientists. slightly younger at 9.6 Ma (11, 12), and lands of the Pikermian biome (20). Our hats are off to them. by yet another large gorilla-like ape, C. Darwin taught us that imperfections of abyssinicus, from the 10.5- to 10-Ma Origin of the African Ape–Human Clade the geological record should not be over- horizons of Chorora, Ethiopia (13). Ad- Why the radical shift in scientific opin- interpreted as biological signal. These new ditional isolated, but important, large ion from the out-of-Europe view to a discoveries show that gaps are best filled ape remains from Ngorora, Kenya, lo- plausible African origin of the African the old-fashioned way. But beyond the calities believed to be Ϸ12.5 Ma (14) ape–human clade? In a poignant short gap-filling foreseen by Darwin, paleobiolo- may evidence even greater species diver- essay on the subject, Hill (9) has re- gists are now blessed with extensive new sity. Did the African ape–human clade ported a simple, yet important, set of arise in Africa, after all? Some think so facts: ‘‘Africa is approximately (9, 15–17). Where there was once a 4,554,123.6 square kilometers in area, Author contributions: R.L.B. wrote the paper. wide gap, we are now provided with a but nearly all of the relevant sites could The author declares no conflict of interest. substantial intra-African great ape diver- be grouped in a box a few hundred See companion article on page 19220 in issue 49 of volume sity in the 12.5- to 9.6-Ma interval. miles on each side. So when people talk 104. Nakalipithecus, Samburupithecus, and about fossil apes or hominins in ‘Africa’ *E-mail: [email protected]. Chororapithecus lived in Africa’s rifts at they are really talking about fossil apes © 2007 by The National Academy of Sciences of the USA www.pnas.org͞cgi͞doi͞10.1073͞pnas.0710109105 PNAS ͉ December 11, 2007 ͉ vol. 104 ͉ no. 50 ͉ 19661–19662 Downloaded by guest on September 27, 2021 toolkits with which to unlock ancient evo- between environmental change and biotic and under what circumstances the African lutionary histories. We can now achieve community response. Molecular studies ape–human clade evolved. Expanded pa- chronological positioning of continental continue to provide robust hypotheses of leontological exploration, founded in fossil localities beyond our wildest dreams ape–human divergence dates. However, it sound collection, conservation, documen- of 40 years ago. The possibility of corre- is new fossil discoveries, such as that de- tation, analysis, and reporting of whole lating paleoenvironmental signals re- scribed by Kunimatsu et al. (4), that biotic communities, coupled with the de- corded in deep ocean cores with those in promise to provide us with the most es- velopment of secure geologic contexts, are terrestrial lake systems allows exciting new sential data about human origins and give all essential elements of the continued testable hypotheses about the relationships us new insights into when, where, how, quest to discover our origins. 1. Begun DR (2005) Anthropol Sci 113:53–64. 9. Hill A (2007) in Hominin Environments in the East 17. Bernor RL, Rook L, Haile-Selassie Y (2007) in 2. Stewart C-B, Disotell TR (1998) Curr Biol African Pliocene: An Assessment of the Faunal Ardipithecus kadaba: Late Miocene Evidence from 8:R582–R588. Evidence, eds Bobe R, Alemseged Z, Behrens- the Middle Awash, Ethiopia, eds Haile-Selassie Y, 3. Begun DR, Gulec E, Geraads D (2003) in Distri- meyer AK (Springer, Dordrecht, The Nether- Wolde-Gabriel G (Univ of California Press, bution and Migration of Tertiary Mammals in Eur- lands), pp xvii–xx. Berkeley, CA), in press. asia: A Volume in Honor of Hans de Bruijn, eds 10. Ishida H, Pickford M (1997) C R Acad Sci Paris 18. Solounias N, Plavcan JM, Quade J, Witmer L Reumer JWF, Wessels W (Deisea, Rotterdam), 325:823–829. (1999) in The Evolution of Neogene Terrestrial pp 23–39. 11. Ishida H, Kunimatsu Y, Nakatsukasa M, Nakano Ecosystems in Europe, eds Agustı´ J, Rook L, Y (1999) Anthropol Sci 107:189–191. Andrews P (Cambridge Univ Press, Cambridge, 4. Kunimatsu Y, Nakatsukasa M, Sawada Y, Sakai T, 12. Sawada Y, Pickford M, Itaya T, Makinouchi T, UK), pp 436–453. Hyodo M, Hyodo H, Itaya T, Nakaya H, Saegusa Tateishi M, Kabeto K, Ishida S, Ishida H (1998) C 19. Fortelius M, Kappelman J, Sen S, Bernor RL, eds H, Mazurier A, et al. (2007) Proc Natl Acad Sci R Acad Sci Paris 326:445–451. (2003) Geology and Paleontology of the Miocene USA 104:19220–19225. 13. Suwa G, Kono RT, Katoh S, Asfaw B, Beyene Y Sinap Formation, Turkey (Columbia Univ Press, 5. Koufos GD (1993) Am J Phys Anthropol 91:225– (2007) Nature 448:921–924. New York). 234. 14. Hill A, Ward S (1988) Yrbk Phys Anthropol 31: 20.
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  • Perissodactyla, Rhinocerotidae) from the Upper

    Perissodactyla, Rhinocerotidae) from the Upper

    Geobios 50 (2017) 197–209 Available online at ScienceDirect www.sciencedirect.com Original article A new Elasmotheriini (Perissodactyla, Rhinocerotidae) from the upper § Miocene of Samburu Hills and Nakali, northern Kenya a, b c d Naoto Handa *, Masato Nakatsukasa , Yutaka Kunimatsu , Hideo Nakaya a Museum of Osaka University, 1-20 Machikaneyama-cho, Toyonaka, Osaka 560-0043, Japan b Laboratory of Physical Anthropology, Graduate School of Science, Kyoto University, Kitashirakawa-oiwakecho, Sakyo-ku, Kyoto 606-8502, Japan c Faculty of Business Administration, Ryukoku University, 67 Tsukamoto-cho, Fukakusa, Fushimi-ku, Kyoto 612-8577, Japan d Graduate School of Science and Engineering, Kagoshima University, 1-21-35 Korimoto, Kagoshima 890-0065, Japan A R T I C L E I N F O A B S T R A C T Article history: Several rhinocerotid cheek teeth and mandibular fragments from the upper Miocene of the Samburu Received 15 August 2016 Hills and Nakali in northern Kenya are described. These specimens show characteristics that place them Accepted 20 April 2017 in the Tribe Elasmotheriini such as a constricted protocone, a developed antecrochet, and coronal Available online 8 May 2017 cement. The present specimens are compared with other Elasmotheriini species from Eurasia and sub- Saharan East Africa. They are found to be morphologically different from the previously known species of Keywords: Elasmotheriini. Morphologically, they are most similar to Victoriaceros kenyensis from the middle Elasmotheriini Miocene of Kenya, but differ from V. kenyensis in having the upper molars with the simple crochet, Rhinocerotidae lingual groove of the protocone and enamel ring in the medisinus. Therefore, the present specimens are Late Miocene assigned to a new genus and species of Elasmotheriini: Samburuceros ishidai.
  • Sahelanthropus Tchadensis: an Examination of Its Hominin Affinities

    Sahelanthropus Tchadensis: an Examination of Its Hominin Affinities

    nature of bipedalism is a holdover from a gradistic approach to phylogeny. Future discoveries of infra-cranial material to determine locomotor abilities are of utmost importance. If S. tchadensis is shown to be a biped, then bipedalism arose soon after the divergence point, and much earlier than anticipated. Some caution should be taken, as the mosaic features of S. tchadensis could be evidence of a complicated evolutionary history during the supposed divergence period. Genetic evidence now points to a period of hybridization, which would make sorting out the species affiliation of purported hominin fossils problematic. For the present, it appears that S. tchadensis can be classified as the first known hominin. Sahelanthropus tchadensis: AN Even if future finds cause a re-evaluation of EXAMINATION OF ITS HOMININ its phylogenetic status, S. tchadensis is a AFFINITIES AND POSSIBLE valuable addition to the fossil record. PHYLOGENETIC PLACEMENT Knowledge of early panin morphology is also essential to phylogenetic relationships of early hominins. Abstract WHAT IS A HOMININ? An examination of the Sahelanthropus tchadensis is a Sahelanthropus tchadensis material supports candidate for the first known hominin.1 Its its putative hominin status. The cranial age, at nearly seven million-years-old morphology of S. tchadensis exhibits a (Vignaud et al. 2002: 155), places it very mosaic of primitive and derived close to the supposed divergence point of characteristics. This is to be expected from a the chimpanzee and human lineages (Wood species so near to the assumed divergence 2002: 133). A hominin is a member of the point of the chimpanzee and human Tribe Hominini, which include any species lineages.