New postcranial specimens of catarrhines from the Middle Miocene Chinji Formation, Pakistan: descriptions and a discussion of proximal humeral functional morphology in anthropoids

Glenohumeral joint surface characters and its relation to forelimb suspensory behavior in three ateline primates, Ateles, Lagothrix, and Alouatta

“…Most Oligocene and Miocene fossil catarrhines, for instance Aegyptopithecus and Pliopithecus, exhibit a mosaic of ateline and Cebus-like forelimb features (Fleagle and Simons, 1982;Rose, 1989Rose, , 1993Rose, , 1996. Although the present study shows that there is little distinction in glenohumeral joint morphology between the non-specialized brachiator (Lagothrix) and arboreal quadrupeds, some inferences are possible regarding forelimb suspensory positional behavior in fossils.…”

Gibbons and hominoid ancestry

“…One is the Indian ape Sivapithecus sivalensis, the earliest record for which is about 12 Ma, and which gives a minimum age for the origin of the orangutan lineage (Pilbeam, 1996;Pilbeam et al, 1990). However, the postcranial skeleton of this fossil ape is nothing like that of the orangutan (Rose, 1984(Rose, , 1986(Rose, , 1989, whereas the skeleton and some aspects of the skull of Hispanopithecus laietanus from nine-million-year-old deposits in Spain have many similarities with the orangutan (Moyà-Solà and Köhler, 1996;Moyà-Solà et al, 2004, 2009a, 2009b. There is little likelihood, however, that S. indicus and H. laietanus are closely related, and it is clear that one or the other is converging on the orangutan, but which one?…”

“…Some of the species extend back into the middle Miocene, for example Sivapithecus sivalensis, and they are similar functionally to middle Miocene European apes, with relatively robust jaws and thick-enamelled teeth. Some have similarities of the skull with the orangutan, but the few postcrania show no suspensory adaptations and indicate a strong element of terrestriality in their locomotion (Pilbeam, 1982(Pilbeam, , 1996(Pilbeam, , 2004Pilbeam et al, 1990;Rose, 1984Rose, , 1986Rose, , 1988Rose, , 1989Rose, , 1994Rose, , 1997. Laccopithecus robustus from late Miocene deposits in China is an ape similar to hylobatids in its skull and dental formation, but a single proximal phalanx is long and curved, like that of Hispanopithecus and gibbons (Wu and Pan, 1984;Meldrum and Pan, 1988;Begun, 2002).…”

A geometric morphometric study of sex differences in the scapula, humerus and ulna of Chaetophractus villosus (Xenarthra, Dasypodidae)

“…The arrangement at the female shoulder seem to impart structural strength to the use of the limb in a powerful digging stroke while keeping the required stabilisation, which could be attained by combining the great development of the deltoideus, a spherical humeral head and a medially enlarged lesser tubercle. The shape of the humeral head has been shown to play an important role in the mobility of the shoulder in mammals (Rose, 1989;Muizon & Argot, 2003;Salton & Sargis, 2008;Preuschoft et al, 2010), although its relationship with the mode of locomotion is not always clear (see Candela & Picasso, 2008). In marsupials, a hemispherical humeral head was related to an increased range of movements in a multidimensional space (typical of climbing or arboreal animals), whereas a transversely compressed head was associated to more sagittal movements and thus to more terrestrial habits (Muizon & Argot, 2003).…”