A window into the early evolutionary history of Cercopithecidae: Late Miocene evidence from Chad, Central Africa

Central Africa is known as a major center of diversification for extant Old World Monkeys (OWM) and yet has a poorly documented fossil record of monkeys. Here we report a new colobine monkey (Cercopithecoides bruneti sp. nov.) from the Central African hominin-bearing fossiliferous area of Toros-Mena...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Journal of human evolution 2019-07, Vol.132, p.61-79
Main Authors: Pallas, Laurent, Daver, Guillaume, Mackaye, Hassane T., Likius, Andossa, Vignaud, Patrick, Guy, Franck
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Adaptive radiation
Animals
Archaeology and Prehistory
Biological Evolution
Cercopithecidae - anatomy & histology
Cercopithecidae - classification
Cercopithecidae - physiology
Cercopithecoides
Chad
Colobinae
Diet - veterinary
Earth Sciences
Ecomorphology
Fossils - anatomy & histology
Humanities and Social Sciences
Locomotion
Paleontology
Phylogeny
Sciences of the Universe
Stem colobini
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Summary:Central Africa is known as a major center of diversification for extant Old World Monkeys (OWM) and yet has a poorly documented fossil record of monkeys. Here we report a new colobine monkey (Cercopithecoides bruneti sp. nov.) from the Central African hominin-bearing fossiliferous area of Toros-Menalla, Chad at ca. 7 Ma. In addition to filling a gap in the spatial and temporal record of early OWM evolutionary history, we assess the ecomorphological diversity of early OWM by providing evidence on the onset of a folivorous diet and a partial reacquisition of terrestrial locomotor habits among Miocene colobines. We also support the phylogenetic affinities of the genus Cercopithecoides among the stem group of the extant African colobine monkeys.
ISSN:0047-2484
1095-8606
DOI:10.1016/j.jhevol.2019.03.013