Department of Anthropology, Hunter College of the City University of New York, 695 Park Avenue, NY 10021, USA.
J Hum Evol. 2011 Oct;61(4):347-62. doi: 10.1016/j.jhevol.2011.04.007. Epub 2011 Jul 26.
Here we describe a complete skull and partial skeleton of a large cercopithecoid monkey (KNM-TH 46700) discovered in the Chemeron Formation of the Tugen Hills at BPRP Site #152 (2.63 Ma). Associated with the skeleton was a mandible of an infant cercopithecoid (KNM-TH 48364), also described here. KNM-TH 46700 represents an aged adult female of Theropithecus brumpti, a successful Pliocene papionin taxon better known from the Omo Shungura Formation in Ethiopia and sites east and west of Lake Turkana, Kenya. While the morphology of male T. brumpti is well-documented, including a partial skeleton with both cranial and postcranial material, the female T. brumpti morphotype is not well-known. This skeleton represents some of the first associated evidence of cranial and postcranial female T. brumpti remains. In addition to the complete skull, postcranial material includes elements of the axial skeleton and lower limb. While aspects of the skeleton conform to those of specimens previously assigned to T. brumpti, other features on the femur and tibia appear to differ from those previously described for this species. It is unclear whether these differences represent general variation within the T. brumpti population, variation between the sexes in T. brumpti, or the incorrect assignment of previous isolated hindlimb specimens. In total, the observable morphological features of the hindlimb suggest that KNM-TH 46700 was a terrestrial quadruped similar to modern savannah baboons (Papio). From the available evidence, it is difficult to assess whether or not KNM-TH 46700 frequently engaged in the specialized squatting and shuffling behavior observed in extant geladas (Theropithecus gelada).
这里描述了一个大型长尾猴类（KNM-TH 46700）的完整头骨和部分骨骼，它发现于图根山脉的切梅伦组的 BPRP 地点 #152（263 万年前）。与骨骼一起发现的还有一个幼年长尾猴类的下颌骨（KNM-TH 48364），这里也对其进行了描述。KNM-TH 46700 代表了一个年龄较大的成年雌性布鲁普氏长尾猴，这是一个成功的上新世猴科分类单元，在埃塞俄比亚的奥莫舒恩古拉组以及肯尼亚图尔卡纳湖以东和以西的地点更为人所知。雄性布鲁普氏长尾猴的形态特征已经得到了很好的记录，包括一个带有颅骨和后肢骨骼的部分骨骼，但雌性布鲁普氏长尾猴的形态特征并不为人所知。这个骨骼代表了一些首次发现的与颅骨和后肢女性布鲁普氏长尾猴遗骸相关的证据。除了完整的头骨，后肢骨骼包括轴骨骼和下肢的元素。虽然骨骼的某些方面与以前分配给布鲁普氏长尾猴的标本一致，但股骨和胫骨上的其他特征似乎与以前为该物种描述的特征不同。目前还不清楚这些差异是代表布鲁普氏长尾猴种群的一般变异，还是雄性和雌性布鲁普氏长尾猴之间的变异，或者是以前孤立的后肢标本的错误分配。总的来说，后肢的可观察形态特征表明，KNM-TH 46700 是一种类似于现代热带稀树草原狒狒（Papio）的陆地四足动物。从现有的证据来看，很难评估 KNM-TH 46700 是否经常进行现生金毛狒狒（Theropithecus gelada）所观察到的专门蹲坐和拖着脚走的行为。
