Hughes John K, Elton Sarah, O'Regan Hannah J
Bristol Research Initiative for the Dynamic Global Environment, BRIDGE, School of Geographical Sciences, University of Bristol, University Road, Bristol, BS8 1SS, UK.
J Hum Evol. 2008 Jan;54(1):43-77. doi: 10.1016/j.jhevol.2007.06.004. Epub 2007 Sep 14.
Theropithecus oswaldi was one of the most widely distributed Plio-Pleistocene primates, found in southern, East, and North Africa, as well as in Spain, India, and possibly Italy. Such a large geographic range for a single primate species is highly unusual. Here, the nature and timing of its dispersal is examined using the Stepping Out cellular automata model. A hypothetical dispersal of T. darti is also modelled to assess whether the late Pliocene might have been a more favorable period for Afro-Eurasian dispersal than the early Pleistocene. Stepping Out draws on climatic and biome reconstruction to provide the paleovegetative and climatic background necessary for the simulations, and model parameters for T. oswaldi and T. darti were set a priori on the basis of their fossil records and paleobiologies. The simulations indicate that T. darti could have readily left Africa in the Pliocene, and that it swiftly reaches Asia. A European T. darti colonization was less certain and less rapid. The simulated T. oswaldi dispersal out of Africa was slower, but nonetheless T. oswaldi arrived at Mirzapur within the time period indicated by the fossil record. Using the a priori parameters, T. oswaldi did not arrive at the European sites of Cueva Victoria and Pirro Nord. It cannot be discounted, therefore, that some of the European fossils are a result of an earlier T. darti dispersal. The simulations also showed that in order for Theropithecus to reach Europe, it needed to be tolerant of a relatively wide range of habitats. In addition, our finding that Asian colonization was more rapid and more probable parallels the information from the hominin fossil record, in which the fossils from Asia predate those from Europe by several hundred thousand years.
奥氏疣猴是上新世-更新世分布最广泛的灵长类动物之一，在非洲南部、东部和北部以及西班牙、印度，可能还有意大利都有发现。单一灵长类物种如此大的地理分布范围非常罕见。在此，我们使用“走出”元胞自动机模型来研究其扩散的性质和时间。还对达尔蒂疣猴的假设扩散进行了建模，以评估上新世晚期是否比更新世早期更有利于其在亚非欧大陆的扩散。“走出”模型利用气候和生物群落重建来提供模拟所需的古植被和气候背景，并根据奥氏疣猴和达尔蒂疣猴的化石记录和古生物学特征预先设定了它们的模型参数。模拟结果表明，达尔蒂疣猴在上新世很容易离开非洲，并迅速到达亚洲。其在欧洲的殖民情况不太确定，速度也较慢。模拟的奥氏疣猴从非洲扩散出去的速度较慢，但尽管如此，奥氏疣猴还是在化石记录所示的时间段内到达了米尔扎布尔。根据预先设定的参数，奥氏疣猴没有到达欧洲的维多利亚洞穴和皮尔诺德遗址。因此，不能排除一些欧洲化石是早期达尔蒂疣猴扩散的结果。模拟还表明，为了让疣猴到达欧洲，它需要能够适应相对广泛的栖息地。此外，我们发现其在亚洲的殖民更快且更有可能，这与人类化石记录中的信息相平行，在人类化石记录中，亚洲的化石比欧洲的化石早了几十万年。
