Laccopithecus
| Laccopithecus | ||||||||
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| Temporal occurrence | ||||||||
| Late Miocene | ||||||||
| 7 to 6 million years | ||||||||
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| Scientific name | ||||||||
| Laccopithecus | ||||||||
| Wu & Pan , 1984 | ||||||||
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Laccopithecus is an extinct genus of primates that was foundin Asia during the late Miocene . Fossils discoveredin China belonging to this genus were mainly dated to around 7 to 6 million years ago. The genus and the so far only species of the genus, Laccopithecus robustus , were first described scientifically in 1984. Due to the characteristics of their teeth , the genus is assigned to the ancestors of gibbons .
Naming
Laccopithecus is an artificial word . “Lacco” is derived from “lacustrian” (referring to a freshwater lake) and refers to the horizon of the fossil bones used for the first description , the remains of a fossil lake in the area of today's Shihuiba municipality in the southern Chinese province of Yunnan . The second half of the generic name is derived from the Greek word πίθηκος ( pronounced in ancient Greek píthēkos : "monkey").
The epithet of the only scientifically described species so far, Laccopithecus robustus , alludes to the stately body size of the species and its 'robust' physique. Laccopithecus robustus therefore means "robust sea monkey".
Initial description
As a holotype of the genus and at the same time the type species Laccopithecus robustus , three jaw fragments interpreted as belonging together were named in the first description : a largely preserved, toothed, female lower jaw in which only the right canine tooth is missing (archive number PA 880); a partially preserved right upper jaw and a partially preserved left upper jaw (PA 876), each with several teeth. In addition, the first description was based on other finds (= paratypes), so that the introduction of the new genus and species was based on a total of ten upper and lower jaws and 60 individual teeth.
However, it was later recognized that the dentition of the two maxillary fragments PA 876 refers to a male individual. The genus was therefore not justified by a holotype, but by syntypes .
features
Fossil Late Pliocene Old World monkeys are known not only from China, but also from Europe and Africa . Therefore, in the first description of the genus, the differences to the genus Pliopithecus were particularly emphasized, especially to the species Pliopithecus antiquus , which was discovered in Austria in 1837 and which is most similar to Laccopithecus robustus in size and morphology .
The assignment to the family of gibbons (Hylobatidae) made in the first description is, however, controversial; other researchers assign Laccopithecus together with Pliopithecus to the extinct families Pliopithecidae or Crouzeliidae.
Apart from the jaw fragments and the teeth, only the Siamang- like terminal phalanx of a finger and the crushed bones of a facial skull (archive number PA 860) have so far been discovered as evidence of the genus Laccopithecus . From these few clues it was nevertheless deduced that the weight of the animals was around 12 kg and that the face was gibbon-like - with a short, wide snout and large canine teeth.
The different sizes of the preserved canines were interpreted as an indication of a pronounced sexual dimorphism .
literature
- Pan Yuerong: Small fossil primates from Lufeng, a latest Miocene site in Yunnan Province, China. In: Journal of Human Evolution. Volume 17, No. 3, 1988, pp. 359-366, doi: 10.1016 / 0047-2484 (88) 90076-0
- David R. Begun: The Pliopithecoide. In: Walter Carl Hartwig (Ed.): The Primate Fossil Record. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge (UK) 2002, pp. 236-237, ISBN 0-521-66315-6 , full text
Web links
- Entry Laccopithecus on paleobiodb.org
Individual evidence
- ↑ a b Wu Rukang and Pan Yuerong: The Hylobatidae from the Late Miocene of Lufeng, Yunnan. In: Acta Anthropologica Sinica. Volume 3, No. 3, 1984, pp. 185-194, full text of the translation from Chinese to English
- ^ A b Russell H. Tuttle: Apes and Human Evolution. Harvard University Press, 2014, p. 99, ISBN 978-0-674-07316-6
- ↑ a b Pan Yuerong et al .: Sexual dimorphism in Laccopithecus robustus, a late Miocene Hominoid from China. In: American Journal of Physical Anthropology. Volume 79, No. 2, 1989, pp. 137-158, doi: 10.1002 / ajpa.1330790203
- ^ David R. Begun: The Pliopithecoide. In: Walter Carl Hartwig (Ed.): The Primate Fossil Record. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge (UK) 2002, p. 236, ISBN 0-521-66315-6
- ↑ DJ Meldrum and Pan Yuerong: Manual proximal phalanx of Laccopithecus robustus from the Latest Miocene site of Lufeng. In: Journal of Human Evolution. Volume 17, No. 8, 1988, pp. 719-731, doi: 10.1016 / 0047-2484 (88) 90062-0