Department of Evolutionary Anthropology, Duke University, Durham, NC 27708, USA.
Am J Phys Anthropol. 2012 Sep;149(1):1-17. doi: 10.1002/ajpa.22093. Epub 2012 May 28.
Three fossils, a cranium of Papio, a cercopithecid frontal bone, and a mandible of juvenile Papio, have been recovered from cave deposits in the !Ncumtsa (Koanaka) Hills of western Ngamiland, Botswana. These specimens are significant because well-preserved crania of Papio are extremely rare in the fossil record outside of South Africa and because this is the first report of fossil primate cranial remains from Botswana. Thermoluminescence dating of surrounding cave matrix indicates an age of ≥317 ± 114 ka, within the Middle Pleistocene, although it may be older. Based on univariate and multivariate analyses, the adult !Ncumtsa specimen falls within the range of variation seen in extant forms of Papio, yet is distinct from any living species/subspecies and represents a new taxon, named here as a new subspecies of Papio hamadryas-Papio hamadryas botswanae.
三具化石，即狒狒颅骨、狭鼻猴类额骨和幼年狒狒下颌骨，均出土于博茨瓦纳西部恩加米安特（科阿纳卡）山的洞穴堆积物中。这些标本意义重大，因为除南非之外，狒狒保存完好的颅骨在化石记录中极其罕见，而且这也是博茨瓦纳首次有灵长类颅骨化石的报道。周围洞穴基质的热释光测年表明，其年代在中更新世≥317±114 千年前，虽然也可能更古老。基于单变量和多变量分析，恩加米安特成年标本的变异范围与现生灵长类狒狒属的形式一致，但与任何现存物种/亚种都不同，代表了一个新的分类群，在这里被命名为狒狒指名亚种——狒狒狒狒博茨瓦纳亚种。
