DOCSLIB.ORG

Cranial Morphology and Adaptations in Eocene Adapidae. II. the Cambridge Skull of Adapis Parisiensis

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text
Cranial Morphology and Adaptations in Eocene Adapidae. II. the Cambridge Skull of Adapis Parisiensis AMERICAN JOURNAL OF PHYSICAL ANTHROPOLOGY 56335-257 (1981) Cranial Morphology and Adaptations in Eocene Adapidae. II. The Cambridge Skull of Adapis parisiensis PHILIP n. GINGERICH AND ROBERT n. MARTIN Museum of Paleontology, The University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan 48109 (P.D.G.),and Department of Anthropology, University College London, Gower Street, W.C. 1, London, U.K. (R.D.M.) KEY WORDS Cranial anatomy, Eocene primates, Adapidae, Adapis, Brain size ABSTRACT One of the most complete skulls of the early primate Adapis parisiensis is in the collection of the Department of Zoology, Cambridge Universi- ty. This exceptionally well-preservedmale skull, from Quercy in southern France, is important in showing relatively small orbits that are highly convergent, a distinct ethmoid component in the medial orbital wall, very small infraorbital foramina, a well-preserved auditory region with the stapedial canal about twice the diameter of the canal for the promontory artery, and a well-preserved braincase 8.8 cm3 in endocranial volume. The frontal lobe of the brain in the Cambridge skull described here is less expanded than that reported previously in a British Museum skull. The average body weight OfAdapisparisiensis is estimated to have been about 2.0 kg, and that of Adapis magnus is estimated to have been about 8.4 to 9.0 kg. The encephalization quotient (EQ) ofAdapisparisiensis is estimated to have been 0.45, which is well below the range found in modern prosimians. There is some indica- tion that the size of the foramen magnum has increased with increasing brain size during primate evo1ution.Adapisparisiensisappears to have been a medium-sized, visually oriented, diurnal, sexually dimorphic arboreal folivore. The first two specimens OfAdapisparisiensis Koenigswald (1979),and others. These new col- to be discovered, a crushed palate and associ- lections have much better stratigraphic docu- ated mandible, were described by Cuvier in mentation than the earlier assemblages from 1812. Some 60 years later, Delfortrie (1873) Quercy, and it is now possible to trace a prob- and Gervais (1873) recognized that Adapis is able evolutionary sequence in Europe from the most similar, among living mammals, to large species Adapis magnus through an in- lemuriform primates. Stehlin’s (1912) exten- termediate species, Adapis stintoni, to Adapis sive monograph on Adapis further substanti- parisiensis (see Table 1 and Gingerich, 1981: ated this resemblance, as did Gregory’s (1920) Fig. 1).Adapis magnus is sometimes placed in monograph on Notharctus. Stehlin illustrated a separate genus or subgenus ‘Zeptadapis,” but several nearly complete skulls of both Adapis that seems unnecessary now that the phyloge- parisiensis and Adapis magnus, derived from netic relationships of the species involved are the Quercy deposits of France, and discussed better documented. the phylogenetic history of European Adapidae Adapis parisiensis is poorly known postcra- in as much detail as was possible at that time. nially, but some 20 or more skulls and partial Since 1912,relatively little has been added to skulls have been found, all collected during the our knowledge of the osteology of Adapis, but nineteenth century from the Phosphorites du much additional dental material ofAdapis and Quercy in France. When collected, these skulls related genera has been collected and described were sold, along with other fossil specimens, to byStehlin(l916),Deperet (1917),Sudre(1969), museums throughout Europe. As a result, some Cray (1973), Schmidt-Kittler (1971), Crusa- font-Pairo and Golpe-Posse (19751, von Received March 11, 1981; accepted June 22, 1981 0002-9483/81/5603-0235$06.500 1981 ALAN R. LISS. INC. 236 P.D. GINGERICH AND R.D. MARTIN TABLE 1. Stratigraphic distribution of the species of Adupis considered in this paper Age Species Characteristics Late Lattorfian Adapis parisiensis Small, with relatively (?Oligocene)' small canines Early Lattorfian Adupis stintoni Intermediate, with (?Oligocene) intermediate canines Late Bartonian Adapis magnus Large, with moderate (Eocene) canines ~ ~ ~~ ~ >TheLattorfian (= Priabonian) is placed In the early Oligocene by Berggren (1972) and others, while some include all pre-"GradeCoupure' mammalian faunas in the Eocene (Berggren et al , 1978) of the best specimens were effectively hidden ble, averaged over eight skulls (four males, from study. In this paper we describe an excep- four females) for each species,while data on tionally complete and well-preserved cranium body and brain size were taken from of Adapis parisiensis now in the Museum of Stephan et al. (1970), with a few modifica- Zoology at Cambridge University. Our purpose tions and additions (Martin, 1980). is not to discuss phylogenetic relationships (3) For analysis of relationships between cra- within Adapidae or between Adapidae and nial dimensions themselves, an enlarged other primates. Rather we shall attempt to sample of 48 extant nonhuman primate characterize the principal morphological fea- species (23 lemurs and lorises, one tarsier, tures of the cranium of Adapis and interpret and 24 monkeys and apes) was measured the adaptive significance of these by compari- (Martin, 1980). son with living primates. As a general rule, it is more appropriate to MATERIALS AND METHODS use the principal or major axis for describing allometric relationships, rather than the com- In order to make effective comparisons be- monly utilized regression, as the former implies tween Adapis species and modern primates, no distinction between dependent and inde- due consideration must be given to nonlinear pendent variables in a bivariate plot. The major scaling of various dimensions with body size, axis is used throughout the following discus- i.e., allometry (cf. Gould, 1966; Martin, 1980). sion, except for the problem of predicting body Reference is therefore made in the following weight from tooth size, where regression analy- discussion to a number of studies conducted to sis is appropriate (Gingerich et al., 1981). Dis- relate different parameters (e.g., length of MP, crepancies between major axes and regressions length multiplied by width of M', orbital di- decrease as the correlation coefficient (r) in- ameter, and cranial dimensions) to body size in creases, so with high r values a regression will samples of living primate species. Apart from yield a result not greatly different from that data specifically mentioned in the text (Table 5; obtained from the major axis. Figs. 4 and 51, the following reference material has been used: CRANIAL DIMENSIONS AND BODY SIZE (1) An analysis of the relationship between The Cambridge skull of Adapis parisiensis, length of Mf and body size in a sample of 38 specimen no. M.538, is illustrated in Figures extant noncercopithecoid species of pri- 1-3. The skull is complete except for the crowns mates, and length x width of M' and body of the anterior teeth, an opening in the right size in males and females of 41 primates, side of the braincase, and the ventral surfaces using average figures for several represen- of the auditory bullae. It is beautifully pre- tatives of each species (Kay, 1975; served, with even the cribriform plate and Gingerich, 1977; Gingerich et al., 1981). ethmoturbinals partially preserved. The skull (2) An analysis of the relationship between appears to represent a relatively young indi- various cranial dimensions and body size or vidual, judging from the clear presence of many brain size in a sample of 36 extant nonhu- cranial sutures, although all teeth have man primate species (18 lemurs and lorises, erupted and the crowns still in place are one tarsier, and 17 monkeys and apes). slightly worn. The dental formula was clearly Cranial dimensions were, whenever possi- 2.1.4.3. SKULL OF ADAPIS PARISIENSIS 237 Fig. 1, Cambridge skull ofAdapis parisiensis (M.538) in dorsal (A) and ventral (B) views. Note damage to right temporal area and preparatory removal of the ventral floor of both bullae. Scale in mm, 1.5 x natural size. 238 P.D. GINGERICH AND R.D. MARTIN Fig. 2. Cambridge skull ofAdapis parisiensis (M.538) in left lateral (A) and right lateral (B) views. Scale in rnm, 1.5 x natural size. Judging from other skulls of this species pre- smaller) median gap. Thus we cannot be sure serving the anterior teeth (represented only by that the nasal structure ofAdapis was anatom- alveoli in the Cambridge skull), the upper cen- ically or functionally like that in modern strep- tral incisors were slightly larger than the lat- sirhine primates. Ceboidea usually have a eral ones and their crowns converged markedly functional Jacobson’s organ (Maier, 1981), al- toward the midline of the skull, as inpropithe- though they do not have a naked rhinarium. In cus among living lemuroids andsaimiri among addition, some ceboids have a median furrow in anthropoids (Fig. 4). Left and right central in- the upper lip possibly representing a vestige of cisors actually contacted each other distally, the schizocheilic labial cleft characteristic of but the roots and proximal parts of the incisor lemuriform primates (Hofer, 1980). crowns were separated, leaving a median gap. The upper canine teeth are also not preserved This median gap may have permitted a naked in the Cambridge skull, but by comparisonwith rhinarium to connect directly to Jacobson’s other specimens of Adapis parisiensis we can organ, as in 1ivingMicrocebu.s (Schilling, 1970; infer that they were probably short-crowned Martin, 1973). On the other hand, some ceboids (see for example Stehlin, 1912: Figs. 244 and (Saimiri) have convergent upper central inci- 254; Gingerich, 1981: Fig. 5). Premolar and sors with a similar (although definitely molar morphology of this speciesis well known; SKULL OF ADAPIS PARISIENSIS 239 Fig. 3. Cambridge skull of Adapis parisiensis (M.538) in anterior (A) and posterior (B) views. Note the median gap (partially broken) between anterior incisor alveoli. Scale in mm, 1.5 x natural size. the last premolars are partly molarized, and are also given for two additional skulls ofAda- the true molars are relatively simple quadrate pis parisiensis preserved in the British Mu- teeth similar to those of Lepilemur or Hapale- seum (Natural History).
Load more

Recommended publications
  • Somatosensory Cortex of Prosimian Galagos
    THE JOURNAL OF COMPARATIVE NEUROLOGY 457:263–292 (2003) Somatosensory Cortex of Prosimian Galagos: Physiological Recording, Cytoarchitecture, and Corticocortical Connections of Anterior Parietal Cortex and Cortex of the Lateral Sulcus CAROLYN W.-H. WU1,2 AND JON H. KAAS1* 1Department of Psychology, Vanderbilt University, Nashville, Tennessee 37240 2Human Cortical Physiology Section, National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke, National Institute of Health, Bethesda, Maryland 20892-1428 ABSTRACT Compared with our growing understanding of the organization of somatosensory cortex in monkeys, little is known about prosimian primates, a major branch of primate evolution that diverged from anthropoid primates some 60 million years ago. Here we describe extensive results obtained from an African prosimian, Galago garnetti. Microelectrodes were used to record from large numbers of cortical sites in order to reveal regions of responsiveness to cutaneous stimuli and patterns of somatotopic organization. Injections of one to several distinguishable tracers were placed at physiologically identified sites in four different cortical areas to label corticortical connections. Both types of results were related to cortical architecture. Three systematic repre- sentations of cutaneous receptors were revealed by the microelectrode recordings, S1 proper or area 3b, S2, and the parietal ventral area (PV), as described in monkeys. Strips of cortex rostral (presumptive area 3a) and caudal (presumptive area 1–2) to area 3b responded poorly to tactile stimuli in anesthetized galagos, but connection patterns with area 3b indicated that parallel somatosensory representations exist in both of these regions. Area 3b also interconnected soma- totopically with areas S2 and PV. Areas S2 and PV had connections with areas 3a, 3b, 1–2, each other, other regions of the lateral sulcus, motor cortex (M1), cingulate cortex, frontal cortex, orbital cortex, and inferior parietal cortex.
    [Show full text]
  • 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]
  • Exam 1 Set 3 Taxonomy and Primates
    Goodall Films • Four classic films from the 1960s of Goodalls early work with Gombe (Tanzania —East Africa) chimpanzees • Introduction to Chimpanzee Behavior • Infant Development • Feeding and Food Sharing • Tool Using Primates! Specifically the EXTANT primates, i.e., the species that are still alive today: these include some prosimians, some monkeys, & some apes (-next: fossil hominins, who are extinct) Diversity ...200$300&species& Taxonomy What are primates? Overview: What are primates? • Taxonomy of living • Prosimians (Strepsirhines) – Lorises things – Lemurs • Distinguishing – Tarsiers (?) • Anthropoids (Haplorhines) primate – Platyrrhines characteristics • Cebids • Atelines • Primate taxonomy: • Callitrichids distinguishing characteristics – Catarrhines within the Order Primate… • Cercopithecoids – Cercopithecines – Colobines • Hominoids – Hylobatids – Pongids – Hominins Taxonomy: Hierarchical and Linnean (between Kingdoms and Species, but really not a totally accurate representation) • Subspecies • Species • Genus • Family • Infraorder • Order • Class • Phylum • Kingdom Tree of life -based on traits we think we observe -Beware anthropocentrism, the concept that humans may regard themselves as the central and most significant entities in the universe, or that they assess reality through an exclusively human perspective. Taxonomy: Kingdoms (6 here) Kingdom Animalia • Ingestive heterotrophs • Lack cell wall • Motile at at least some part of their lives • Embryos have a blastula stage (a hollow ball of cells) • Usually an internal
    [Show full text]
  • Photopigments and Color Vision in the Nocturnal Monkey, Aotus GERALD H
    Vision Res. Vol. 33, No. 13, pp. 1773-1783, 1993 0042-6989/93 $6.00 + 0.00 Printed in Great Britain. All rights reserved Copyright 0 1993 Pergamon Press Ltd Photopigments and Color Vision in the Nocturnal Monkey, Aotus GERALD H. JACOBS,*? JESS F. DEEGAN II,* JAY NEITZ,$ MICHAEL A. CROGNALE,§ MAUREEN NEITZT Received 6 November 1992; in revised form 3 February 1993 The owl monkey (Aotus tridrgutus) is the only nocturnal monkey. The photopigments of Aotus and the relationship between these photopigments and visual discrimination were examined through (1) an analysis of the tlicker photometric electroretinogram (ERG), (2) psychophysical tests of visual sensitivity and color vision, and (3) a search for the presence of the photopigment gene necessary for the production of a short-wavelength sensitive (SWS) photopigment. Roth electrophysiological and behavioral measurements indicate that in addition to a rod photopigment the retina of this primate contains only one other photopigment type-a cone pigment having a spectral peak cu 543 nm. Earlier results that suggested these monkeys can make crude color discriminations are interpreted as probably resulting from the joint exploitation of signals from rods and cones. Although Aotus has no functional SWS photopigment, hybridization analysis shows that A&us has a pigment gene that is highly homologous to the human SWS photopigment gene. Aotus trivirgatus Cone photopigments Monkey color vision Monochromacy Photopigment genes Evolution of color vision INTRODUCTION interest to anyone interested in visual adaptations for two somewhat contradictory reasons. On the one hand, The owl monkey (A&us) is unique among present study of A&us might provide the possibility of docu- day monkeys in several regards.
    [Show full text]
  • Diagnosis and Differentiation of the Order Primates
    YEARBOOK OF PHYSICAL ANTHROPOLOGY 30:75-105 (1987) Diagnosis and Differentiation of the Order Primates FREDERICK S. SZALAY, ALFRED L. ROSENBERGER, AND MARIAN DAGOSTO Department of Anthropolog* Hunter College, City University of New York, New York, New York 10021 (F.S.S.); University of Illinois, Urbanq Illinois 61801 (A.L. R.1; School of Medicine, Johns Hopkins University/ Baltimore, h4D 21218 (M.B.) KEY WORDS Semiorders Paromomyiformes and Euprimates, Suborders Strepsirhini and Haplorhini, Semisuborder Anthropoidea, Cranioskeletal morphology, Adapidae, Omomyidae, Grades vs. monophyletic (paraphyletic or holophyletic) taxa ABSTRACT We contrast our approach to a phylogenetic diagnosis of the order Primates, and its various supraspecific taxa, with definitional proce- dures. The order, which we divide into the semiorders Paromomyiformes and Euprimates, is clearly diagnosable on the basis of well-corroborated informa- tion from the fossil record. Lists of derived features which we hypothesize to have been fixed in the first representative species of the Primates, Eupri- mates, Strepsirhini, Haplorhini, and Anthropoidea, are presented. Our clas- sification of the order includes both holophyletic and paraphyletic groups, depending on the nature of the available evidence. We discuss in detail the problematic evidence of the basicranium in Paleo- gene primates and present new evidence for the resolution of previously controversial interpretations. We renew and expand our emphasis on postcra- nial analysis of fossil and living primates to show the importance of under- standing their evolutionary morphology and subsequent to this their use for understanding taxon phylogeny. We reject the much advocated %ladograms first, phylogeny next, and scenario third” approach which maintains that biologically founded character analysis, i.e., functional-adaptive analysis and paleontology, is irrelevant to genealogy hypotheses.
    [Show full text]
  • Fossil Lemur from Northern Madagascar (Palaeopropithecidae/Primate Evolution/Postcranium) WILLIAM L
    Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA Vol. 88, pp. 9082-9086, October 1991 Evolution Phylogenetic and functional affinities of Babakotia (Primates), a fossil lemur from northern Madagascar (Palaeopropithecidae/primate evolution/postcranium) WILLIAM L. JUNGERSt, LAURIE R. GODFREYt, ELWYN L. SIMONS§, PRITHUJIT S. CHATRATH§, AND BERTHE RAKOTOSAMIMANANA$ tDepartment of Anatomical Sciences, State University of New York, Stony Brook, NY 117948081; tDepartment of Anthropology, University of Massachusetts, Amherst, MA 01003; §Department of Biological Anatomy and Anthropology and Primate Center, Duke University, Durham, NC 27705; and IService de Paldontologie, Universit6 d'Antananarivo, Antananarivo, Madagascar Contributed by Elwyn L. Simons, July 2, 1991 ABSTRACT Recent paleontological expeditions to the An- Craniodental Anatomy and Tooth Shape karana range of northern Madagascar have recovered the partial remains offour individuals ofa newly recognized extinct With an estimated body mass ofjust over 15 kg, Babakotia lemur, Babakoda radofia. Craniodental and postcranial ma- is a medium-sized indroid somewhat larger than the largest terial serve to identify Babakota as a member of the palae- living indrid (Indri) but similar in size to several of the opropithecids (also including the extinct genera Palaeopropith- smallest extinct lemurs, Mesopropithecus and Pachylemur ecus, Archaeoindris, and Mesopropithecus). Living indrids (4). A detailed description of the maxillary dentition of form the sister group to this fossil lade. The postcranial Babakotia exists
    [Show full text]
  • Mammal and Plant Localities of the Fort Union, Willwood, and Iktman Formations, Southern Bighorn Basin* Wyoming
    Distribution and Stratigraphip Correlation of Upper:UB_ • Ju Paleocene and Lower Eocene Fossil Mammal and Plant Localities of the Fort Union, Willwood, and Iktman Formations, Southern Bighorn Basin* Wyoming U,S. GEOLOGICAL SURVEY PROFESS IONAL PAPER 1540 Cover. A member of the American Museum of Natural History 1896 expedition enter­ ing the badlands of the Willwood Formation on Dorsey Creek, Wyoming, near what is now U.S. Geological Survey fossil vertebrate locality D1691 (Wardel Reservoir quadran­ gle). View to the southwest. Photograph by Walter Granger, courtesy of the Department of Library Services, American Museum of Natural History, New York, negative no. 35957. DISTRIBUTION AND STRATIGRAPHIC CORRELATION OF UPPER PALEOCENE AND LOWER EOCENE FOSSIL MAMMAL AND PLANT LOCALITIES OF THE FORT UNION, WILLWOOD, AND TATMAN FORMATIONS, SOUTHERN BIGHORN BASIN, WYOMING Upper part of the Will wood Formation on East Ridge, Middle Fork of Fifteenmile Creek, southern Bighorn Basin, Wyoming. The Kirwin intrusive complex of the Absaroka Range is in the background. View to the west. Distribution and Stratigraphic Correlation of Upper Paleocene and Lower Eocene Fossil Mammal and Plant Localities of the Fort Union, Willwood, and Tatman Formations, Southern Bighorn Basin, Wyoming By Thomas M. Down, Kenneth D. Rose, Elwyn L. Simons, and Scott L. Wing U.S. GEOLOGICAL SURVEY PROFESSIONAL PAPER 1540 UNITED STATES GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE, WASHINGTON : 1994 U.S. DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR BRUCE BABBITT, Secretary U.S. GEOLOGICAL SURVEY Robert M. Hirsch, Acting Director For sale by U.S. Geological Survey, Map Distribution Box 25286, MS 306, Federal Center Denver, CO 80225 Any use of trade, product, or firm names in this publication is for descriptive purposes only and does not imply endorsement by the U.S.
    [Show full text]
  • For Peer Review
    View metadata, citation and similar papers at core.ac.uk brought to you by CORE Page 1 of 57 Journal of Morphology provided by Archivio della Ricerca - Università di Pisa 1 2 3 Title: The locomotion of Babakotia radofilai inferred from epiphyseal and diaphyseal 4 5 6 morphology of the humerus and femur. 7 8 9 Damiano Marchi1,2*, Christopher B. Ruff3, Alessio Capobianco, 1,4, Katherine L. Rafferty5, 10 11 Michael B. Habib6, Biren A. Patel2,6 12 13 14 1 15 Department of Biology, University of Pisa, Pisa, Italy, 56126 16 17 2 18 Evolutionary Studies Institute, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, South 19 20 Africa, WITS 2050 For Peer Review 21 22 23 3 Center for Functional Anatomy and Evolution, Johns Hopkins University School of 24 25 26 Medicine, Baltimore, MD 21111 27 28 4 29 Scuola Normale Superiore, Pisa, Italy, 56126 30 31 5 32 Department of Orthodontics, School of Dentistry, University of Washington, Seattle, WA 33 34 35 98195 36 37 6 38 Department of Cell and Neurobiology, Keck School of Medicine, University of Southern 39 40 California, Los Angeles, CA 90033 41 42 43 Text pages: 28; Bibliography pages: 9; Figures: 6; Tables: 6 Appendices: 1 44 45 46 Running title: Babakotia radofilai postcranial suspensory adaptations 47 48 49 *Corresponding author: 50 51 52 Damiano Marchi 53 54 55 56 Address: Dipartimento di Biologia, Università di Pisa, Via Derna, 1 - ZIP 56126, Pisa - Italy 57 58 59 Ph: +39 050 2211350; Fax: +39 050 2211475 60 1 John Wiley & Sons Journal of Morphology Page 2 of 57 1 2 3 Email: [email protected]
    [Show full text]
  • New Additions to the Late Middle Eocene Mammal Fauna of Creechbarrow, Dorset, Southern England
    Cainozoic Research, 9(1), pp. 65-85, June 2012 New additions to the late middle Eocene mammal fauna of Creechbarrow, Dorset, southern England David L. Harrison1, Paul J.J. Bates1, Malcolm Pearch1, Chris Michaels1, 2 & David J. Ward3, 4 1Harrison Institute, Centre for Systematics and Biodiversity Research, Bowerwood House, 15 St. Botolph’s Road, Sevenoaks, Kent, TN13 3AQ, Great Britain 2Michael Smith Building, Faculty of Life Sciences, University of Manchester, Manchester, M13 9PT, Great Britain 3Department of Palaeontology, The Natural History Museum, Cromwell Road, London SW7 5BD, Great Britain, and 81 Crofton Lane, Orpington, Kent, BR5, 1HB, Great Britain 4Corresponding author; e-mail: [email protected] Received 24 January 2012; revised version accepted 26 March 2012 Nine little known mammalian taxa are here added to the known late middle Eocene fauna of Creechbarrow, Dorset, UK. They include three lipotyphlan insectivores, Eotalpa anglica, Saturninia aff. mamertensis and Cryptotopos hartenbergeri; a rare adapid primate Adapis laharpi; two artiodactyls Dichobune robertiana and Amphirhagatherium louisi. Two species of miacid carnivore are confirmed as occur- ring in the fauna, Paramiacis exilis and Paramiacis teilhardi, and a creodont carnivore Allopterodon minor is also included, as well as new specimens of some other little known taxa. KEY WORDS: Creechbarrow Limestone, late middle Eocene, lipotyphlan insectivore, adapid primate, artiodactyl, miacid carnivore, cre- odont. Introduction List of abbreviations Hooker’s (1986) monographic work on the Bartonian c lower canine mammals of Britain laid the foundation for the study of the CL crown length unique fauna of Creechbarrow, the only known terrestrial CW crown width deposit of Bartonian age in Britain, now commonly re- HH Headon Hill, Isle of Wight, UK ferred to as Robiacian, because of its strong correlation HZM Harrison Zoological Museum (now the Harrison with the French site of Robiac.
    [Show full text]
  • Genome Sequence of the Basal Haplorrhine Primate Tarsius Syrichta Reveals Unusual Insertions
    ARTICLE Received 29 Oct 2015 | Accepted 17 Aug 2016 | Published 6 Oct 2016 DOI: 10.1038/ncomms12997 OPEN Genome sequence of the basal haplorrhine primate Tarsius syrichta reveals unusual insertions Ju¨rgen Schmitz1,2, Angela Noll1,2,3, Carsten A. Raabe1,4, Gennady Churakov1,5, Reinhard Voss6, Martin Kiefmann1, Timofey Rozhdestvensky1,7,Ju¨rgen Brosius1,4, Robert Baertsch8, Hiram Clawson8, Christian Roos3, Aleksey Zimin9, Patrick Minx10, Michael J. Montague10, Richard K. Wilson10 & Wesley C. Warren10 Tarsiers are phylogenetically located between the most basal strepsirrhines and the most derived anthropoid primates. While they share morphological features with both groups, they also possess uncommon primate characteristics, rendering their evolutionary history somewhat obscure. To investigate the molecular basis of such attributes, we present here a new genome assembly of the Philippine tarsier (Tarsius syrichta), and provide extended analyses of the genome and detailed history of transposable element insertion events. We describe the silencing of Alu monomers on the lineage leading to anthropoids, and recognize an unexpected abundance of long terminal repeat-derived and LINE1-mobilized transposed elements (Tarsius interspersed elements; TINEs). For the first time in mammals, we identify a complete mitochondrial genome insertion within the nuclear genome, then reveal tarsier-specific, positive gene selection and posit population size changes over time. The genomic resources and analyses presented here will aid efforts to more fully understand the ancient characteristics of primate genomes. 1 Institute of Experimental Pathology, University of Mu¨nster, 48149 Mu¨nster, Germany. 2 Mu¨nster Graduate School of Evolution, University of Mu¨nster, 48149 Mu¨nster, Germany. 3 Primate Genetics Laboratory, German Primate Center, Leibniz Institute for Primate Research, 37077 Go¨ttingen, Germany.
    [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]
  • A Chronology for Late Prehistoric Madagascar
    Journal of Human Evolution 47 (2004) 25e63 www.elsevier.com/locate/jhevol A chronology for late prehistoric Madagascar a,) a,b c David A. Burney , Lida Pigott Burney , Laurie R. Godfrey , William L. Jungersd, Steven M. Goodmane, Henry T. Wrightf, A.J. Timothy Jullg aDepartment of Biological Sciences, Fordham University, Bronx NY 10458, USA bLouis Calder Center Biological Field Station, Fordham University, P.O. Box 887, Armonk NY 10504, USA cDepartment of Anthropology, University of Massachusetts-Amherst, Amherst MA 01003, USA dDepartment of Anatomical Sciences, Stony Brook University, Stony Brook NY 11794, USA eField Museum of Natural History, 1400 S. Roosevelt Rd., Chicago, IL 60605, USA fMuseum of Anthropology, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI 48109, USA gNSF Arizona AMS Facility, University of Arizona, Tucson AZ 85721, USA Received 12 December 2003; accepted 24 May 2004 Abstract A database has been assembled with 278 age determinations for Madagascar. Materials 14C dated include pretreated sediments and plant macrofossils from cores and excavations throughout the island, and bones, teeth, or eggshells of most of the extinct megafaunal taxa, including the giant lemurs, hippopotami, and ratites. Additional measurements come from uranium-series dates on speleothems and thermoluminescence dating of pottery. Changes documented include late Pleistocene climatic events and, in the late Holocene, the apparently human- caused transformation of the environment. Multiple lines of evidence point to the earliest human presence at ca. 2300 14C yr BP (350 cal yr BC). A decline in megafauna, inferred from a drastic decrease in spores of the coprophilous fungus Sporormiella spp. in sediments at 1720 G 40 14C yr BP (230e410 cal yr AD), is followed by large increases in charcoal particles in sediment cores, beginning in the SW part of the island, and spreading to other coasts and the interior over the next millennium.
    [Show full text]