Rudabánya: A late miocene subtropical swamp deposit with evidence of the origin of the African apes and humans

Rudabánya, a rich late Miocene fossil site in northern central Hungary, has yielded an abundant record of fossil primates, including the primitive catarrhine Anapithecus and the early great ape Dryopithecus. While the affinities of Anapithecus are not clear, Dryopithecus is clearly a great ape sharing numerous characteristics of its dental, cranial and postcranial anatomy with living great apes. Like all Miocene hominids (great apes and humans), Dryopithecus is more primitive in a number of ways than any living hominid, which is probably related to the passage of time since the divergence of the various lineages of living hominids, allowing for similar refinements in morphology and adaptation to take place independently. On the other hand, Dryopithecus (and Ouranopithecus) share derived characters with hominines (African apes and humans), and Sivapithecus (and Ankarapithecus) share derived characters with orangutans, thus dating the split between pongines and hominines to a time before the evolution of these fossil great apes. Pongines and hominines follow similar fates in the late Miocene, the pongines moving south into Southeast Asia from southern or eastern Asia and the hominines moving south into East Africa from the Mediterranean region, between 6 to 9 Ma.     

Middle Miocene dispersals of apes

The earliest record of fossil apes outside Africa is in the latest early Miocene of Turkey and eastern Europe. There were at least 2, and perhaps 4, species of ape, which were found associated with subtropical mixed environments of forest and more open woodland. Postcranial morphology is similar to that of early Miocene primates and indicates mainly generalized arboreal quadrupedal behaviours similar to those of less specialized New World monkeys such as Cebus. Robust jaws and thick enamelled teeth indicate a hard fruit diet. The 2 best known species of fossil ape are known from the site of Pa?alar in Turkey. They have almost identical molar and jaw morphology. Molar morphology is also similar to that of specimens from Germany and Slovakia, but there are significant differences in the anterior teeth of the 2 Pa?alar species. The more common species, Griphopithecus alpani, shares mainly primitive characters with early and middle Miocene apes in Africa, and it is most similar phenetically to Equatorius africanus from Maboko Island and Kipsaramon. The second species is assigned to a new species of Kenyapithecus, an African genus from Fort Ternan in Kenya, on the basis of a number of shared derived characters of the anterior dentition, and it is considered likely that there is a phylogenetic link between them. The African sites all date from the middle Miocene, similar in age to the Turkish and European ones, and the earliest emigration of apes from Africa coincides with the closure of the Tethys Sea preceding the Langhian transgression. Environments indicated for the African sites are mixtures of seasonal woodlands with some forest vegetation. The postcrania of both African taxa again indicate generalized arboreal adaptation but lacking specialized arboreal function. This middle Miocene radiation of both African and non-African apes was preceded by a radiation of arboreal catarrhine primates in the early Miocene, among which were the earliest apes. The earliest Miocene apes in the genus Proconsul and Rangwapithecus were arboreal, and because of their association with the fruits of evergreen rain forest plants at Mfwangano Island, it would appear that they were forest adapted, i.e. were living in multi-storied evergreen forest. The same or similar species of the same genera from Rusinga Island, together with other genera such as Nyanzapithecus and the small ape Limnopithecus, were associated with plants and animals indicating seasonal woodland environments, probably with gallery forest forming corridors alongside rivers. While the stem ancestors of the Hominoidea were almost certainly forest adapted, the evidence of environments associated with apes in the later part of the early Miocene and the middle Miocene of East Africa indicates more seasonal woodlands, similar to those reconstructed for the middle Miocene of Pa?alar in Turkey. This environmental shift was probably a requisite for the successful emigration of apes out of Africa and made possible later movement between the continents for much of the middle Miocene, including possible re-entry of at least one ape lineage back into Africa.     

Hominoid dietary evolution.

During the later Palaeocene and early Miocene, catarrhine primates and the evolving hominoids had adaptations for frugivorous diets, with the emphasis on soft foods. Early in the middle Miocene the hominoids underwent a major shift, both in morphology and in habitat, with the morphology characterized by thickened enamel on the molars, enlarged incisors and massive jaws. The diet indicated by this morphology is interpreted as still mainly frugivorous but with changed emphasis, possibly towards harder objects. The thick-enamelled hominoids are found associated with more open forest habitats, and the distribution of food resources in equivalent habitats today is discontinuous both in time and in space, leading to evolutionary pressures particularly affecting locomotion, brain size and social behaviour. The earliest known hominid fossils differed little in dental and mandibular morphology from the middle Miocene apes, and the implied dietary similarity, together with ape-like patterns of dental development and retained arboreal adaptations of the postcrania, suggests little change in the foraging strategies of the earliest hominids compared with their ape ancestors and further suggests similarity in evolutionary grade. This similarity may have extended to other aspects of behaviour, for example to patterns of tool making and use, which may have been similar in the common ancestor of apes and humans to the pattern shared by the earliest australopithecines and chimpanzees.     

Assessing conservation attitudes and behaviors of Congolese children neighboring the world's first bonobo (Pan paniscus) release site

Poaching and habitat destruction in the Congo Basin threaten African great apes including the bonobo (Pan paniscus), chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes), and gorillas (Gorilla spp.) with extinction. One way to combat extinction is to reintroduce rescued and rehabilitated apes and repopulate native habitats. Reintroduction programs are only successful if they are supported by local populations. Ekolo ya Bonobo, located in Equateur province of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), is the world's only reintroduction site for rehabilitated bonobos. Here we assess whether children, of the Ilonga‐Pôo, living adjacent to Ekolo ya Bonobo demonstrate more pro‐ape conservation attitudes than children living in, Kinshasa, the capital city. We examined children's attitudes toward great apes because children are typically the focus of conservation education programs. We used the Great Ape Attitude Questionnaire to test the Contact Hypothesis, which posits that proximity to great ape habitat influences pro‐conservation attitudes toward great apes. Ilonga‐Pôo children who live in closer contact with wild bonobos felt greater responsibility to protect great apes compared to those in Kinshasa who live outside the natural habitat of great apes. These results suggest that among participants in the DRC, spatial proximity to a species fosters a greater sense of responsibility to protect and conserve. These results have implications for the successful implementation of great ape reintroduction programs in the Congo Basin. The data analyzed in this study were collected in 2010 and therefore provide a baseline for longitudinal study of this reintroduction site.     

Fossil apes from the vallès‐penedès basin

Currently restricted to Southeast Asia and Africa, extant hominoids are the remnants of a group that was much more diverse during the Miocene. Apes initially diversified in Africa during the early Miocene, but by the middle Miocene they extended their geographical range into Eurasia, where they experienced an impressive evolutionary radiation. Understanding the role of Eurasian hominoids in the origin and evolution of the great‐ape‐and‐human clade (Hominidae) is partly hampered by phylogenetic uncertainties, the scarcity and incompleteness of fossil remains, the current restricted diversity of the group, and pervasive homoplasy. Nevertheless, scientific knowledge of the Eurasian hominoid radiation has significantly improved during the last decade. In the case of Western Europe, this has been due to the discovery of new remains from the Vallès‐Penedès Basin (Catalonia, Spain). Here, I review the fossil record of Vallès‐Penedès apes and consider its implications. Although significant disagreements persist among scholars, some important lessons can be learned regarding the evolutionary history of the closest living relatives of humans. © 2012 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.     

Paleosols and paleoenvironments of the middle Miocene,Maboko Formation,Kenya

The middle Miocene (15 Ma) Maboko Formation of Maboko Island and Majiwa Bluffs, southwestern Kenya, has yielded abundant fossils of the earliest known cercopithecoid monkey (Victoriapithecus macinnesi), and of a kenyapithecine hominoid (Kenyapithecus africanus), as well as rare proconsuline (Simiolus leakeyorum, cf. Limnopithecus evansi) and oreopithecine apes (Mabokopithecus clarki, M. pickfordi), and galagids (Komba winamensis). Specific habitat preferences can be interpreted from large collections of primate fossils in different kinds of paleosols (pedotypes). Fossiliferous drab-colored paleosols with iron-manganese nodules (Yom pedotype) are like modern soils of seasonally waterlogged depressions (dambo). Their crumb structure and abundant fine root-traces, as well as scattered large calcareous rhizoconcretions indicate former vegetation of seasonally wet, wooded grassland. Other fossiliferous paleosols are evidence of nyika bushland (Ratong), and early-successional riparian woodland (Dhero). No fossils were found in Mogo paleosols interpreted as saline scrub soils. Very shallow calcic horizons (in Yom, Ratong, and Mogo paleosols) and Na-montmorillonite (in Mogo) are evidence of dry paleoclimate (300-500 mm MAP=mean annual precipitation). This is the driest paleoclimate and most open vegetation yet inferred as a habitat for any Kenyan Miocene apes or monkeys. Victoriapithecus was abundant in dambo wooded grassland (Yom) and riparian woodland (Dhero), a distribution like that of modern vervet monkeys. Kenyapithecus ranged through all these paleosols, but was the most common primate in nyika bushland paleosols (Ratong), comparable to baboons and macaques today. Mabokopithecus was virtually restricted to riparian woodland paleosols (Dhero), and Simiolus had a similar, but marginally wider, distribution. Habitat preferences of Mabokopithecus and Simiolus were like those of modern colobus monkeys and mangabeys. A single specimen of Komba was found in dambo wooded grassland paleosol (Yom), a habitat more like that of the living Senegal bushbaby than of rainforest galagids. A shift to non-forest habitats may explain the terrestrial adaptations of Victoriapithecus, basal to the cercopithecid radiation, and of Kenyapithecus, basal to the hominoid radiation. Both taxa are distinct from earlier Miocene arboreal proconsulines, oreopithecines and galagids.     

Evolution of the second orangutan: phylogeny and biogeography of hominid origins

Aim To resolve the phylogeny of humans and their fossil relatives (collectively, hominids), orangutans (Pongo) and various Miocene great apes and to present a biogeographical model for their differentiation in space and time. Location Africa, northern Mediterranean, Asia. Methods Maximum parsimony analysis was used to assess phylogenetic relationships among living large‐bodied hominoids (= humans, chimpanzees, bonobos, gorillas, orangutans), and various related African, Asian and European ape fossils. Biogeographical characteristics were analysed for vicariant replacement, main massings and nodes. A geomorphological correlation was identified for a clade we refer to as the ‘dental hominoids’, and this correlation was used to reconstruct their historical geography. Results Our analyses support the following hypotheses: (1) the living large‐bodied hominoids represent a monophyletic group comprising two sister clades: humans + orangutans, and chimpanzees (including bonobos) + gorillas (collectively, the African apes); and (2) the human–orangutan clade (dental hominoids) includes fossil hominids (Homo, australopiths, Orrorin) and the Miocene‐age apes Hispanopithecus, Ouranopithecus, Ankarapithecus, Sivapithecus, Lufengpithecus, Khoratpithecus and Gigantopithecus (also Plio‐Pleistocene of eastern Asia). We also demonstrate that the distributions of living and fossil genera are largely vicariant, with nodes of geographical overlap or proximity between Gigantopithecus and Sivapithecus in Central Asia, and between Pongo, Gigantopithecus, Lufengpithecus and Khoratpithecus in East Asia. The main massing is represented by five genera and eight species in East Asia. The dental hominoid track is spatially correlated with the East African Rift System (EARS) and the Tethys Orogenic Collage (TOC). Main conclusions Humans and orangutans share a common ancestor that excludes the extant African apes. Molecular analyses are compromised by phenetic procedures such as alignment and are probably based on primitive retentions. We infer that the human–orangutan common ancestor had established a widespread distribution by at least 13 Ma. Vicariant differentiation resulted in the ancestors of hominids in East Africa and various primarily Miocene apes distributed between Spain and Southeast Asia (and possibly also parts of East Africa). The geographical disjunction between early hominids and Asian Pongo is attributed to local extinctions between Europe and Central Asia. The EARS and TOC correlations suggest that these geomorphological features mediated establishment of the ancestral range.     

Chimpanzee fauna isotopes provide new interpretations of fossil ape and hominin ecologies

Carbon and oxygen stable isotopes within modern and fossil tooth enamel record the aspects of an animal''s diet and habitat use. This investigation reports the first isotopic analyses of enamel from a large chimpanzee community and associated fauna, thus providing a means of comparing fossil ape and early hominin palaeoecologies with those of a modern ape. Within Kibale National Park forest, oxygen isotopes differentiate primate niches, allowing for the first isotopic reconstructions of degree of frugivory versus folivory as well as use of arboreal versus terrestrial resources. In a comparison of modern and fossil community isotopic profiles, results indicate that Sivapithecus, a Miocene ape from Pakistan, fed in the forest canopy, as do chimpanzees, but inhabited a forest with less continuous canopy or fed more on leaves. Ardipithecus, an early hominin from Ethiopia, fed both arboreally and terrestrially in a more open habitat than inhabited by chimpanzees.     

A new Miocene small-bodied ape from Kenya

A new genus of small-bodied ape from Kalodirr, a Miocene site in northern Kenya, is described. It is compared with other recognized genera of small apes from the Miocene of East Africa and found to show closer similarities with Dendropithecus than with either Limnopithecus or Micropithecus. Among the recognized genera of larger Miocene hominoids it shares most features with Rangwapithecus but is distinguished by details of its dental morphology.     

Knuckle-walking in Sivapithecus? The combined effects of homology and homoplasy with possible implications for pongine dispersals

Sivapithecus is a Miocene great ape from South Asia that is orangutan-like cranially but is distinctive postcranially. Work by others shows that the humerus resembles large terrestrial cercopithecoids proximally and suspensory hominoids distally, but most functional interpretations nevertheless situate Sivapithecus in an arboreal setting. We present a new quantitative analysis of the Sivapithecus capitate and hamate. Though the functional morphology of both bones suggests some degree of arboreality, the overall morphology is most similar to knuckle-walking African apes. Other features of the Sivapithecus humerus and hind limb are also functionally consistent with knuckle-walking, and we suggest that this locomotor behavior is a valid alternative functional interpretation of the postcranial morphology. We speculate that knuckle-walking in Sivapithecus would have evolved independently from African apes, perhaps for similar ecological reasons. The discovery of a possible pongine knuckle-walker challenges the hypotheses that (1) knuckle-walking evolved only once in hominoids and (2) knuckle-walking is too highly specialized to be the positional behavior from which human bipedalism evolved. The possibility of knuckle-walking in Sivapithecus may help to explain not only the curious combination of characters that typify the postcranium but also the unique postcranial morphology of extant Pongo. Furthermore, it may clarify the distribution of fossil pongines across many ecological zones in Eurasia in the Miocene and Pleistocene, as well as, independently, the spread of African apes across a diversity of environments in equatorial Africa.     

Anthrax in Western and Central African great apes

During the period of December 2004 to January 2005, Bacillus anthracis killed three wild chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes troglodytes) and one gorilla (Gorilla gorilla gorilla) in a tropical forest in Cameroon. While this is the second anthrax outbreak in wild chimpanzees, this is the first case of anthrax in gorillas ever reported. The number of great apes in Central Africa is dramatically declining and the populations are seriously threatened by diseases, mainly Ebola. Nevertheless, a considerable number of deaths cannot be attributed to Ebola virus and remained unexplained. Our results show that diseases other than Ebola may also threaten wild great apes, and indicate that the role of anthrax in great ape mortality may have been underestimated. These results suggest that risk identification, assessment, and management for the survival of the last great apes should be performed with an open mind, since various pathogens with distinct characteristics in epidemiology and pathogenicity may impact the populations. An animal mortality monitoring network covering the entire African tropical forest, with the dual aims of preventing both great ape extinction and human disease outbreaks, will create necessary baseline data for such risk assessments and management plans.     

Paleoenvironmental reconstruction of middle Miocene paleosols bearing Kenyapithecus and Victoriapithecus, Nyakach Formation, southwestern Kenya

Paleosols in the middle Miocene (15 Ma) Nyakach Formation at Kaimogool, near Sondu, southwestern Kenya have yielded specimens of the early cercopithecoid Victoriapithecus macinnesi and the early kenyapithecine Kenyapithecus africanus, and can be used as evidence for the environmental mosaic occupied by these primates. Five distinct types of paleosols (pedotypes) are recognized in the Nyakach Formation section at Kaimogool South. The most common paleosols are reddish brown, silty calcareous profiles with blocky structure and large root traces (Ratong pedotype) which are interpreted as soils of well-drained, dry bushland or thicket (nyika). Weakly developed paleosols associated with paleochannels (Dhero pedotype) represent wooded grassland early in the ecological succession from streamside flooding. One of these paleosols has yielded a fossil flora of grasses and small-leaved dicots like those of modern semi-arid wooded grassland. Crumb structured, calcareous paleosols with iron-manganese nodules (Yom pedotype) are interpreted to represent seasonally waterlogged, wooded grassland (dambo or vlei). Thick, red clayey, calcareous paleosols with blocky ped structure and large root traces (Tut pedotype) are interpreted as soils of well-drained dry woodland. Other blocky-structured, gray to brown calcareous paleosols with iron-manganese nodules (Chido pedotype) are interpreted as soils of seasonally waterlogged, riparian dry woodland. Fossil soils, plants and gastropods are evidence of an unusually dry (300-500 mm mean annual precipitation) habitat for apes, consisting of a vegetational mosaic dominated by dry woodland, bushland and thickets with few areas of seasonally waterlogged grassland. Fossils of V. macinnesi are rare from Nyakach, but were found in paleosols representative of bushland and thicket habitats (Ratong). Fossils of the ape K. africanus were found within paleosols indicative of dry woodland (Tut). Other paleosol types representative of seasonally dry dambo grassland (Yom), colonizing grassland (Dhero) or riparian woodland (Chido) are also represented, but have not yet produced primate fossils.     

Seasonal Effects on Great Ape Health: A Case Study of Wild Chimpanzees and Western Gorillas

Among factors affecting animal health, environmental influences may directly or indirectly impact host nutritional condition, fecundity, and their degree of parasitism. Our closest relatives, the great apes, are all endangered and particularly sensitive to infectious diseases. Both chimpanzees and western gorillas experience large seasonal variations in fruit availability but only western gorillas accordingly show large changes in their degree of frugivory. The aim of this study is to investigate and compare factors affecting health (through records of clinical signs, urine, and faecal samples) of habituated wild ape populations: a community (N = 46 individuals) of chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes) in Kanyawara, Kibale National Park (Uganda), and a western gorilla (G. gorilla) group (N = 13) in Bai Hokou in the Dzanga-Ndoki National Park (Central African Republic). Ape health monitoring was carried out in the wet and dry seasons (chimpanzees: July–December 2006; gorillas: April–July 2008 and December 2008–February 2009). Compared to chimpanzees, western gorillas were shown to have marginally greater parasite diversity, higher prevalence and intensity of both parasite and urine infections, and lower occurrence of diarrhea and wounds. Parasite infections (prevalence and load), but not abnormal urine parameters, were significantly higher during the dry season of the study period for western gorillas, who thus appeared more affected by the large temporal changes in the environment in comparison to chimpanzees. Infant gorillas were the most susceptible among all the age/sex classes (of both apes) having much more intense infections and urine blood concentrations, again during the dry season. Long term studies are needed to confirm the influence of seasonal factors on health and parasitism of these great apes. However, this study suggest climate change and forest fragmentation leading to potentially larger seasonal fluctuations of the environment may affect patterns of ape parasitism and further exacerbate health impacts on great ape populations that live in highly seasonal habitats.     

Preliminary bonobo and chimpanzee nesting by habitat type in the northern Lac Tumba Landscape,Democratic Republic of Congo

Knowing how habitat determines the distribution of great apes is essential for understanding their ecology and conservation requirements. Habitats in the northern Lac Tumba Landscape where this study was conducted are mostly swamp and flooded forests, which types have been overlooked in many great ape surveys. This study describes and discusses patterns of bonobo and chimpanzee nesting sites across these habitat types in the general scope of habitat use by great apes. Considerable efforts were deployed to survey forests of the Ngiri Triangle (186 km), Bomongo‐Lubengo (126 km) and Bolombo‐Losombo (112 km). Great ape nesting site encounter rates (r) were calculated for Bonobos (r = 0.21 nesting sites km^?1; Bolombo‐Losombo), chimpanzees (r = 0.11 nesting sites km^?1; Ngiri Triangle) and (r = 0.02 nesting sites km^?1; Bomongo‐Lubengo). Swamps and flooded forests dominated the three zones. Nesting sites were at the highest encounter rates in flooded forests; both great ape species were significantly associated with swampy and flood forests. Human signs did not influence the occurrence of nesting sites in these forests. These results confirm findings from other sites where great apes were observed using swamps; they suggest that future surveys include these types of habitat to avoid under‐estimating population sizes.     

Discrepancies in the occurrence of Balantidium coli between wild and captive African great apes

Balantidium coli is a ciliate reported in many mammalian species, including African great apes. In the former, asymptomatic infections as well as clinical balantidiasis have been reported in captivity. We carried out a cross-sectional study of B. coli in African great apes (chimpanzees, bonobos, and both species of gorillas) and examined 1,161 fecal samples from 28 captive facilities in Europe, plus 2 sanctuaries and 11 wild sites in Africa. Samples were analyzed with the use of Sheather's flotation and merthiolate-iodine-formaldehyde (MIFC) sedimentation. MIFC sedimentation was the more sensitive technique for diagnostics of B. coli in apes. Although not detected in any wild-ape populations, B. coli was diagnosed in 52.6% of captive individuals. Surprisingly, in the apes' feces, trophozoites of B. coli were commonly detected, in contrast with other animals, e.g., Old World monkeys, pigs, etc. Most likely reservoirs for B. coli in captive apes include synantropic rats. High starch diets in captive apes are likely to exacerbate the occurrence of balantidiasis in captive apes.     

Differential resource utilization by extant great apes and australopithecines: towards solving the C4 conundrum

Morphological and biogeochemical evidence suggest that australopithecines had diets markedly different from those of extant great apes. Stable carbon isotope analysis, for example, has shown that significant amounts of the carbon consumed by australopithecines were derived from C(4) photosynthesis in plants. This means that australopithecines were eating large quantities of C(4) plants such as tropical grasses and sedges, or were eating animals that were themselves eating C(4) plants. In contrast, there is no evidence that modern apes consume appreciable amounts of any of these foods, even in the most arid extents of their ranges where these foods are most prevalent. Environmental reconstructions of early australopithecine environments overlap with modern chimpanzee habitats. This, in conjunction with the stable isotope evidence, suggests that australopithecines and great apes, even in similar environments, would utilize available resources differently. Thus, the desire or capacity to use C(4) foods may be a basal character of our lineage. We do not know, however, which of the nutritionally disparate C(4) foods were utilized by hominids. Here we discuss which C(4) resources were most likely consumed by australopithecines, as well as the potential nutritional, physiological, and social consequences of eating these foods.     

Pandemic human viruses cause decline of endangered great apes

Commercial hunting and habitat loss are major drivers of the rapid decline of great apes [1]. Ecotourism and research have been widely promoted as a means of providing alternative value for apes and their habitats [2]. However, close contact between humans and habituated apes during ape tourism and research has raised concerns that disease transmission risks might outweigh benefits [3-7]. To date only bacterial and parasitic infections of typically low virulence have been shown to move from humans to wild apes [8, 9]. Here, we present the first direct evidence of virus transmission from humans to wild apes. Tissue samples from habituated chimpanzees that died during three respiratory-disease outbreaks at our research site, C?te d'Ivoire, contained two common human paramyxoviruses. Viral strains sampled from chimpanzees were closely related to strains circulating in contemporaneous, worldwide human epidemics. Twenty-four years of mortality data from observed chimpanzees reveal that such respiratory outbreaks could have a long history. In contrast, survey data show that research presence has had a strong positive effect in suppressing poaching around the research site. These observations illustrate the challenge of maximizing the benefit of research and tourism to great apes while minimizing the negative side effects.     

A morphometric mapping analysis of lower fourth deciduous premolar in hominoids: Implications for phylogenetic relationship between Nakalipithecus and Ouranopithecus

Clarifying morphological variation among African and Eurasian hominoids during the Miocene is of particular importance for inferring the evolutionary history of humans and great apes. Among Miocene hominoids, Nakalipithecus and Ouranopithecus play an important role because of their similar dates on different continents. Here, we quantify the lower fourth deciduous premolar (dp4) inner morphology of extant and extinct hominoids using a method of morphometric mapping and examine the phylogenetic relationships between these two fossil taxa. Our data indicate that early Late Miocene apes represent a primitive state in general, whereas modern great apes and humans represent derived states. While Nakalipithecus and Ouranopithecus show similarity in dp4 morphology to a certain degree, the dp4 of Nakalipithecus retains primitive features and that of Ouranopithecus exhibits derived features. Phenotypic continuity among African ape fossils from Miocene to Plio-Pleistocene would support the African origin of African apes and humans (AAH). The results also suggest that Nakalipithecus could have belonged to a lineage from which the lineage of Ouranopithecus and the common ancestor of AAH subsequently derived.     

Mapping suitable great ape habitat in and around the Lobéké National Park,South‐East Cameroon

As a result of extensive data collection efforts over the last 20–30 years, there is quite a good understanding of the large‐scale geographic distribution and range limits of African great apes. However, as human activities increasingly fragment great ape spatial distribution, a better understanding of what constitutes suitable great ape habitat is needed to inform conservation and resource extraction management. Chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes troglodytes) and gorillas (Gorilla gorilla gorilla) inhabit the Lobéké National Park and its surrounding forest management units (FMUs) in South‐East Cameroon. Both park and neighboring forestry concessions require reliable evidence on key factors driving great ape distribution for their management plans, yet this information is largely missing and incomplete. This study aimed at mapping great ape habitat suitability in the area and at identifying the most influential predictors among three predictor categories, including landscape predictors (dense forest, swampy forest, distance to water bodies, and topography), human disturbance predictors (hunting, deforestation, distance to roads, and population density), and bioclimatic predictor (annual precipitation). We found that about 63% of highly to moderately suitable chimpanzee habitat occurred within the Lobéké National Park, while only 8.4% of similar habitat conditions occurred within FMUs. For gorillas, highly and moderately suitable habitats occurred within the Lobéké National Park and its surrounding FMUs (82.6% and 65.5%, respectively). Key determinants of suitable chimpanzee habitat were hunting pressure and dense forest, with species occurrence probability optimal at relatively lower hunting rates and at relatively high‐dense forest areas. Key determinants of suitable gorilla habitat were hunting pressure, dense forests, swampy forests, and slope, with species occurrence probability optimal at relatively high‐dense and swampy forest areas and at areas with mild slopes. Our findings show differential response of the two ape species to forestry activities in the study area, thus aligning with previous studies.     

Longgupo: EarlyHomo colonizer or late plioceneLufengpithecus survivor in south China?

A fragment of mandible and a maxillary incisor of different individuals from the Longgupo Cave, China have been cited as evidence of an early dispersal ofHomo from Africa to Asia. More specifically, these specimens are said to resemble “Homo ergaster” orHomo habilis, rather than the species usually thought to be the first Asian colonizer,Homo erectus. If this supposition is correct, it calls into question which hominid (sensu stricto) first left Africa, and why hominids became a colonizing species. Furthermore, the Longgupo remains have been used to buttress the argument thatHomo erectus evolved uniquely in Asia and was not involved in the origins of modern humans. We question this whole line of argument because the mandibular fragment cannot be distinguished from penecontemporary fossil apes, especially the Late Miocene-Pliocene Chinese genusLufengpithecus, while the incisor is indistinguishable from those of recent and living east Asian people and may be intrusive in the deposit. We believe that the Longgupo mandible represents the relic survival of a Late Miocene ape lineage into a period just prior to the dispersal of hominids into southeastern Asia, with some female dental features that parallel the hominid condition. If the Longgupo mandibular fragment represents a member of theLufengpithecus clade, it demonstrates that hominoids other thanGigantopithecus and the direct ancestor of the orangutan persisted in east Asia into the Late Pliocene, while all other Eurasian large-bodied hominoids disappeared in the Late Miocene.