Adapids Lecture 3 Flashcards
What is interesting about the talar in extant strepsirhines?
The fibular side slopes
Is the sloping talus in strepsirhines derived or ancestral?
The condition of the sloping talus is derived in strepsirhines. The haplorhine condition is ancestral.
What is the talus like of adapids?
Very similar to strepsirhines in that they had a sloping talofibular facet
Describe the fossil /Smilodectes/
Adapiform primate that lived in middle Eocene
1) North American
2) Large (2.1-3 kg)
3) Frugivorous and folivorous
4) arboreal quadruped
Describe the fossil /Notharctus venticolus/
Adapiform primate that lived during the middle to late Eocene
1) North American
2) Had two forms of canines –> indicates sexual dimorphism
3) Polygynous social structure
4) Anthropoid-like
Describe the fossil Adapis
Adapiform primate from Eocene
1) European
2) Large (1.3-1.7 kg)
3) Diurnal
4) Frugivorous/folivorous
What is the latin name for the fossil known as Ida?
Darwinius masillae
Describe the fossil /Darwinius masillae/.
Adapiform primate
1) There is only one fossil called Ida (PMO 214.214)
2) Found in a quarry near the village of Messel
3) Lived in the Eocene
4) Considered to be the missing link between streps and tarsiers and anthropoids
Define stratigraphy
the branch of geology concerned with the order and relative position of strata and their relationship to the geological timescale.
the analysis of the order and position of layers of archaeological remains.
What is L-41?
A site in the Fayum in Egypt
Describe the fossil /Plesiopithecus teras/.
Adapiform primate,
1) Found at L-41
2) Late Eocene
3) Has a postorbital bar
4) lacks postorbital closure (non-anthropoid like)
5) Upper molars lack hypocones (non-anthropoid like)
Describe the fossil /Afradapis longicristatus/
1) Found in Fayum
2) Approx. 37 mya (Eocene)
3) Has sloping fibular facet (Boyer et al., 2010).
Name the fossil in which the earliest toothcomb was found and describe it.
Saharagalago misrensis
1) late- middle Eocene 37.2 to 33.9 Ma
2) Implies early lois-galago split
Describe Bugtilemur
1) Only lemur outside of Madagascar
2) Found in Pakistan in the Bugti Hills (hence the name)
3) From the Oligocene (Approx. 35-25 mya)
4) Closely resembles dwarf lemurs
5) elongated, procumbent lower canine (tooth comb?)
Maurivaux et al., 2001
Bugtilemur represents the earliest record of Lemuriformes, which hence appear to have already diversified outside of Madagascar at least 30 million years ago.
Do Strepsirrhines or haplorhines have a fused frontal bone and fused mandibular sympysis?
Haps have a fused mandibular symphysis and frontal bone
Gebo et al., 2001
Anthropoids include the Platyrrhini (New World monkeys) and the Catarrhini (Old World Monkeys and apes)
What is the extant strepsirhine condition for cranial blood supply?
They have the stapedial branch of the internal carotid
Though, lorisoids have no internal carotid, they use the ascending pharyngeal instead
What is the extant haplorhine condition for cranial blood supply?
They only have the promontory branch
What is the difference in the sulcus of streps and haps?
Haps have a central sulcus, whereas streps have a coronolateral sulcus
When was the Eocene?
About 54 - 34 mya
When was the Oligocene?
About 37 - 25 mya
Describe the fossil /Archicebus achilles/
1) Found in Hubei Province in China
2) From the lower Eocene
3) 20-30g approx.
4) Had four premolars
5) Early haplorhine
Ni et al., 2013 (1)
[Archicebus achilles was] Small haplorhine primate with rounded braincase; short snout; vertically implanted upper canine (C1); four premolars in each jaw quadrant; long hindlimbs; long feet (especially the metatarsus); and a long tail.
Ni et al., 2013 (2)
Archicebus achilles posesses a unique mosaic of haplorhine features. Some resemble anthropoids and others resemble tarsiers. E.g. metatarsal proportions in foot are anthropoid like. Skull, dentition and much of appendicular skeleton resemble tarsiiforms.
How do tarsiers and omomyids compare?
1) Tarsiers have a femur designed for vertical clinging, whereas omomyids have one designed for quadrupedal running/leaping
2) Tarisers have a fused tibia-fibula, whereas omomyids are fused or partially fused (like Archicebus achilles)
3) Tarsier tarsals are elongated and omomyid tarsals are usually elongated similar to dwarf lemurs (unlike Archicebus achilles)
Describe the fibula of Archicebus achilles and use a reference!
The fibula is straight, robust and closely apposed to the tibia for ∼36% of the length of the distal shaft (Ni et al., 2013)
Describe /Necrolemur/
1) Omomyid
2) From the Eocene
3) Tubular ectotympanic
3) pterygoid plates contact the bulla (only seen in /Tarsius/ and /Shoshonius/
4) No postorbital closure
Describe Shoshonius
An omomyid from the Eocene
Shares three traits only with Tarsius:
1) Supremeatal foramen
2) Ventrolateral posterior carotid foramen (haplorhine trait)
3) Basioccipital flange (primitive)
Why did people orginally think /Plesiopithecus teras/ was an anthropoid not an adapid?
originally suggested it was an anthropoid due to the type specimen mandible having molars that decreased in size posteriorly (as seen in other early anthropoids).
