Victoriapithecus

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Victoriapithecus
Temporal range: Middle Miocene
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Victoriapithecus macinnesi skull.JPG
Skull
Scientific classification Red Pencil Icon.png
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Mammalia
Order: Primates
Suborder: Haplorhini
Infraorder: Simiiformes
Superfamily: Cercopithecoidea
Family: Victoriapithecidae
Genus: Victoriapithecus
von Koenigswald, 1969
Species:
V. macinnesi
Binomial name
Victoriapithecus macinnesi

Victoriapithecus macinnesi was a primate from the middle Miocene that lived approximately 15 to 17 million years ago in Northern and Eastern Africa. Through extensive field work on Maboko Island in Lake Victoria, Kenya, over 3,500 specimens have been found, making V. macinnesi one of the best-known fossil primates. [1] It was previously thought that perhaps multiple species of Victoriapithecus were found, however the majority of fossils found indicate there is only one species, V. macinnesi. [1] Victoriapithecus shows similarities to the extant subfamilies Colobinae and Cercopithecinae. However, Victoriapithecus predates the last common ancestor of these two groups and instead is thought to be a sister taxon. [2] [3]

Contents

Etymology

Victoriapithecus gets its name from the location of its discovery, Lake Victoria in Kenya, and the Greek word for ape, -pithecus, a naming formula common for the genera of fossil apes.

Anatomy

Restoration by Mauricio Anton Victoriapithecus.jpg
Restoration by Mauricio Antón

Victoriapithecus is the smallest of the known terrestrial anthropoids with a body mass of between 3 and 5 kg (6.6 and 11.0 lb). [1]

Victoriapithecus had an upper and lower dental formula of 2:1:2:3. Unlike modern cercopithecids, which have bilophodont molars, Victoriapithecus had a more primitive molar structure and lacked the transverse distal loph. [4]

Based on cranial casts the estimated that the endocranial volume of Fossil KNM-MB 29100, a 15 million year old specimen of Victoriapithecus, was around 35.6³[ which? ], relatively small for a male of its size. Despite the smaller size, scans have found that Victoriapithecus’ brain was quite complex. [5] Such findings provide insight into the evolution of complex brains suggesting that complexity came before larger size in early primates. Victoriapithecus also had large anteriorly projecting olfactory bulbs which served as the only source of detection for olfactory stimuli as they lacked the vomeronasal organ found in many other primates. [3]

Victoriapithecus had a well-developed sagittal crest, suggesting a dependence on heavy chewing. Tall and narrow orbits, narrow nasal bones and relatively tall zygomatic arches, as well as a moderately long muzzle and mid facial region, are similar to extant cercopithecine monkeys. [6] [2] Post-cranial skeleton - A divergent and opposable big toe allowed for increased agility when climbing in trees, yet the general limb morphology also suggests effective movement terrestrially. [7]

The enlarged canine size of Victoriapithecus suggests a degree of sexual dimorphism similar to extant primates. Sexual dimorphism was also present in overall size of Victoriapithecus, with males on average being between 4–5 kg (8.8–11.0 lb) and females being around 3 kg (6.6 lb). [7]

Environment and Behavior

V. macinnesi lived primarily in semi-arid woodlands, grass patches and woodlands. Evidence points to a highly frugivorous diet, though some leaf and seed consumption was probable. [1] Their ability to adapt to seasonally changing food sources near to the ground allowed them to have greater survival as the climate became more seasonal in Eastern Africa. [1] [4]

Sexual dimorphic characteristics suggest that, like many extant primates, Victoriapithecus lived in multiple-male groups where competition and desire for dominance is high. [8] The high presence of young adult male fossils found in Bed 5 on Maboko Island likely indicates that males migrated out of their birth groups and, due to competition or lack of communal support, were more likely to die at puberty. [1] [7]

Victoriapithecus were quadrupedal and adapted to terrestrial life. However, they did retain some arboreal features that aided in branch running and walking on large diameter arboreal supports. [7] The ability to live arboreally and terrestrially allowed Victoriapithecus to exploit a wider range of resources. [7]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Homininae</span> Subfamily of mammals

Homininae, also called "African hominids" or "African apes", is a subfamily of Hominidae. It includes two tribes, with their extant as well as extinct species: 1) the tribe Hominini ―and 2) the tribe Gorillini (gorillas). Alternatively, the genus Pan is sometimes considered to belong to its own third tribe, Panini. Homininae comprises all hominids that arose after orangutans split from the line of great apes. The Homininae cladogram has three main branches, which lead to gorillas, and to humans and chimpanzees via the tribe Hominini and subtribes Hominina and Panina. There are two living species of Panina and two living species of gorillas, but only one extant human species. Traces of extinct Homo species, including Homo floresiensis have been found with dates as recent as 40,000 years ago. Organisms in this subfamily are described as hominine or hominines.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Strepsirrhini</span> Suborder of primates

Strepsirrhini or Strepsirhini is a suborder of primates that includes the lemuriform primates, which consist of the lemurs of Madagascar, galagos ("bushbabies") and pottos from Africa, and the lorises from India and southeast Asia. Collectively they are referred to as strepsirrhines. Also belonging to the suborder are the extinct adapiform primates which thrived during the Eocene in Europe, North America, and Asia, but disappeared from most of the Northern Hemisphere as the climate cooled. Adapiforms are sometimes referred to as being "lemur-like", although the diversity of both lemurs and adapiforms does not support this comparison.

<i>Aegyptopithecus</i> Extinct single-species genus of primate

Aegyptopithecus is an early fossil catarrhine that predates the divergence between hominoids (apes) and cercopithecids. It is known from a single species, Aegyptopithecus zeuxis, which lived around 38-29.5 million years ago in the early part of the Oligocene epoch. It likely resembled modern-day New World monkeys, and was about the same size as a modern howler monkey, which is about 56 to 92 cm long. Aegyptopithecus fossils have been found in the Jebel Qatrani Formation of modern-day Egypt. Aegyptopithecus is believed to be a stem-catarrhine, a crucial link between Eocene and Miocene fossils.

<i>Afropithecus</i> Extinct genus of hominoids

Afropithecus is a genus of Miocene hominoid with the sole species Afropithecus turkanensis, it was excavated from a small site near Lake Turkana called Kalodirr in northern Kenya in 1986 and named by Richard Leakey and Meave Leakey. The estimated age of Afropithecus is between 16 and 18 million years old, which was determined with radiometric dating techniques and the geological studies conducted by Broschetto and Brown from the University of Utah. In total there are 46 recovered specimens from Kalodirr relating to Afropithecus consisting of cranial, mandible, dentition and post-cranial remains. The type specimen of Afropithecus turkanensis is KNM-WK 16999.

<i>Kenyapithecus</i> Extinct genus of primates

Kenyapithecus wickeri is a fossil ape discovered by Louis Leakey in 1961 at a site called Fort Ternan in Kenya. The upper jaw and teeth were dated to 14 million years ago. One theory states that Kenyapithecus may be the common ancestor of all the great apes. More recent investigations suggest Kenyapithecus is more primitive than that and is only slightly more modern than Proconsul, which is considered to be an ape.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sexual dimorphism in non-human primates</span>

Sexual dimorphism describes the morphological, physiological, and behavioral differences between males and females of the same species. Most primates are sexually dimorphic for different biological characteristics, such as body size, canine tooth size, craniofacial structure, skeletal dimensions, pelage color and markings, and vocalization. However, such sex differences are primarily limited to the anthropoid primates; most of the strepsirrhine primates and tarsiers are monomorphic.

<i>Archaeolemur</i> Extinct genus of lemurs

Archaeolemur is an extinct genus of subfossil lemurs known from the Holocene epoch of Madagascar. Archaeolemur is one of the most common and well-known of the extinct giant lemurs as hundreds of its bones have been discovered in fossil deposits across the island. It was larger than any extant lemur, with a body mass of approximately 18.2–26.5 kg (40–58 lb), and is commonly reconstructed as the most frugivorous and terrestrial of the fossil Malagasy primates. Colloquially known as a "monkey lemur," Archaeolemur has often been compared with anthropoids, specifically the cercopithecines, due to various morphological convergences. In fact, it was even misidentified as a monkey when remains were first discovered. Following human arrival to Madagascar just over 2000 years ago, many of the island’s megafauna went extinct, including the giant lemurs. Radiocarbon dating indicates that Archaeolemur survived on Madagascar until at least 1040-1290 AD, outliving most other subfossil lemurs.

Gorgopithecus is an extinct genus of primate, in the old word monkey family Cercopithecidae, closely related to the baboons. There is only one known species, Gorgopithecus major. It has been found at sites from the Pliocene and Early Pleistocene Epoch in South Africa and Tanzania. It was first discovered at the Kromdraai A site in South Africa. It has since been found from Swartkrans, South Africa. Most recently, it has been recognized from the DKI site in Bed I of Olduvai Gorge, Tanzania, which has been dated to 1.8 million years old.

<i>Dinopithecus</i> Extinct genus of monkeys

Dinopithecus is an extinct genus of very large primate closely related to the baboon that lived during the Pliocene to the Pleistocene epoch of South Africa and Ethiopia. It was named by British paleontologist Robert Broom in 1937. The only species currently recognized is Dinopithecus ingens, as D. quadratirostris has been reassigned to the genus Soromandrillus. It is known from several infilled cave sites in South Africa, all of early Pleistocene age, including Skurweberg, Swartkrans, and Sterkfontein.

<i>Theropithecus brumpti</i> Extinct species of Old World monkey

Theropithecus brumpti was a large terrestrial monkey that lived in the mid to late Pliocene. It is an extinct species of papionin.

Adapis is an extinct adapiform primate from the Eocene of Europe. While this genus has traditionally contained five species, recent research has recognized at least six morphotypes that may represent distinct species. Adapis holds the title of the first Eocene primate ever discovered. In 1821, Georges Cuvier, who is considered to be the founding father of paleontology, discovered Adapis in fissure fillings outside of Paris, France. Given its timing and appearance in the fossil record, Cuvier did not recognize the primate affinities of Adapis and first described it as a small extinct pachyderm; only later in the 19th century was Adapis identified as a primate.

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Saadanius is a genus of fossil primate dating to the Oligocene that is closely related to the common ancestor of the Old World monkeys and apes, collectively known as catarrhines. It is represented by a single species, Saadanius hijazensis, which is known only from a single partial skull tentatively dated between 29 and 28 million years ago. It was discovered in 2009 in western Saudi Arabia near Mecca and was first described in 2010 after a comparison with both living and fossil catarrhines.

<i>Cantius</i> Extinct genus of primates

Cantius is a genus of adapiform primates from the early Eocene of North America and Europe. It is extremely well represented in the fossil record in North America and has been hypothesized to be the direct ancestor of Notharctus in North America. The evolution of Cantius is characterized by a significant increase in body mass that nearly tripled in size. The earliest species were considered small-sized and weighed in around 1 kg (2.2 lb), while the later occurring species were considered medium-sized and likely weighed in around 3 kg (6.6 lb). Though significantly smaller, the fossil remains discovered of the various species of Cantius have striking similarities to that of Notharctus and Smilodectes. It is likely Cantius relied on arboreal quadrupedal locomotion, primarily running and leaping. This locomotor pattern comparable to that of extant lemurs, which has fostered the hypothesis that Cantius and other strepsirrhine adapiforms may have a close phylogenetic affinity to living lemurs.

Maboko Island is a small island lying in the Winam Gulf of Lake Victoria, in Nyanza Province of western Kenya. It is about 1.8 km long by 1 km wide. It is an important Middle Miocene paleontological site with fossiliferous deposits that were discovered in the 1930s. The age of the deposits is estimated to be 15 to 16 million years, and they are especially important for the abundance of primate fossils they contain.

Victoriaceros is an extinct genus of elasmotheriine rhinoceros known from the Miocene of Maboko Island, Kenya.

Pliopapio is an extinct genus of Old World monkey known from the latest part of the Miocene to the early Pliocene Epochs from the Afar Region of Ethiopia. It was first described based on a very large series of fossils from the site of Aramis in the Middle Awash, which has been dated by 40Ar/39Ar to 4.4 million years old. It has since been found from similarly aged sediments at Gona, approximately 75 km to the North. Additional fossils from the Middle Awash extend its known time range back to at least 5.3 million years ago. There is only one known species, Pliopapio alemui.

<i>Nyanzapithecus</i> Extinct species of mammal

Nyanzapithecus pickfordi is an extinct species of primate from the Middle Miocene of Maboko Island, Nyanza Province, Kenya. It had an average body mass of around 10 kg (22 lb).

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References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Benefit, Brenda R. “Victoriapithecus, the Key to Old World Monkey and Catarrhine Origins.” Evolutionary Anthropology Issues News and Reviews. January 1999.
  2. 1 2 Benefit, Brenda R.; McCrossin, Monte L. “Earliest known Old World monkey skull.” Nature vol. 388. 24 July 1997.
  3. 1 2 Gonzales, Lauren A.; Benefit, Brenda R.; McCrossin, Monte L.; Spoor, Fred. “Cerebral complexity preceded enlarged brain size and reduced olfactory bulbs in Old World monkeys.” Nature Communications. DOI: 10.1038/ncomms8580.
  4. 1 2 Dean, M. Christopher; Leakey, Meave G. “Enamel and dentine development and the life history profile of Victoriapithecus macinnesi from Maboko Island, Kenya.” Annals of Anatomy, 186: 405-412. (2004).
  5. Smith, Robin A. “Old World Monkey Had Tiny, Complex Brain.” Duke University, 2015. today.duke.edu/2015/07/monkeybrains.
  6. Benefit, Brenda R.; McCrossin, Monte L. “Ancestral facial morphology of Old World higher primates.” Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA, vol. 88, pp. 5267-5271, June 1991.
  7. 1 2 3 4 5 Harrison, Terry. “New postcranial remains of Victoriapithecus from the middle Miocene of Kenya.” Journal of Human Evolution. Volume 18, pgs. 3-54. 1989.
  8. Fleagle, John G. “Primate Adaptation and Evolution”, Third Edition 2013, Chapter 3.