A Middle Miocene hominoid from Thailand and orangutan origins

The origin of orangutans has long been debated. Sivapithecus is considered to be the closest ancestor of orangutans because of its facial-palatal similarities, but its dental characteristics and postcranial skeleton do not confirm this phylogenetic position. Here we report a new Middle Miocene homin...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Nature (London) 2003-03, Vol.422 (6927), p.61-65
Main Authors: Jaeger, Jean-Jacques, Chaimanee, Yaowalak, Jolly, Dominique, Benammi, Mouloud, Tafforeau, Paul, Duzer, Danielle, Moussa, Issam
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Africa
Animals
Biological Evolution
Earth sciences
Earth, ocean, space
Environment
Exact sciences and technology
Flora
Fossils
Hominids
Humanities and Social Sciences
letter
Male
Miocene
Monkeys & apes
multidisciplinary
Paleontology
Phylogeny
Pleistocene
Pollen
Pongo pygmaeus - anatomy & histology
Pongo pygmaeus - classification
Science
Science (multidisciplinary)
Species Specificity
Thailand
Tooth - anatomy & histology
Vertebrate paleontology
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Summary:The origin of orangutans has long been debated. Sivapithecus is considered to be the closest ancestor of orangutans because of its facial-palatal similarities, but its dental characteristics and postcranial skeleton do not confirm this phylogenetic position. Here we report a new Middle Miocene hominoid, cf. Lufengpithecus chiangmuanensis n. sp. from northern Thailand. Its dental morphology relates it to the Pongo clade, which includes Lufengpithecus, Sivapithecus, Gigantopithecus, Ankarapithecus and possibly Griphopithecus. Our new species displays striking dental resemblances with living orangutans and appears as a more likely candidate to represent an ancestor of this ape. In addition, it originates from the geographic area of Pleistocene orangutans. But surprisingly, the associated flora shows strong African affinities, demonstrating the existence of a temporary floral and faunal dispersal corridor between southeast Asia and Africa during the Middle Miocene, which may have played a critical role in hominoid dispersion.
ISSN:0028-0836
1476-4687
DOI:10.1038/nature01449