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The Evolution of the Primate Hand pp 455–483Cite as

The Hands of Fossil Non-hominoid Anthropoids

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Part of the book series: Developments in Primatology: Progress and Prospects ((DIPR))

Abstract

While much attention has been given to the evolution of the hominoid hand, there has been less focus on the hand of other anthropoid primates. This is partly because our understanding of the anatomy, functional morphology, and evolution of the hand in non-hominoid anthropoid primates is hampered by the lack of adequate fossil material. Nevertheless, inclusion of these fossil taxa in a broader comparative study allows more reliable inferences about the traits that characterize the hands of ancestral catarrhine morphotypes. In addition, study of the hand bones of extinct anthropoid primates provides crucial evidence for assessing the evolution of locomotor behavior and foraging strategies. This contribution reviews the paleobiological and phylogenetic implications of fossilized hand remains of platyrrhines, parapithecoids, propliopithecoids, pliopithecoids, dendropithecoids, and cercopithecoids. By focusing on the most informative specimens, this contribution highlights how these fossils provide insight into the evolutionary history of hand form and function in non-hominoid anthropoid primates.

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Acknowledgments

We would like to thank the editors for inviting us to prepare a contribution for this volume and for their many helpful comments on an earlier draft manuscript. We thank the following institutions and their staff for allowing access to the fossil specimens and comparative material in their care: National Museums of Kenya; National Museum of Tanzania; The Natural History Museum, London; Naturhistorisches Museum, Basel; American Museum of Natural History; and Institute of Vertebrate Paleontology and Paleoanthropology, Beijing. Masato Kunimatsu, Nina Jablonski, and Tess Wilson kindly provided photographs. Numerous colleagues have contributed to the research and ideas presented here, but the following deserve special mention: P. Andrews, D. Begun, E. Delson, J. Fleagle, Y. Gu, L. Halenar, N. Jablonski, C. Jolly, M.G. Leakey, M. Nakatsukasa, M. Rose, L. Sarlo, B. Senut, A. Walker, and H. Zapfe. Research was supported by grants from the National Geographic Society, the Leakey Foundation, and the National Science Foundation (Grants BCS-9903434 and BCS-0309513).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Center for the Study of Human Origins, Department of Anthropology, New York University, 25 Waverly Place, New York, NY, 10003, USA

    Terry Harrison

  2. Department of Anthropology, Central Connecticut State University, New Britain, CT, USA

    Thomas R. Rein

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Human Evolution, Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary An, Leipzig, Germany

    Tracy L. Kivell

  2. Division of Anatomy Department of Surgery Faculty of Medicine and Dentistry, University of Alberta, Edmonton, Alberta, Canada

    Pierre Lemelin

  3. Division of Anthropology, American Museum of Natural History, New York, New York, USA

    Brian G. Richmond

  4. Department of Evolutionary Anthropology, Duke University , Durham, North Carolina, USA

    Daniel Schmitt

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Harrison, T., Rein, T.R. (2016). The Hands of Fossil Non-hominoid Anthropoids. In: Kivell, T., Lemelin, P., Richmond, B., Schmitt, D. (eds) The Evolution of the Primate Hand. Developments in Primatology: Progress and Prospects. Springer, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4939-3646-5_16

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