Miocene small-bodied ape from Eurasia sheds light on hominoid evolution.

Bibliographic Collection: 
APE
Publication Type: Journal Article
Authors: Alba, David M; Almécija, Sergio; DeMiguel, Daniel; Fortuny, Josep; Pérez de los Ríos, Miriam; Pina, Marta; Robles, Josep M; Moyà-Solà, Salvador
Year of Publication: 2015
Journal: Science
Volume: 350
Issue: 6260
Pagination: aab2625
Date Published: 2015 Oct 30
Publication Language: eng
ISSN: 1095-9203
Keywords: Animals, Biological Evolution, Body Weight, Bone and Bones, Brain, Dentition, Hominidae, Humans, Hylobates, Phylogeny, Skull, Spain
Abstract:

Miocene small-bodied anthropoid primates from Africa and Eurasia are generally considered to precede the divergence between the two groups of extant catarrhines—hominoids (apes and humans) and Old World monkeys—and are thus viewed as more primitive than the stem ape Proconsul. Here we describe Pliobates cataloniae gen. et sp. nov., a small-bodied (4 to 5 kilograms) primate from the Iberian Miocene (11.6 million years ago) that displays a mosaic of primitive characteristics coupled with multiple cranial and postcranial shared derived features of extant hominoids. Our cladistic analyses show that Pliobates is a stem hominoid that is more derived than previously described small catarrhines and Proconsul. This forces us to reevaluate the role played by small-bodied catarrhines in ape evolution and provides key insight into the last common ancestor of hylobatids (gibbons) and hominids (great apes and humans).

DOI: 10.1126/science.aab2625
Alternate Journal: Science