A lower jaw of Pondaungia cotteri from the Late Middle Eocene Pondaung Formation (Myanmar) confirms its anthropoid status

Abstract

Pondaungia cotteri is the largest primate known from the Late Middle Eocene Pondaung Formation, Myanmar. Its taxonomic status has been the subject of much debate because of the fragmentary nature of its remains. Initially described as an anthropoid, some authors recently have associated it with adapid primates. These debates have been fueled not only by the incompleteness of the fossils attributed to Pondaungia but also by the reticence of many authors to regard Asia as an important evolutionary theater for Eocene anthropoids. During the November 1998 Myanmar-French Pondaung Expedition, a right lower jaw was discovered that yields the most nearly complete dentition of Pondaungia cotteri ever found: it shows the complete horizontal ramus, alveoli for the second incisor and canine, three premolars, and three molars. The symphysis showed all characteristics of anthropoids but was unfused. The canine root is large, the first premolar is absent, and the second premolar is single-rooted, reduced, and oblique in the tooth row, as in anthropoids. The premolars show a reduced mesio-distal length compared with the tooth row, and their morphology is very similar to that of Amphipithecus mogaungensis. Therefore, the two Pondaung taxa appear to be closely related to each other, with Siamopithecus as their sister taxon.

Anthropoid primates from the Oligocene of Pakistan (Bugti Hills): Data on early anthropoid evolution and biogeography

“…4), primarily based on morphological characters (see supporting information), consistently point toward the monophyly of a large clade, including Asian Eosimiidae, Amphipithecidae, AraboAfrican Oligopithecidae, Propliopithecidae, African Proteopithecidae, Parapithecidae, and South American platyrrhine primates. Assuming this clade to be the Anthropoidea clade (10), from the present evidence, eosimiids and amphipithecids (and by extension Phileosimias and Bugtipithecus, respectively) are stem anthropoids (17) and, as such, support the hypothesis that Asia was the ancestral homeland of the Anthropoidea clade (1)(2)(3)(4)(5)(6)10). The discovery of Phileosimias and Bugtipithecus from the Oligocene of Pakistan demonstrates that eosimiids remained highly evolutionary conservative through time and that amphipithecids were very autapomorphic with respect to their coeval African relatives, which had evolved into advanced species with more or less modern anatomy (19,(36)(37)(38).…”

“…However, over the last decade, it has become increasingly clear that Asia (China, Thailand, and Myanmar) also played an important role in the origins and early diversification of that group (1)(2)(3)(4)(5)(6)(7)(8)(9)(10). Eocene amphipithecid and eosimiid primates now figure prominently in models of the early higher-primate radiation.…”

The anthropoid status of a primate from the late middle Eocene Pondaung Formation (Central Myanmar): Tarsal evidence

“…Central Myanmar (formerly Burma) has long been known for its abundant large fossil mammals (1,2) and particularly its primates (3)(4)(5)(6)(7)(8)(9)(10)(11)(12)(13)(14). The Burmese Eocene primates, notably the large-bodied forms [Pondaungia (3) and Amphipithecus (4)], have been the subject of a long-standing debate surrounding the critical issue of their possible anthropoid status (7,8,10,(14)(15)(16)(17)(18)(19)(20)(21)(22)(23)(24) and as such potentially challenge the role of Africa as the ancestral homeland for the anthropoid clade.…”

“…The Burmese Eocene primates, notably the large-bodied forms [Pondaungia (3) and Amphipithecus (4)], have been the subject of a long-standing debate surrounding the critical issue of their possible anthropoid status (7,8,10,(14)(15)(16)(17)(18)(19)(20)(21)(22)(23)(24) and as such potentially challenge the role of Africa as the ancestral homeland for the anthropoid clade. With the exception of Pondaungia savagei (7), however, the large-bodied primates (Pondaungia cotteri, Pondaungia minuta, and Amphipithecus mogaungensis) and the more recently discovered smaller-bodied forms [Bahinia (9) and Myanmarpithecus (12)] are represented entirely by fragmentary dental and cranial remains, and this incomplete anatomical information has not allowed for a consensus view regarding their anthropoid affinities.…”

Stratigraphy of the primate-bearing beds of the Eocene Pondaung Formation at Paukkaung area, Myanmar

“…Pilgrim and Cotter, 1916;Colbert, 1938;Tsubamoto et al, 2000aTsubamoto et al, , b, 2002aTsubamoto et al, , 2003. In particular, primate fossils from this member have attracted the attention of anthropologists and primatologists, because they have been discussed in association with the anthropoid origins (Pilgrim, 1927;Colbert, 1937Colbert, , 1938Maw et al, 1979;Ciochon et al, 1985Ciochon et al, , 2001Ciochon and Holroyd, 1994;Jaeger et al, 1998Jaeger et al, , 1999Chaimanee et al, 2000;Takai et al, 2000Takai et al, , 2001Gebo et al, 2002;Gunnell et al, 2002;Shigehara et al, 2002;Egi et al, 2004).…”