Skip to main content

Does Overlap Among the Adaptive Radiations of Omomyoids, Adapoids, and Early Anthropoids Cloud our Understanding of Anthropoid Origins?

  • Chapter
Anthropoid Origins

Abstract

It is truly amazing how the paleontological data that form the basis of discussions on anthropoid origins have increased during the past 40 years. It was not until the early 1960s that Elwyn Simons’ field research in the Fayum Depression of Egypt began to yield the first sample of early Oligocene anthropoid primates.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this chapter

Chapter
USD 29.95
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
eBook
USD 39.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
Softcover Book
USD 54.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Compact, lightweight edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Purchases are for personal use only

Institutional subscriptions

Preview

Unable to display preview. Download preview PDF.

Unable to display preview. Download preview PDF.

References

  • Anemone, R. L., and Covert, H. H., 2000, New skeletal remains of Omomys (Primate: Omomyidae): Functional morphology of the hindlimb and locomotor behavior of a middle Eocene primate, J. Human Evol. 38:607–633.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Beard, K. C., 1998, A new genus of Tarsiidae (Mammalia: Primates) from the middle Eocene of Shanxi Province, China, with notes on the historical biogeography of tarsiers. In Dawn of the Age of Mammals in Asia, K. C. Beard, and M. R Dawson, eds., Bull. Carnegie Mus. 34:260–277.

    Google Scholar 

  • Beard, K. C., Qi, T., Dawson, M. R., Wang, B., and Li, C., 1994, A diverse new primate fauna from middle Eocene fissure-fillings in southeastern China, Nature 368:604–609.

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Beard, K. C., Tong, Y., Dawson, M. R., Wang, J., and Huang, X., 1996, Earliest complete dentition of an anthropoid primate from the late middle Eocene of Shanxi Province, China, Science 272:82–85.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Chaimanee, Y., Suteethorn, V., Jaeger, J. J., and Ducrocq, S., 1997, A new late Eocene anthropoid from Thailand, Nature 385:429–431.

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Clark, W. E., Le Gros, 1959, The Antecedents of Man. University Press, Edinburgh.

    Google Scholar 

  • Covert, H. H., 1986, Biology of early Cenozoic primates. In Comparative Primate Biology, Vol. 1: Systematics, Evolution, and Anatomy, D. W. Sindler, and J. Erwin, eds., Alan R. Liss, NY, pp. 335–359.

    Google Scholar 

  • Covert, H. H., 1997, The early primate adaptive radiations and new evidence about anthropoid Origins. In Biological Anthropology: The State of the Science, N. T. Boaz, and L. D. Wolfe, eds., Oregon State University, OR, pp. 1–23.

    Google Scholar 

  • Covert, H. H., and Hamrick, M. W., 1993, Description of new skeletal remains of the early Eocene anaptomorphine primate Absarokius (Omomyidae) and a discussion about its adaptive profile, J. Human Evol. 25:351–362.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Covert, H. H., and Williams, B. A., 1994, Recently discovered specimens of North American Eocene omomyids and adapids and their bearing on debates about anthropoid origins. In Anthropoid Origins, J. G. Fleagle, and R. F. Kay, eds., Plenum Press, NY, pp. 29–54.

    Google Scholar 

  • Dagosto, M., 1983, Postcranium of Adapis parisiensis and Leptadapis magnus (Adapiformes): Adaptational and phylogenetic significance, Folia Primatol. 41:49–101.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Dagosto, M., and Gebo, D. L., 1994, Postcranial anatomy and the origin of the Anthropoidea. In Anthropoid Origins, J. G. Fleagle, and R F. Kay, eds., Plenum Press, NY, pp. 567–593.

    Google Scholar 

  • Dagosto, M., Gebo, D. L., and Beard, K. C., 1999, Revision of the Wind River faunas, early Eocene of central Wyoming. Part 14. Postcranium of Shoshonius cooperi (Mammalia, Primates), Ann. Carnegie Mus. 68(3):175–211.

    Google Scholar 

  • Fleagle, J. G., 1999, Primate Adaptation and Evolution, Second Edition, Academic Press, San Diego.

    Google Scholar 

  • Gebo, D. L., 1988, Foot morphology and locomotor adaptation in Eocene primates, Folia Primatol. 50:3–41.

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Gebo, D. L., Dagosto, M., Beard, K. C., and Qi, T., 2000a, The smallest primates, J. Human Evol. 38:585–594.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Gebo, D. L., Dagosto, M., Beard, K. C., Qi, T., and Wang, J., 2000b, The oldest known anthropoid postcranial fossils and the early evolution of higher primates, Nature 404:276–278.

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Gebo, D. L., Dagosto, M., Beard, K. C., and Qi, T., 2001, Middle Eocene primate tarsals from China: Implications for haplorhine evolution, Am. J. Phys. Anthropol. 116:83–107.

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Gebo, D. L., Simons, E. L., Rasmussen, D. T., and Dagosto, M., 1994, Eocene anthropoid postcrania from the Fayum, Egypt. In Anthropoid Origins, J. G. Fleagle, and R. F. Kay, eds., Plenum Press, NY, pp. 203–233.

    Google Scholar 

  • Gingerich, P. D., 1981, Early Cenozoic Omomyidae and the evolutionary history of the tarsiiform primates, J. Human Evol. 10:345–374.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Godinot, M., 1994, Early North African primate and their significance for the origins of Simiformes ( = Anthropoidea). In Anthropoid Origins, J. G. Fleagle, and R. F. Kay, eds., Plenum Press, NY, pp. 235–296.

    Google Scholar 

  • Gunnell, G. F., Ciochon, R. L., Gingerich, P. D., and Holroyd, P. A., 2002, Reassessment of Pondaungia and Amphipithecus (Primates) from the late middle Eocene of Myanmar with comments on “Amphipithecidae,” Contr: Mus. Paleontol. Univ. Michigan 30(13): 337–372.

    Google Scholar 

  • Heesy, C. P., and Ross, C. F., 2001, Evolution of activity patterns and chromatic vision in primates: Morphometrics, genetics, and cladistics, J. Human Evol. 40:111–149.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Jaeger, J.-J., Thein, T., Benammi, M., Chaimanee, Y., Soe, A. N., Lwin, T., Tun, T., Wai, S., Ducrocq, S., 1999, A new primate from the middle Eocene of Myanmar and the Asian early origin of anthropoids, Science 286:528–530.

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Kay, R. F., and Kirk, E. C., 2000, Osteological evidence for the evolution of activity pattern and visual acuity in primates, Am. J. Phys. Anthrop. 113:235–262.

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Kay, R. F., and Simons, E. L., 1980, The ecology of Oligocene African Anthropoidea, Int. J. Primatol. 1:21–37.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kirk, E. C., and Simons, E. L., 2001, Diets of fossil primates from the Fayum Depression of Egypt: A quantitative analysis of molar shearing, J. Human Evol. 40:203–229.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Napier, J. R., and Napier, P. H., 1967, A Handbook of Living Primates. Academic Press, London.

    Google Scholar 

  • Rasmussen, D. T., 1986, Anthropoid origins: A possible solution to the Adapidae-Omomyidae paradox, J. Human Evol. 15:1–12.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Rasmussen, D. T., 1994, The different meanings of the tarsioid-anthropoid clade and a new model of anthropoid origins. In Anthropoid Origins, J. G. Fleagle, and R. F. Kay, eds., Plenum Press, NY, pp. 335–360.

    Google Scholar 

  • Rasmussen, D. T., and Simons, E. L., 1992, Paleobiology of the oligopithecines, the earliest known anthropoid primates, Int. J. Primatol. 13:477–508.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ross, C. F., 2000, Into the light: The origin of Anthropoidea, Ann. Rev. Anthropol. 29:147–194.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ross, C. F., and Covert, H. H., 2000, The petrosal of Omomys earteri and the evolution of the primate basicranium, J. Human Evol. 39:225–251.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Simons, E. L., 1989, Description of two genera and species of late Eocene Anthropoidea from Egypt, Proc. Nat. Acad. Sci. 86:9956–9960.

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Simons, E. L., 1992, Diversity in the early Tertiary anthropoidean radiation in Africa, Proe. Nat. Aead. Sci. 89:10743–10747.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Simons, E. L., and Rasmussen, D. T., 1994, A whole new world of ancestors: Eocene anthropoideans from Africa, Evo. Anthropol. 3:128–138.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Strait, S. G., 2001, Dietary reconstruction of small-bodied omomyoid primates, J. Vert. Paleontol. 21:322–334.

    Google Scholar 

  • Takai, M., Shigehara, N., Aung, A. K., Tun, S. T., Soe, A. N., Tsubamoto, T., and Thein, T., 2001, A new anthropoid from the latest middle Eocene of Pondaung, central Myanmar, J. Human Evol. 40:393–409.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Teaford, M. F., Mass, M. C., and Simons, E. L., 1996, Dental microwear and microstructure in early Oligocene primates from the Fayum, Egypt: Implications for diet, Am. J. Phys. Anthrop. 101:527–543.

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

Authors

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

Copyright information

© 2004 Springer Science+Business Media New York

About this chapter

Cite this chapter

Covert, H.H. (2004). Does Overlap Among the Adaptive Radiations of Omomyoids, Adapoids, and Early Anthropoids Cloud our Understanding of Anthropoid Origins?. In: Ross, C.F., Kay, R.F. (eds) Anthropoid Origins. Developments in Primatology: Progress and Prospects. Springer, Boston, MA. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4419-8873-7_6

Download citation

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4419-8873-7_6

  • Publisher Name: Springer, Boston, MA

  • Print ISBN: 978-1-4613-4700-2

  • Online ISBN: 978-1-4419-8873-7

  • eBook Packages: Springer Book Archive

Publish with us

Policies and ethics