Kirk E C, Simons E L
Biological Anthropology and Anatomy, Duke University Medical Center, Durham, NC 27710, USA.
J Hum Evol. 2001 Mar;40(3):203-29. doi: 10.1006/jhev.2000.0450.
Over the last 90 years, Eocene and Oligocene aged sediments in the Fayum Depression of Egypt have yielded at least 17 genera of fossil primates. However, of this diverse sample the diets of only four early Oligocene anthropoid genera have been previously studied using quantitative methods. Here we present dietary assessments for 11 additional Fayum primate genera based on the analysis of body mass and molar shearing crest development. These studies reveal that all late Eocene Fayum anthropoids were probably frugivorous despite marked subfamilial differences in dental morphology. By contrast, late Eocene Fayum prosimians demonstrated remarkable dietary diversity, including specialized insectivory (Anchomomys), generalized frugivory (Plesiopithecus), frugivory+insectivory (Wadilemur), and strict folivory (Aframonius). This evidence that sympatric prosimians and early anthropoids jointly occupied frugivorous niches during the late Eocene reinforces the hypothesis that changes in diet did not form the primary ecological impetus for the origin of the Anthropoidea. Early Oligocene Fayum localities differ from late Eocene Fayum localities in lacking large-bodied frugivorous and folivorous prosimians, and may document the first appearance of primate communities with trophic structures like those of extant primate communities in continental Africa. A similar change in primate community structure during the Eocene-Oligocene transition is not evident in the Asian fossil record. Putative large anthropoids from the Eocene of Asia, such as Amphipithecus mogaungensis, Pondaungia cotteri, and Siamopithecus eocaenus, share with early Oligocene Fayum anthropoids derived features of molar anatomy related to an emphasis on crushing and grinding during mastication. However, these dental specializations are not seen in late Eocene Fayum anthropoids that are broadly ancestral to the later-occurring anthropoids of the Fayum's upper sequence. This lack of resemblance to undisputed Eocene African anthropoids suggests that the "progressive" anthropoid-like dental features of some large-bodied Eocene Asian primates may be the result of dietary convergence rather than close phyletic affinity with the Anthropoidea.
在过去的90年里，埃及法尤姆凹陷始新世和渐新世时期的沉积物中已发现至少17个灵长类化石属。然而，在这个多样的样本中，之前仅使用定量方法研究了4个渐新世早期类人猿属的饮食。在此，我们基于对体重和臼齿剪切嵴发育的分析，对另外11个法尤姆灵长类属进行了饮食评估。这些研究表明，尽管在牙齿形态上存在明显的亚科差异，但所有始新世晚期的法尤姆类人猿可能都是食果动物。相比之下，始新世晚期的法尤姆原猴表现出显著的饮食多样性，包括特化的食虫性（Anchomomys）、一般化的食果性（Plesiopithecus）、食果 + 食虫性（Wadilemur）和严格的食叶性（Aframonius）。这一证据表明，始新世晚期同域分布的原猴和早期类人猿共同占据了食果生态位，强化了饮食变化并非类人猿起源的主要生态驱动力这一假说。渐新世早期的法尤姆地区与始新世晚期的法尤姆地区不同，缺乏大型食果和食叶原猴，这可能记录了具有类似于非洲大陆现存灵长类群落营养结构的灵长类群落的首次出现。始新世 - 渐新世过渡期间灵长类群落结构的类似变化在亚洲化石记录中并不明显。来自亚洲始新世的假定大型类人猿，如莫高仰鼻猴（Amphipithecus mogaungensis）、科氏傍当猴（Pondaungia cotteri）和始新世暹罗猴（Siamopithecus eocaenus），与渐新世早期法尤姆类人猿有共同的臼齿解剖学衍生特征，这些特征与咀嚼时强调挤压和研磨有关。然而，这些牙齿特化特征在始新世晚期的法尤姆类人猿中并未出现，而这些类人猿是法尤姆上部层序中后来出现的类人猿的广泛祖先。与无可争议的始新世非洲类人猿缺乏相似性表明，一些大型始新世亚洲灵长类动物类似类人猿的“进步”牙齿特征可能是饮食趋同的结果，而非与类人猿有密切的系统发育亲缘关系。
