Southwest China, the last refuge of continental primates in East Asia

Zhang, He; Lu, Jiqi; Tang, Shiyi; Huang, Zhi‐Pang; Cui, Liang-Wei; Daoying, Lan; Wang, Haitao; Hou, Rong; Xiao, Wen; Guo, Songtao; He, Gang; Huang, Kang; Zhang, Pei; Pan, Hao; Oxnard, Charles; Pan, Ruliang; Li, Baoguo

doi:10.1016/j.biocon.2022.109681

Cited by 7 publications

(23 citation statements)

References 64 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…Rhinopithecus bieti and other Asian colobines originated from Africa in the Middle Miocene and migrated into Eurasia through the gateway of North Africa, possibly in the Late Miocene, about 10 mya ago (Davies & Oates, 1994; Roos et al., 2011). They arrived at a Convergency‐Divergency Center where R. bieti is located (Zhang et al., 2022). The oldest colobine fossil species associated with European and Asian taxa, Mesopithecus , unearthed in the Late Miocene (Davies & Oates, 1994; Heintz et al., 1981), was discovered recently in Zhaotong, Yunnan, in the deposit of the Late Miocene or Early Pliocene.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Among primates, colobines (Colobinae) food choices have been considered to primarily consist of leaves, fruits, flowers, and seeds (Huang et al, 2010;Kirkpatrick, 1996;Oates et al, 1980). The evolutionary development of Asian colobine ancestors from Africa to Asia during the Miocene and Plioce has dramatically shaped their morphology, ecology, and dietary selection (Zhang et al, 2022).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 1 more Smart Citation

Surviving at the highest and coldest: Nutritional and chemical components of fallback foods for Yunnan snub‐nosed monkeys

Pan,

Hou,

Zhang

et al. 2024

Ecology and Evolution

Self Cite

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Fallback foods (FBF), categorized into staple and filler types, are suboptimal food sources chosen by animals in response to a scarcity of preferred food items during specific periods. Using lichens as FBF by Yunnan snub‐nosed monkeys (Rhinopithecus bieti) represents a distinctive ecological adaptation and evolutionary development within nonhuman primates. This study delves into the annual dietary choices of the species to address issues, elucidate the nutritional value, and understand the ecological significance of lichens for this primate species, which resides at the highest altitudes and experiences the coldest weather among global primates. The findings reveal that the lichens consumed by the monkeys serve as the staple FBF, with Bryoria spp. and Usnea longissima being the primary dietary species. The former is the preferred choice, providing higher digestible fiber (neutral detergent fiber) levels but lower tannin, fat, ADF, and energy levels. During the dry season, lichens dominate as the monkeys' primary food and nutritional resources. In the wet season, they act as a fundamental food selection rather than an ideal dietary choice, substituting nutrients from fruits, seeds, and leaves. Compared to other Asian colobine counterparts, this species exhibits the highest lichen consumption but the lowest proportions of leaves, flowers, and seeds. This study provides valuable evidence and information for developing or amending conservation strategies and guidelines for the dietary management of captive breeding of monkeys, one of the world's critically endangered primate species.

show abstract

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Surviving at the highest and coldest: Nutritional and chemical components of fallback foods for Yunnan snub‐nosed monkeys

Pan,

Hou,

Zhang

et al. 2024

Ecology and Evolution

Self Cite

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…Severe climate changes drove such processes during the glaciation of the Quaternary (Otto-Bliesner et al, 2006;Li et al, 2020). Thus, to have an integral comprehension of distribution changes from the Quaternary, the blooming period of the Asian macaques (Zhang et al, 2022), the fossil distribution of the macaques was analyzed also.…”

Section: Data Of Macaques and Variablesmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The macaques (Macaca ) in the subfamily Cercopithecinae have 23 species in Africa and Asia (Roos et al, 2019). Their dispersal scenarios from Africa to Asia were driven by the environmental changes in the Miocene (Zinner et al, 2013;Roos et al, 2014;Zhang et al, 2022): they originated in Africa and started the migration to Europe and Asia following the collision of the Afro-Arabian plate with Eurasia during the Oligocene-Miocene (23.8-18 Mya), which created a land connection between Arabia and Southwest Asia, making many animal taxa migrated from Africa, via Europe, to Asia since the Miocene (Roos and Zinner, 2015), including macaques. In other words, macaques' evolutionary development and distribution patterns have been remarkably driven by climate, ecological, and geographic changes since the Miocene, except for the Barbary macaques (Macaca sylvanus) left in North Africa.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The other macaque taxa finally settled down in Southwest China during the Pliocene. They continued distributing to East and South Asia through alternative dispersal paths during the Quaternary (Li et al, 2020;Zhang et al, 2022). Eight extant species are now distributed in mainland East Asia: rhesus macaques (Macaca mulatta ), the northern pig-tailed macaque (M. leonina ), the stump-tailed macaque (M. arctoides ), Formosan rock macaque (M. cyclopis ) in Taiwan, Assamese macaque(M. assamensis ), the Tibetan macaque (M .thibetana ), the Arunachal macaque (M. munzala ), and the white-cheeked macaque (M. leucogenys ).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 1 more Smart Citation

Evolutionary Geographic Changes of the Macaques in Mainland East Asia during the Quaternary and Their Prospective Conservation

Wang¹,

Zhang²,

Zhang³

et al. 2023

Preprint

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Understanding how ecological and environmental changes, anthropogenic activities, and climate have driven and will direct animals’ development and predicting their prospective distribution profiles in the Quaternary are essential to making a tangible conservation strategy. Macaques (Macaca) distributed in mainland East Asia provide an ideal research model for such an effort. We reconstruct macaques’ geographic distribution profiles during the Quaternary, from the last inter-glaciation (LIG, 120,000 - 140,000 years BP), the Last Glacial Maximum (LGM, 22,000 years BP), and the present (1970-2000) – based on which we deduce their perspective distribution in the 2050s. The results show their suitable habitats during LIG and LGM were mainly in Southwest, Central, and Coastal China. A noticeable distribution reduction started in LIG and persisted until the current (1970-2000). Their distribution centroid would shift northward to mountainous regions, mainly in Southwest China, where more migration corridors would be reserved for their future development. Also, the results indicate that China’s Protected Area currently does not cover more than 87% of macaques’ habitats, a dismal situation for their conservation. Finally, this study proclaims that the conservation priority of the macaques in the years to come should focus on Southwest China – their future refuge region in Quaternary.

show abstract

Morphometric Study on the Mandible of Colobine Fossil (Mesopithecus pentelicus) Found in East Asia, a Comparison With Extant Taxa

Pan,

Ji,

Youlatos

et al. 2024

American J Primatol

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

A tooth‐bearing mandible fossil of a colobine monkey discovered at Shuitangba, Zhaotong, Yunnan, China, was morphometrically analyzed and compared with extant Asian colobines. Our previous qualitative and quantitative descriptions indicate that it can be safely attributed to Mesopithecus pentelicus, a Miocene fossil colobine widely found in Europe and South Asia. The present research aims to explore fossil association with extant colobines and functionally propose its dietary preferences based on multivariate morphometric analyses of mandibular morphology. The results indicate that this fossil species presents a mosaic association with extant langurs (Presbytis, Trachypithecus, and Semnopithecus) and odd‐nosed monkeys (Pygathrix, Nasalis, and Rhinopithecus), with most similarities of size‐related traits and size‐adjusted shapes, and a notable difference from extant Rhinopithecus, due to the increased body size of the latter since the Pliocene. The allometric analysis showed that, like the fossils of the same species in other sites, its mandibular structure appears more adapted to crushing hard seed shells than chewing leaves. Moreover, our findings also imply that the Asian colobines significantly modified their dietary preferences over the last 6 million years following the ecological and environmental changes triggered by the accelerated uplift of the Qinghai‐Tibet Plateaus and severe monsoons. Morphologically, the more developed condyle length and moment arms of the temporomandibular joint and medial pterygoid muscles appear to accommodate a more folivorous dietary selection, functionally related to the intake of rigid fibers in leaves that require frequent one or two‐side mandibular chewing and grinding.

show abstract

Southwest China, the last refuge of continental primates in East Asia

Cited by 7 publications

References 64 publications

Surviving at the highest and coldest: Nutritional and chemical components of fallback foods for Yunnan snub‐nosed monkeys

Surviving at the highest and coldest: Nutritional and chemical components of fallback foods for Yunnan snub‐nosed monkeys

Evolutionary Geographic Changes of the Macaques in Mainland East Asia during the Quaternary and Their Prospective Conservation

Morphometric Study on the Mandible of Colobine Fossil (Mesopithecus pentelicus) Found in East Asia, a Comparison With Extant Taxa

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About