A second hominoid species in the early Late Miocene fauna of Nakali (Kenya)

Abstract

Nakali is an early Late Miocene fossil locality in north-central Kenya, where the KenyaJapan Joint Expedition team has carried out fieldwork since 2002. Previously, a large hominoid Nakalipithecus nakayamai was reported from site NA39 of this locality. In addition to Nakalipithecus, the hominoid material collected from Nakali includes an isolated P 3 , which shows a considerably different morphology from the P 3 assigned to Nakalipithecus, suggesting the presence of a different hominoid species. The general morphology of this P 3 is reminiscent of that of primitive hominoids such as Proconsul, which are mainly known from the Early Miocene of East Africa. Although the present material is limited, the presence of a primitive-looking second hominoid species in Nakali indicates a higher hominoid (and hominoid-like catarrhine) diversity in the early Late Miocene of Africa than previously envisaged.

Estimating origination times from the early hominin fossil record

“…The time from 10 to 9 Ma is somewhat better sampled, with fossiliferous sites in Kenya including the Tugen Hills (Ngorora Formation), Samburu Hills (Namurungule Formation), and Nakali. 53,[60][61][62][63] The combined fossil record from these sites, which includes the hominoids Samburupithecus kiptalami and Nakalipithecus nakayamai, does help constrain the first appearance of hominins.…”

O Que nos Faz Humanos? Bases Empíricas e Evolutivas das Principais Transições da Linhagem Hominínia

“…Entre 7 e 2 MAA, todos os fósseis da nossa linhagem são encontrados naquele continente, parecendo sugerir que o início da nossa linhagem realmente ocorreu na África. No entanto, o registro fóssil na África entre 13 e 7 MAA é muito pobre, consistindo apenas de poucos fragmentos fósseis de três gêneros: Nakalipithecus (Kunimatsu et al, 2016), Samburupithecus (Ishida e Pickford, 1997), e Chororapithecus (Suwa et al, 2007), além de alguns fragmentos de dentes encontrados em Ngorora, Quênia (Pickford e Senut, 2005) e Ni- (Pickford et al, 2008). Esse registro fóssil tem aumentado nos últimos 20 anos, mas ainda assim não é forte o suficiente para traçar uma conexão entre os hominóides fósseis viventes antes e depois de 7 MAA.…”

Unsupervised learning of satellite images enhances discovery of late Miocene fossil sites in the Urema Rift, Gorongosa, Mozambique

“…If we expand this sample to include fossils of the African great apes during the same time period, the record is likewise sparse (Andrews, 2019), being limited to the gorilla-like Chororapithecus abyssinicus from Ethiopia (Suwa et al, 2007), Samburupithecus kiptalami (Ishida & Pickford, 1997) and the basal hominid Nakalipithecus nakayamai (Kunimatsu et al, 2007) from Kenya, plus some taxonomically uncertain dental and mandibular finds from Kenya and Niger (Table 1). Furthermore, there is still no consensus regarding the phylogenetic relationships among late Miocene African hominids or how they relate to the MRCA (Senut, 2010(Senut, , 2015Kunimatsu et al, 2016). Even less understood are the biogeographic distributions and temporal spans of these taxa that existed within or around the estimated time range for the Pan/Homo divergence event.…”

“…(Leakey & Walker, 2003) 7.34-7.1 § Toros-Menalla, Chad Sahelanthropus tchadensis (Brunet et al, 2002(Brunet et al, , 2005 8.0 Ch'orora, Ethiopia Chororapithecus abyssinicus (Suwa et al, 2007) 9.5 Samburu Hills, Kenya Samburupithecus kiptalami (Ishida & Pickford, 1997) 9.9-9.8 NA39, Nakali, Kenya Nakalipithecus nakayamai (Kunimatsu et al, 2007) Hominidea indet. (Kunimatsu et al, 2016) 11-8 ¶ N 885, Niger Incertae sedis (early Pan?) (Pickford et al, 2008(Pickford et al, , 2009 tufts in sandier substrates, to medium and tall (>2 m height) grass layers that are subject to regular, typically annual, fires (Tinley, 1977).…”