Lecture 9 - Miocene Hominids Flashcards
prediction for Great Ape LCA
- orthograde body plan
- large size
- increased joint mobility
- suspensory locomotion
- c. 11-12 Ma
middle miocene in Africa
Kenyapithecus
- 15-14 Ma
- Kenya, Turkey
- Lewis Leakey
- mostly teeth & jaws - Y5 cusp pattern, dental ape
middle miocene in Africa
Nacholapithecus
- c. 15 Ma
- Kenya
- partial skeleton avaialble
- ~22 kg
- first evidence of forelimb dominated locomotion
- still pronograde
late miocene of europe
Dryopithecus
- c. 12 Ma
- 44 kg - firmly in chimp-size body range
- Spain, also France & Germany
- dental ape
- but pronogrde
late miocene of europe
Pierolapithecus
- c. 12 Ma, Hostalets de Pierola, Spain
- face is great-ape like
- large size (~35kg)
- thorax indicate orthograde body plan
primitive traits
* hand morphology - medium fingers, long compared to monekys, less than orangutans
derived
* loss of ulnocarpal articulation (wrist rotation)
late miocene of europe
Hispanopithecus
- Spain, 9 Ma
- medium-sized, 25kg
- first to show adaptations to suspensory locomotion
- orangutan-like limb proportions
primitive
- short metacarpals
derived
- long & curved phalanges
late miocene of europe
Danuvius
- c. 12 Ma, Germany
- looks a bit like bonobos
- medium sized, 25 kg
- not extremely suspensory
- peculiar form of locomotion - ‘extended limb clambering-
- usually equal arm/leg length
- knee simialr ot hominins (expanded medial condoyle of femur)
- stand bipedally
late miocene of europe
bottom line of late miocene of europe as great ape LCA
Pierolapithecus - not suspensory
Hispanopithecus - too young
Danuvius - locomotion is confusing
late miocene of europe
Oreopithecus
- ape from the hill
- c. 8-7 Ma, Italian island
- first discovered in 1872
- partial skeleton ‘Sandrone’
- tooth morphology is strange (apomorphic additional cusps)
- suspensory adaptations
- convergent foraging adaptations w/ later hominids
- postural adaptations for bipedalsim
late miocene african apes
where are they
seems to be a gap in African fossil record, remains are a lot more fragmentary, gap may be due to taphonomy
late miocene african apes
Nyanzapithecus
- c. 13 Ma, Kenya
- bony ear tubes (ape-like)
- don’t know to connect to living lineages of apes
late miocene african apes
Chororapithecus
- c. 10 Ma, Ethiopia
- only a few teeth - molar shearing evidence like modern gorilla
- argued to be basal member of gorilla clade
late miocene african apes
Nakalipithecus
- c. 9.9-9.8 Ma, Kenya
- argued to be African apes-hominin LCA
- few fossils known
asian greater apes
Sivapithecus
- c. 12-9 Ma, India & Pakistan
- named after Shiva Bhagwan
- skull similar to orangutans
- eye orbit shape very similar
- postcrania is not - pronograde
asian greater apes
Gigantopithecus
- c. 2.8-1.8 Ma
- Pakistan, Vietnam, China
- dental & mandibular remains only
- autoapomorphic - GIANT (200 kg+)
- hominins at the same place & time
chimp origins
fossil chimpanzee
- c. 545 ka, Kenya
- Rift Valley, where several hominins are found
- (do not live in E Africa now)
- very few fossils
- no other known panins ever!
fall of great apes - why are extant apes survivors
- may have been because they specialized
- or becuase too slow generation times
Rise of grasslands in Africa & implications
- begings around 8-10 Ma and progresses towards end of Miocene
- important implications for human evolution, considering the appearance of the human-chimp LCA at c. 6-7 Ma
