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The oldest known anthropoid postcranial fossils and the early evolution of higher primates

Nature volume 404, pages 276–278 (2000)Cite this article

Abstract

The middle Eocene primate family Eosimiidae, which is known from sites in central and eastern China1,2 and Myanmar3, is central to efforts to reconstruct the origin and early evolution of anthropoid or ‘higher’ primates (monkeys, apes and humans)1,2,3,4,5,6. Previous knowledge of eosimiid anatomy has been restricted to the dentition1,2,3,7 and an isolated petrosal bone5, and this limited anatomical information has led to conflicting interpretations of early anthropoid phylogeny1,2,3,4,5,6,8,9. Here we describe foot bones of Eosimias from the same middle Eocene sites in China that yield abundant dental remains of this primate. Tarsals of Eosimias show derived anatomical traits that are otherwise restricted to living and fossil anthropoids. These new fossils substantiate the anthropoid status of Eosimias and clarify the phylogenetic position of anthropoids with respect to other major primate clades. Early anthropoids possessed a mosaic of primitive and derived traits in their postcranial skeletons, reflecting their derivation from haplorhine ancestors that retained many prosimian-like features.

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Figure 1: Right Eosimas talus (IVPP V11846) from Locality 1, Shanxi Province, China.
Figure 2: Medial talar and calcaneocuboid features.
Figure 3: Dorsal view of haplorhine calcanei.
Figure 4: Consensus tree from PAUP analysis.

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Acknowledgements

We thank the Leakey Foundation (D.L.G. and M.D.) and the National Science Foundation (K.C.B.) for their financial support. We also thank our Chinese colleagues, particularly Guo Jianwei, for helping to wash, screen and sort the specimens from the Shanghuang fissures. We also thank Kim Reed-Deemer for her artwork.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Antrophology, Northern Illinois University, DeKalb, 60115 , Illinois, USA

    Daniel L. Gebo

  2. Department of Cell and Molecular Biology Northwestern University Medical School, Chicago, 60611, Illinois , USA

    Marian Dagosto

  3. Section of Vertebrate Paleontology, Carnegie Museum of Natural History, Pittsburgh, 15213, Pennsylvania , USA

    K. Christopher Beard

  4. Institute of Vertebrate Paleontology and Paleoanthropology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, P.O. Box 643, Beijing, 100044, People's Republic of China

    Tao Qi & Jingwen Wang

Authors
  1. Daniel L. Gebo
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  2. Marian Dagosto
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  3. K. Christopher Beard
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  4. Tao Qi
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  5. Jingwen Wang
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Daniel L. Gebo.

Supplementary information

41586_2000_BF35005066_MOESM1_ESM.doc

Table 1: Calcaneal measurements (in mm) and ratios for the eosimiid calcanei. The extant platyrrhine Cebuella is presented for comparison. Table 2: Measurements and indices for eosimiid tali. All catalogue numbers are from the IVPP.

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Gebo, D., Dagosto, M., Beard, K. et al. The oldest known anthropoid postcranial fossils and the early evolution of higher primates. Nature 404, 276–278 (2000). https://doi.org/10.1038/35005066

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