Schwartz Gary T, Liu Wu, Zheng Liang
Department of Anthropology, Northern Illinois University, DeKalb, IL 60115-2854, USA.
J Hum Evol. 2003 Feb;44(2):189-202. doi: 10.1016/s0047-2484(02)00197-5.
Fieldwork in the Yuanmou Basin of southern China has uncovered a large assemblage of late Miocene hominoid fossils assigned to Lufengpithecus hudienensis. Two mandibular first molars from this species were made available for histological analysis as part of a larger ongoing study on the ontogeny of dental development in Miocene to Recent hominoids. Results are compared with published and unpublished data on tooth growth in a wide range of extant and extinct hominoids. The Yuanmou molars are smaller than those of Lufengpithecus lufengensis and have markedly shorter crown formation times, overlapping slightly with Pan, but most similar to Proconsul and Dryopithecus. In other aspects of molar development (including enamel extension rates and enamel thickness), L. hudienensis shows similarities with all extant hominoids, in particular, Pongo. Ultimately, charting the ontogeny of molar crown formation may help shed light on the relationship of Lufengpithecus hudienensis to orangutans, and other Miocene to Recent hominoids.
在中国南方元谋盆地的田野调查中，发现了大量晚中新世类人猿化石，这些化石被归为蝴蝶禄丰古猿。作为一项正在进行的关于中新世至现代类人猿牙齿发育个体发生的更大规模研究的一部分，该物种的两颗下颌第一磨牙被用于组织学分析。研究结果与已发表和未发表的关于多种现存和已灭绝类人猿牙齿生长的数据进行了比较。元谋磨牙比禄丰禄丰古猿的磨牙小，牙冠形成时间明显更短，与黑猩猩有轻微重叠，但与原康修尔猿和森林古猿最为相似。在磨牙发育的其他方面（包括釉质延伸率和釉质厚度），蝴蝶禄丰古猿与所有现存类人猿，特别是猩猩，表现出相似性。最终，绘制磨牙牙冠形成的个体发生图可能有助于阐明蝴蝶禄丰古猿与猩猩以及其他中新世至现代类人猿之间的关系。
