Miller E R, Benefit B R, McCrossin M L, Plavcan J M, Leakey M G, El-Barkooky A N, Hamdan M A, Abdel Gawad M K, Hassan S M, Simons E L
Department of Anthropology, Wake Forest University, Winston-Salem, NC 27106-7807, USA.
J Hum Evol. 2009 Sep;57(3):195-211. doi: 10.1016/j.jhevol.2009.06.006. Epub 2009 Jul 28.
New information about the early cercopithecoids Prohylobates tandyi (Wadi Moghra, Egypt) and Prohylobates sp. indet. (Buluk and Nabwal, Kenya) is presented. Comparisons are made among all major collections of Early and Middle Miocene catarrhine monkeys, and a systematic revision of the early Old World monkeys is provided. Previous work involving the systematics of early Old World monkeys (Victoriapithecidae; Cercopithecoidea) has been hampered by a number of factors, including the poor preservation of Prohylobates material from North Africa and lack of comparable anatomical parts across collections. However, it is now shown that basal cercopithecoid species from both northern and eastern Africa can be distinguished from one another on the basis of degree of lower molar bilophodonty, relative lower molar size, occlusal details, symphyseal construction, and mandibular shape. Results of particular interest include: 1) the first identification of features that unambiguously define Prohylobates relative to Victoriapithecus; 2) confirmation that P. tandyi is incompletely bilophodont; and 3) recognition of additional victoriapithecid species.
本文介绍了关于早期猕猴类动物坦氏原狒狒（Prohylobates tandyi，埃及瓦迪莫格拉）和未定种原狒狒（Prohylobates sp. indet.，肯尼亚布鲁克和纳布瓦尔）的新信息。对早中新世和中中新世狭鼻猴类的所有主要化石样本进行了比较，并对早期旧世界猴进行了系统修订。以往关于早期旧世界猴（维氏猴科；猕猴超科）系统学的研究受到诸多因素的阻碍，包括来自北非的原狒狒化石保存状况不佳，以及各化石样本中缺乏可对比的解剖部位。然而，现在研究表明，来自非洲北部和东部的基础猕猴类物种可以根据下臼齿双脊齿化程度、相对下臼齿大小、咬合细节、联合部结构和下颌形状相互区分。特别值得关注的结果包括：1）首次明确了相对于维氏猴而言能明确界定原狒狒的特征；2）确认坦氏原狒狒的双脊齿化不完全；3）识别出了更多的维氏猴科物种。
