云南元谋雷老发现的古猿牙齿化石

HOMINOID TEETH FROM LEILAO IN YUANMOU, YUNNAN

Five teeth of the early Pliocene hominoid were collected at a new fossil locality Leilao village in Yuanmou, Yunnan in 1989 and 1990. The teeth are divided into two kinds according to size, the specimens of small type are left C (YM ?201), left P3 (YM ?202) and right M1 (YM ?203); the specimens of big type are left M2 (YM ?204) and left M3 (YM ?205). A comparative study of the teeth showed that the small and big ones could represent the female and male of a single species respectively. They are very similar to the hominoid teeth from Xiaohe and Zhupeng, Yuanmou in morphology and size, therefore, the hominoids of these three localities are considered as belonging to the same morphological type. It probably belongs to Family Pongidae and Genus Sivapithecus.Many morphological features of Leilao teeth are close to those of the hominoids from Keiyuan and Lufeng, Yunnan (Dryopithecus keiyuanensis and Lufengpithecus), but Leilao teeth are different from those of Keiyuan and Lufeng hominoids in some important features, so they are considered as belonging to different species.