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Historical Notes on the Geology, Dating and Systematics of the Miocene Hominoids of India

  • Chapter
New Interpretations of Ape and Human Ancestry

Part of the book series: Advances in Primatology ((AIPR))

Abstract

Recent discoveries of fossil hominoids mainly from Spain, the Middle East, East Africa, India, and China have added considerably to our understanding of problems concerning the radiation and adaptation of the Hominoidea in the Mio-Pliocene. It is generally agreed that the origin of both the Pongidae and Hominidae can be identified with some species of the subfamily Dryopithecinae of the Miocene. During the last two decades, significant discoveries of much interesting material have given scope for a critical analysis of various factors concerning human origins and hominoid evolution. The main intent of this review is to piece together the relevant material recovered from India and from different segments of the Tertiary in the Euro-Asiatic region and to make observations on its morphology and distribution. During the research for this survey, the author had the occasion to study the originals housed in the various museums in U.S. and Great Britain.

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References

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    Google Scholar 

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    Google Scholar 

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    Google Scholar 

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    Google Scholar 

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    Google Scholar 

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    Google Scholar 

  • Simons, E. L., and Pilbeam, D. R. 1965. Preliminary revision of the Dryopithecinae (Pongidae, Anthropoidea). Folia Primatol. 3: 81–152.

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

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    Google Scholar 

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    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Wadia, D. N., and Aiyengar, N. K. N. 1938. Fossil anthropoids of India. Rec. Geol. Surv. Ind. 72 (4): 467–494.

    Google Scholar 

  • Woo, J. K. 1957. Dryopithecus teeth from Keiyuan Yunnan. Vertebr. Palasiat. 1: 25–32.

    Google Scholar 

  • Brown, B., Gregory, W. K., and Hellman, M. 1924. On three incomplete anthropoid jaws from the Siwaliks, India. Am. Mus. Novit. 130: 1–9.

    Google Scholar 

  • Chopra, S. R. K. 1974. Palaeoprimatological studies in India with special reference to recent finds in the Siwaliks. Presidential Address, in: Proceedings of LXVIth Session, Indian Science Congress, Part II, pp. 1–16.

    Google Scholar 

  • Chopra, S. R. K., and Kaul, S. 1975. New fossil Dryopithecus material from the Nagri beds at Haritalyangar (H.P.), in: Contemporary Primatology ( S. Kondo, M. Kawai, and A. Ehara, eds.), pp. 2–11, Karger, Basel.

    Google Scholar 

  • Chopra, S. R. K., and Kaul, S. 1979. A new species of Pliopithecus from the Indian Sivaliks. J. Hum. Evol. 8: 475–477.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Chow, M. C. 1958. Mammalian faunas and correlation of Tertiary and early Pleistocene of South China, J. Palaeontol. Soc. Ind. 3: 123–130.

    Google Scholar 

  • Colbert, E. H. 1935. Siwalik mammals in the American Museum of Natural History. Trans. Am. Phil. Soc. N.S. 26: 1–401.

    Google Scholar 

  • Greenfield, L. O. 1979. On the adaptive pattern of “Ramapithecus.” Am. J. Phys. Anthropol. 50: 527–548.

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Gregory, W. K., Hellman, M., and Lewis, G. E. 1938. Fossil anthropoids of the Yale-Cambridge India Expedition of 1935. Carnegie Inst. Wash. Publ. 495: 1–27.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hooijer, D. A. 1951. Questions relating to a new anthropoid ape from the Mio-Pliocene of the Siwaliks. Am. J. Phys. Anthropol. 9: 79–95.

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Lewis, G. E: 1934. Preliminary notice of new man-like apes from India. Am. J. Sci. 27: 161–179.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lewis, G. E. 1937. Taxonomic syllabus of Siwalik fossil anthropoids. Am. J. Sci. 34: 139–147.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Leakey, L. S. B. 1962. A new Lower Pliocene fossil primate from Kenya. Ann. Mag. Nat. Hist. 13 (4): 689–696.

    Google Scholar 

  • Le Gros Clark, W. E., and Leakey, L. S. B. 1951. The Miocene Hominoidea of East Africa. Fossil Mammals of Africa (Br. Mus. Nat. Hist.) 1: 1–117.

    Google Scholar 

  • Lydekker, R. 1879. Further notices of Siwalik Mammalia. Rec. Geol. Surv. India 11:64–85. Matthew, W. D. 1929. Critical observation on Siwalik mammals. Bull. Am. Mus. Nat. Hist. 56: 437–560.

    Google Scholar 

  • Pilgrim, G. E. 1910. Notices of new mammalian genera and species from the tertiaries of India. Rec. Geol. Surv. India 40: 63–71.

    Google Scholar 

  • Pilgrim, G. E. 1913. The correlation of the Siwaliks with mammal horizons of Europe. Rec. Geol. Surv. India 43: 264–326.

    Google Scholar 

  • Pilgrim, G. E. 1915. New Siwalik primates and their bearing on the question of the evolution of man and the Anthropoidea. Rec. Geol. Surv. Ind. 45 (1): 1–74.

    Google Scholar 

  • Pilgrim, G. E. 1927. A Sivapithecus palate and other primate fossils from India. Mem. Geol. Surv. India. (Palaeontol. Ind.) 14: 1–26.

    Google Scholar 

  • Pilgrim, G. E. 1934. Correlation of fossiliferous sections in the upper Cenozoic of India. Am. Mus. Novit. 704: 1–5.

    Google Scholar 

  • Pilgrim, G. E. 1940. Middle Eocene mammals from North India. Proc. Zool. Soc. Ind. B 110: 127–152.

    Google Scholar 

  • Prasad, K. N. 1954. A preliminary report on the Siwalik rocks at Haritalyangar and Ukhli Bilaspur, Dist. Punjab. Progress Report (unpublished).

    Google Scholar 

  • Prasad, K. N. 1962. Fossil primates from Siwalik beds from Haritalyangar, H.P. J. Geol. Soc. Ind. 3: 86–96.

    Google Scholar 

  • Prasad, K. N. 1964. Upper Miocene anthropoids from the Siwalik beds of Haritalyangar H.P. Palaeontology 7 (1): 124–134.

    Google Scholar 

  • Prasad, K. N., 1969. Fossil anthropoids from the Siwalik System of India, in: Proceedings Second International Congress Primatology. Atlanta, GA. 1968, Vol. 2, pp. 131–134, Karger, Basel.

    Google Scholar 

  • Prasad, K. N. 1970. The vertebrate fauna from the Siwalik Beds of Haritalyangar, H.P. India. Palaeontol. Ind. 39: 1–56.

    Google Scholar 

  • Prasad, K. N. 1971a. Observations on the Dryopithecines of India and Europe, in: Proceedings Third International Congress Primatology. Zurich, Vol. I, pp. 48–53, Karger, Basel.

    Google Scholar 

  • Prasad, K. N. 1971b. Ecology of the fossil Hominoidea from the Siwaliks of India, Nature (Lond.) 232: 413–414.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Prasad, K. N. 1974. The hominid status of Ramapithecus. J. Ind. Acad. Geosci. 17: 77–80.

    Google Scholar 

  • Prasad, K. N. 1975. Observations on the paleoecology of South Asian Tertiary primates, in: Paleoanthropology, Morphology and Paleoecology (R. Tuttle, ed.), pp. 21–30, Mouton, The Hague.

    Google Scholar 

  • Prasad, K. N. 1977. Review of Miocene Anthropoidea from India and adjacent countries. J. Palaeontol. Soc. Ind. (Orlov Memorial Volume) 20: 382–390.

    Google Scholar 

  • Prasad, K. N. 1978. Observations on the genus Ramapithecus, in: Recent Advances in Primatology, Volume 3, Evolution (D. J. Chivers and K. A. Joysey, eds.), pp. 495–497, Academic, New York.

    Google Scholar 

  • Sahni, A., Kumar, V., and Srivastava, V. C. 1974. Dryopithecus (Subgenus: Sivapithecus) and associ- ated vertebrates from the Lower Siwaliks of Uttar Pradesh, Bull. Ind. Geol. Assoc. 7 (1): 54.

    Google Scholar 

  • Simons, E. L. 1968. A source for dental comparison of Ramapithecus with Australopithecus and Homo. S. Afr. J. Sci. 64 (2): 92–112.

    Google Scholar 

  • Simons, E. L., and Chopra, S. R. K. 1969. Gigantopithecus (Pongidae, Hominoidea). A new species from North India. Postilla (Peabody Mus. Nat. Hist., Yale Univ.) 138: 1–18.

    Google Scholar 

  • Simons, E. L., and Pilbeam, D. R. 1965. Preliminary revision of the Dryopithecinae (Pongidae, Anthropoidea). Folia Primatol. 3: 81–152.

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Szalay, F. S., and Delson, E. 1979. Evolutionary History of the Primates, Academic, New York, 580 pp.

    Google Scholar 

  • Von Koenigswald, G. H. R. 1981. A possible ancestral form of Gigantopithecus (Mammalia, Hominoidea) from the Chinji Layers of Pakistan. J. Hum. Evol. 10: 511–515.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Wadia, D. N., and Aiyengar, N. K. N. 1938. Fossil anthropoids of India. Rec. Geol. Surv. Ind. 72 (4): 467–494.

    Google Scholar 

  • Woo, J. K. 1957. Dryopithecus teeth from Keiyuan Yunnan. Vertebr. Palasiat. 1: 25–32.

    Google Scholar 

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Geological Survey of India, 4-3-542, Bogulkunta, Tilak Road, Alladin Building, Hyderabad, 500001, India

    K. N. Prasad

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  1. K. N. Prasad
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Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Paleontology (temporary research appointment), University of California, 94720, Berkeley, California, USA

    Russell L. Ciochon

  2. Department of Anthropology, Southern Illinois University, 62901, Carbondale, Illinois, USA

    Robert S. Corruccini

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© 1983 Plenum Press, New York

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Prasad, K.N. (1983). Historical Notes on the Geology, Dating and Systematics of the Miocene Hominoids of India. In: Ciochon, R.L., Corruccini, R.S. (eds) New Interpretations of Ape and Human Ancestry. Advances in Primatology. Springer, Boston, MA. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4684-8854-8_22

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4684-8854-8_22

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  • Online ISBN: 978-1-4684-8854-8

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