Paleobiogeography of Africa: How distinct from Gondwana and Laurasia?

Gheerbrant, Emmanuel; Rage, Jean‐Claude

doi:10.1016/j.palaeo.2006.03.016

Cited by 246 publications

(187 citation statements)

References 77 publications

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“…This result, along with the recent discovery of a putative early Eocene eosimiid in India (Bajpai et al 2008; see also Rose et al 2009) and the well-supported basal position of this primate family within the anthropoids (Kay et al 1997;Jaeger & Marivaux 2005;Bajpai et al 2008), seems to support a South Asian origin for anthropoids (Beard 2004(Beard , 2006 and a subsequent dispersal into Africa during the middle Eocene. Such a mammalian dispersal event between Africa and South Asia has also been proposed for several groups including anthracotheriid artiodactyls, and anomaluroid and hystricognathous rodents (Tabuce & Marivaux 2005;Gheerbrant & Rage 2006). However, this paleobiogeographical issue for the early evolution of anthropoids is complicated by (i) the morphological gap between African parapithecoids and Asian eosimiids and (ii) the poorly documented omomyiform Altiatlasius from the late Paleocene of Morocco (Sigé et al 1990), which was recently reconsidered either as a stem primate (Tabuce et al 2004;Marivaux 2006;Silcox 2008) or a possible eosimiid-like anthropoid (Beard 2004(Beard , 2006Seiffert et al 2005a;Marivaux 2006;Bajpai et al 2008; our phylogenetic results, see figure S2 in the electronic supplementary material).…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 82%

Anthropoid versus strepsirhine status of the African Eocene primates Algeripithecus and Azibius : craniodental evidence

et al. 2009

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Recent fossil discoveries have demonstrated that Africa and Asia were epicentres for the origin and/or early diversification of the major living primate lineages, including both anthropoids (monkeys, apes and humans) and crown strepsirhine primates (lemurs, lorises and galagos). Competing hypotheses favouring either an African or Asian origin for anthropoids rank among the most hotly contested issues in paleoprimatology. The Afrocentric model for anthropoid origins rests heavily on the .45 Myr old fossil Algeripithecus minutus from Algeria, which is widely acknowledged to be one of the oldest known anthropoids. However, the phylogenetic position of Algeripithecus with respect to other primates has been tenuous because of the highly fragmentary fossils that have documented this primate until now. Recently recovered and more nearly complete fossils of Algeripithecus and contemporaneous relatives reveal that they are not anthropoids. New data support the idea that Algeripithecus and its sister genus Azibius are the earliest offshoots of an AfroArabian strepsirhine clade that embraces extant toothcombed primates and their fossil relatives. Azibius exhibits anatomical evidence for nocturnality. Algeripithecus has a long, thin and forwardly inclined lower canine alveolus, a feature that is entirely compatible with the long and procumbent lower canine included in the toothcomb of crown strepsirhines. These results strengthen an ancient African origin for crown strepsirhines and, in turn, strongly challenge the role of Africa as the ancestral homeland for anthropoids.

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Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 82%

Anthropoid versus strepsirhine status of the African Eocene primates Algeripithecus and Azibius : craniodental evidence

et al. 2009

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“…the Comoros and Seychelles archipelagos, and Socotra). The sister group to chameleons (Agamidae) is completely absent from Madagascar, Comoros and Seychelles, although it is distributed across most other East Gondwanan and Laurasian landmasses, which is a pattern common to multiple faunal groups, particularly within mammals and reptiles [5]. The fossil record suggests that the probable common ancestors of chameleons and agamids were distributed across Laurasia in the Mesozoic period [6][7][8][9].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Large-scale phylogeny of chameleons suggests African origins and Eocene diversification

2013

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Oceanic dispersal has emerged as an important factor contributing to biogeographic patterns in numerous taxa. Chameleons are a clear example of this, as they are primarily found in Africa and Madagascar, but the age of the family is post-Gondwanan break-up. A Malagasy origin for the family has been suggested, yet this hypothesis has not been tested using modern biogeographic methods with a dated phylogeny. To examine competing hypotheses of African and Malagasy origins, we generated a dated phylogeny using between six and 13 genetic markers, for up to 174 taxa representing greater than 90 per cent of all named species. Using three different ancestralstate reconstruction methods (Bayesian and likelihood approaches), we show that the family most probably originated in Africa, with two separate oceanic dispersals to Madagascar during the Palaeocene and the Oligocene, when prevailing oceanic currents would have favoured eastward dispersal. Diversification of genus-level clades took place in the Eocene, and species-level diversification occurred primarily in the Oligocene. Plio-Pleistocene speciation is rare, resulting in a phylogeny dominated by palaeo-endemic species. We suggest that contraction and fragmentation of the Pan-African forest coupled to an increase in open habitats (savannah, grassland, heathland), since the Oligocene played a key role in diversification of this group through vicariance.

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“…Dispersal around the western Tethys Gulf was possible in this paleogeographic context, but the fossil record from Middle Jurassic of North and South America is lacking to test this dispersal route. The other possible dispersal way is a trans-Tethyan route accross the Mediterranean Tethyan Sill that was present between Europe and North Africa (Gheerbrant and Rage, 2006) (Fig. 19).…”

Section: Faunal Affinities Paleobiogeographical Relationshipsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Guelb el Ahmar (Bathonian, Anoual Syncline, eastern Morocco): First continental flora and fauna including mammals from the Middle Jurassic of Africa

et al. 2016

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We report the discovery in Mesozoic continental "red beds" of Anoual Syncline, Morocco, of the new Guelb el Ahmar (GEA) fossiliferous sites in the Bathonian Anoual Formation. They produced one of the richest continental biotic assemblages from the Jurassic of Gondwana, including plants, invertebrates and vertebrates. Both the sedimentological facies and the biotic assemblage indicate a lacustrine depositional environment. The flora is represented by tree trunks (three families), pollen (13 species, five major clades) and charophytes. It suggests local forests and humid (non-arid) conditions. The vertebrate fauna is dominated by microvertebrates recovered by screening-washing. It is rich and diverse, with at least 29 species of all major groups (osteichthyans, lissamphibians, chelonians, diapsids, mammals), except chondrichthyans. It includes the first mammals discovered in the Middle Jurassic of Arabo-Africa. The GEA sites yielded some of the earliest known representatives of osteoglossiform fishes, albanerpetontid and caudate amphibians, squamates (scincomorphans, anguimorphan), cladotherian mammals, and likely choristoderes. The choristoderes, if confirmed, are the first found in Gondwana, the albanerpetontid and caudatan amphibians are among the very few known in Gondwana, and the anguimorph lizard is the first known from the Mesozoic of Gondwana. Mammals (Amphitheriida, cf. Dryolestida) remain poorly known, but are the earliest cladotherians known in Gondwana. The GEA biotic assemblage is characterized by the presence of Pangean and Laurasian (especially European) taxa, and quasi absence of Gondwanan taxa. The paleobiogeographical analysis suggests either a major fossil bias in Gondwana during the Middle Jurassic, and an overall vicariant Pangean context for the GEA assemblage, or alternatively, noticeable Laurasian (European) affinities and North-South dispersals. The close resemblance between the Bathonian faunas of GEA and Britain is remarkable, even in a Pangean context. The similarity between the local Anoual Syncline Guelb el Ahmar and Ksar Metlili faunas raises questions on the ?Berriasian age of the latter.

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Paleobiogeography of Africa: How distinct from Gondwana and Laurasia?

Cited by 246 publications

References 77 publications

Anthropoid versus strepsirhine status of the African Eocene primates Algeripithecus and Azibius : craniodental evidence

Anthropoid versus strepsirhine status of the African Eocene primates Algeripithecus and Azibius : craniodental evidence

Large-scale phylogeny of chameleons suggests African origins and Eocene diversification

Guelb el Ahmar (Bathonian, Anoual Syncline, eastern Morocco): First continental flora and fauna including mammals from the Middle Jurassic of Africa

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