A Unique Middle Miocene European Hominoid and the Origins of the Great Ape and Human Clade

The great ape and human clade (Primates: Hominidae) currently includes orangutans, gorillas, chimpanzees, bonobos, and humans. When, where, and from which taxon hominids evolved are among the most exciting questions yet to be resolved. Within the Afropithecidae, the Kenyapithecinae (Kenyapithecini +...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences - PNAS 2009-06, Vol.106 (24), p.9601-9606
Main Authors: Moyà-Solà, Salvador, Alba, David M., Almécija, Sergio, Casanovas-Vilar, Isaac, Köhler, Meike, de Esteban-Trivigno, Soledad, Robles, Josep M., Galindo, Jordi, Fortuny, Josep, Pilbeam, David
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Animals
Apes
Biological Evolution
Biological Sciences
Evolution
Fossils
Genera
Geological time
Hominidae - genetics
Humans
Landmarks
Mandible
Monkeys & apes
Paleontology
Primates
Taxa
Teeth
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Summary:The great ape and human clade (Primates: Hominidae) currently includes orangutans, gorillas, chimpanzees, bonobos, and humans. When, where, and from which taxon hominids evolved are among the most exciting questions yet to be resolved. Within the Afropithecidae, the Kenyapithecinae (Kenyapithecini + Equatorini) have been proposed as the sister taxon of hominids, but thus far the fragmentary and scarce Middle Miocene fossil record has hampered testing this hypothesis. Here we describe a male partial face with mandible of a previously undescribed fossil hominid, Anoiapithecus brevirostris gen. et sp. nov., from the Middle Miocene (11.9 Ma) of Spain, which enables testing this hypothesis. Morphological and geometric morphometrics analyses of this material show a unique facial pattern for hominoids. This taxon combines autapomorphic features—such as a strongly reduced facial prognathism—with kenyapithecine (more specifically, kenyapithecin) and hominid synapomorphies. This combination supports a sister-group relationship between kenyapithecins (Griphopithecus + Kenyapithecus) and hominids. The presence of both groups in Eurasia during the Middle Miocene and the retention in kenyapithecins of a primitive hominoid postcranial body plan support a Eurasian origin of the Hominidae. Alternatively, the two extant hominid clades (Homininae and Ponginae) might have independently evolved in Africa and Eurasia from an ancestral. Middle Miocene stock, so that the supposed crown-hominid synapomorphies might be homoplastic.
ISSN:0027-8424
1091-6490
DOI:10.1073/pnas.0811730106