Department of Cell and Molecular Biology, Feinberg School of Medicine, Northwestern University, Chicago, IL 60611, USA.
Am J Phys Anthropol. 2010 Oct;143(2):223-34. doi: 10.1002/ajpa.21308.
The phylogenetic affinities of the primates of the late middle Eocene Pondaung Formation of Myanmar have long been disputed. The discovery of the NMMP 39 talus (Marivaux et al.: Proc Natl Acad Sci USA 100 (2003) 13173-13178) provided the first clear evidence from the postcranium that a relatively large-bodied haplorhine primate is represented in the Pondaung fauna. Another talus (NMMP 82; Marivaux et al., 2010). Talar morphology, phylogenetic affinities and locomotor adaptation of a large-bodied amphipithecid primate from the late middle Eocene of Myanmar, Am J Phys Anthropol DOI: 10.1002/ajpa.21307) has been recently recovered which also pertains to Haplorhini. The metric and nonmetric features supporting the hypothesis of anthropoid affinities for NMMP 39 have been criticized by Gunnell and Ciochon (Gunnell GF, Ciochon RL. 2008. Revisiting primate postcrania from the Pondaung Formation of Myanmar. In: Fleagle JG, Gilbert CC, editors. Elwyn Simons: a search for origins. New York: Springer. p 211-228). Their analysis, however, was based on a very limited choice of variables, taxa, and individuals. Based on an extended sample, we are able to produce both principal components and discriminant functions that yield a rather clear separation of extant haplorhine and strepsirhine tali. Both principal components and discriminant function scores of the Pondaung tali fall with those of haplorhine primates. In addition, the Pondaung tali lack all the derived nonmetric features characteristic of strepsirhine primates, but exhibit all the features characteristic of haplorhine primates. We dispute the features Gunnell and Ciochon (2008) claim are uniquely shared by the Pondaung tali and adapiforms. Their rejection of the phylogenetic significance of the features shared by these tali and haplorhines is unwarranted by the evidence. Based on both metric and nonmetric features, the Pondaung tali are structurally most similar to the tali of haplorhines, particularly anthropoids.
缅甸晚中新世庞顿组灵长类动物的系统发育关系一直存在争议。NMMP 39 跟骨（Marivaux 等人：Proc Natl Acad Sci USA 100 (2003) 13173-13178）的发现首次提供了后肢骨骼的明确证据，表明庞顿动物群中存在相对体型较大的原猴类。另一个跟骨（NMMP 82；Marivaux 等人，2010）。最近还发现了一种体型较大的猴形目灵长类动物的跟骨形态、系统发育关系和运动适应（Am J Phys Anthropol DOI: 10.1002/ajpa.21307），也属于原猴类。NMMP 39 具有类人猿亲缘关系的假设的度量和非度量特征受到了 Gunnell 和 Ciochon（Gunnell GF，Ciochon RL。2008. 重新审视来自缅甸庞顿组的灵长类后肢骨骼。在：Fleagle JG，Gilbert CC，编辑。Elwyn Simons：寻找起源。纽约：Springer。p 211-228）的批评。然而，他们的分析是基于非常有限的变量、分类单元和个体选择。基于扩展的样本，我们能够生成主成分和判别函数，这些函数可以清楚地分离现存的原猴类和树鼩类跟骨。庞顿跟骨的主成分和判别函数得分都与原猴类的得分一致。此外，庞顿跟骨缺乏所有特化为树鼩类的非度量特征，但具有所有原猴类的特征。我们对 Gunnell 和 Ciochon（2008）声称的庞顿跟骨和似猴类动物所独有的特征提出质疑。他们拒绝承认这些跟骨和原猴类共有的特征具有系统发育意义，这是没有证据支持的。基于度量和非度量特征，庞顿跟骨在结构上与原猴类，特别是类人猿类的跟骨最为相似。
