Diets of fossil primates from the Fayum Depression of Egypt: a quantitative analysis of molar shearing

Over the last 90 years, Eocene and Oligocene aged sediments in the Fayum Depression of Egypt have yielded at least 17 genera of fossil primates. However, of this diverse sample the diets of only four early Oligocene anthropoid genera have been previously studied using quantitative methods. Here we present dietary assessments for 11 additional Fayum primate genera based on the analysis of body mass and molar shearing crest development. These studies reveal that all late Eocene Fayum anthropoids were probably frugivorous despite marked subfamilial differences in dental morphology. By contrast, late Eocene Fayum prosimians demonstrated remarkable dietary diversity, including specialized insectivory (Anchomomys), generalized frugivory (Plesiopithecus), frugivory+insectivory (Wadilemur), and strict folivory (Aframonius). This evidence that sympatric prosimians and early anthropoids jointly occupied frugivorous niches during the late Eocene reinforces the hypothesis that changes in diet did not form the primary ecological impetus for the origin of the Anthropoidea. Early Oligocene Fayum localities differ from late Eocene Fayum localities in lacking large-bodied frugivorous and folivorous prosimians, and may document the first appearance of primate communities with trophic structures like those of extant primate communities in continental Africa. A similar change in primate community structure during the Eocene-Oligocene transition is not evident in the Asian fossil record. Putative large anthropoids from the Eocene of Asia, such as Amphipithecus mogaungensis, Pondaungia cotteri, and Siamopithecus eocaenus, share with early Oligocene Fayum anthropoids derived features of molar anatomy related to an emphasis on crushing and grinding during mastication. However, these dental specializations are not seen in late Eocene Fayum anthropoids that are broadly ancestral to the later-occurring anthropoids of the Fayum's upper sequence. This lack of resemblance to undisputed Eocene African anthropoids suggests that the "progressive" anthropoid-like dental features of some large-bodied Eocene Asian primates may be the result of dietary convergence rather than close phyletic affinity with the Anthropoidea.     

广西南宁盆地的脊椎动物化石及下第三系

<正> 南宁盆地脊椎动物化石地点目前所知不下七处。本文着重记述了1974和1979年笔者采自邕宁县五塘公社莲塘村的石炭兽化石,并对盆地东部下第三系作一初步划分。本文首次报道南宁盆地发现脊椎动物化石,对研究石炭兽的演化、发展和分布,对盆地第三系地层的划分和对比,提供了新的依据。一、化石地点及地层概况莲塘村位于南宁市东北约32公里、五塘圩东5公里、邕宾(南宁—宾阳)公路南侧。石炭兽化石产于莲塘村东约300米远的小煤窑、距地表8.3米深的褐煤层顶板(灰色泥质粉砂岩)中。     

Foraminiferal turnover across the Eocene–Oligocene transition at Fuente Caldera, southern Spain: No cause–effect relationship between meteorite impacts and extinctions

We studied planktic and small benthic foraminifera from the Fuente Caldera section, southern Spain, across the Eocene–Oligocene transition. Benthic foraminifera indicate lower bathyal depths for the late Eocene and earliest Oligocene. Detailed high-resolution sampling and biostratigraphical data allowed us to date precisely layers with evidence for meteorite impact (Ni-rich spinel), which occur in the lower part of the planktic foraminiferal Globigerapsis index Biozone and in the middle part of the small benthic foraminiferal Cibicidoides truncanus (BB4) Biozone (middle Priabonian, late Eocene). Major turnovers of foraminifera occur at the Eocene/Oligocene boundary, only. The impact did not occur at a time of planktic or benthic foraminiferal extinction events, and the late Eocene meteorite impacts did thus not cause extinction of foraminifera. The most plausible cause of the Eocene/Oligocene boundary extinctions is the significant cooling, which generated glaciation in Antarctica and eliminated most of the warm and surface-dwelling foraminifera.     

Mammalian biochronology of the Paleogene-Neogene boundary at Aktau Mountain, eastern Kazakhstan

At Aktau Mountain in the Ili depression of eastern Kazakstan, fossil mammals that encompass the Paleogene-Neogene boundary occur at three stratigraphic levels. The lowest level is in the lower Kyzylbulak Formation and produces Brontotheriidae and the hyracodontidArdynia and is tentatively assigned a late Eocene (Ergilian) age. The lower part of the overlying Aktau Formation produces fossils of the giant rhinocerosParaceratherium and is tentatively assigned a late Oligocene (Tabenbulukian) age. The upper part of the Aktau Formation yields a fossil mammal assemblage that includesGomphotherium,Stephanocemas, Brachypotherium andLagomeryx. It is clearly of Miocene age, probably late early Miocene (late Burdigalian), a correlative of European Reference Level MN 5 and the late Shanwangian of China. The Paleogene-Neogene boundary at Aktau Mountain thus is in the Aktau Formation.     

河南东濮地区晚始新世至渐新世轮藻植物群及其古环境探讨

东濮地区晚始新世沙河段组四段上部至三段轮藻植物群生存于含钙量高的咸化型水体中,它们的横向分布反映了湖盆中部存在着一个ＮＮＥ向的隆起地带。早渐新世沙河街组二段轮藻植物群生长于含钙量低的淡水水体中,它们的横向分布反映了湖盆中部古地形自南向北高低相间。晚渐新世东营组轮藻植物群生存于含钙量低的淡水水体中,它们的横向分布反映了湖盆的古地势较为平坦。     

Main radiation events in Pan‐Octodontoidea (Rodentia,Caviomorpha)

Caviomorphs (South American hystricognaths) are recorded in the continent since the middle Eocene. The middle Eocene–early Oligocene is considered a key moment for their evolutionary history because by the early Oligocene they were differentiated into four superfamilies: Octodontoidea, Cavioidea, Chinchilloidea and Erethizontoidea. Due to their generalized dental patterns and abundance in the fossil record, Octodontoidea are interesting for analysing the origin and early history of caviomorphs. The phylogenetic relationships of the earliest octodontoids are studied herein. Results confirmed a basal caviomorph diversification in the middle Eocene (c. 45 Mya), with one lineage leading to Pan‐Octodontoidea, and another leading to Erethizontoidea, Cavioidea and Chinchilloidea, which is not in accordance with analyses based on molecular data. Three major radiations were identified: the first one (late Eocene?/early Oligocene?) occurred in low latitudes with the differentiation of Pan‐Octodontoidea and the earliest crown‐Octodontoidea. The second radiation (late Oligocene) was a large‐scale South American event; in the southernmost part of the continent it is recognized as the first Patagonian octodontoid radiation, which provided the characteristic high morphological disparity of the superfamily. The third radiation (late Miocene) is characterized by the replacement of ‘old’ by ‘modern’ octodontoids; the nature of this third event needs to be study in a broader taxonomic context. © 2015 The Linnean Society of London     

Palynoflora of the Liushagang formation (Eocene-Early Oligocene) in the northern part of South China Sea

In the northern part of South China Sea, including Tonkin Gulf, Hainan lsland, Leizhon Peninsula and some basin of Guangdong Province, Paleogene deposits are composed of three formations: the Weizhon, the Liushagang and the Changliu formations arranged in descending order. The paper on the palynoflora of the Weizhon Formation (early and middle Oligocene) is in press^[2]. This paper deals only with the palynoflora of the Liushagang Formation, with may be divided into four main stages: The first stage is represented by Monocolpollenites tranquillus and Crassoretitriletes sp., assigned to early Eocene The second stage is characterized by Salixipollenites, Momipites triletipollenites and Operculumpollis. Its age is middle Eocene. The third stage is dominated by some species of Quercoidites and Ulmipollenites and also characterized by the presence of Platycaryapollenites and Prominangularia dogyingensis, This sporo-pollen assemblage suggests a late Eocene in age. The fouth stage is marked by profusion of some alga of brockish water, such as Rugasphera corrugia, Granodiscus gronulatus and some pollen types of Liquidambarpollenites minutus, Multiporopollenites puctatus and Tricolporopollenites minutus. The age of the last stage is assigned to early oliocene. In generaly, the palynoflora of the Liushagang Formation is quite different from that of the Weizhou Formation. The main types of spores and pollen are common with those found in Europe and North America of the same age, while the Weizhou Formation has many elements common both in this region and Borneo. During Eocene and early Oligocene this area was of continental phase with brackish basins. At the beginning the climate was rather moist and hot, but then itbecame moist and warmtemperate.     

哈萨克斯坦斋桑盆地新生代轮藻植物组合

斋桑盆地自晚白垩世以来即为淡水湖泊环境,其始新世至中新世湖相及湖边缘相沉积物产有丰富的轮藻化石。文中建立三个轮藻化石组合：(1)Harrisichara mitella—Peckisphaera zajsanica组合(中始新世早期);(2)Lychnothamnus formosus—Peckichara组合(中始新世晚期--渐新世早期);(3)Gyrogona aralica—sphaerochara clearus组合(中--晚渐新世)。斋桑盆地轮藻化石出现的最高层位为下中新统且化石稀少,推测系盆地环境日益干旱所致。     

A new anthropoid from the latest middle Eocene of Pondaung, central Myanmar

A new genus and species of medium-sized fossil primate, Myanmarpithecus yarshensis, is described from the lastest middle Eocene sediments of Pondaung, central Myanmar (Burma). The specimens consist of right maxillary fragments with P(4)-M(3)and a left mandibular corpus with C-P(3)and M(2-3). To date, three purported anthropoids have been discovered from the Pondaung Formation: Pondaungia and Amphipithecus (Amphipithecidae) and Bahinia (Eosimiidae). Myanmarpithecus differs from these other Pondaung primates in having cingular hypocones on upper molars and in lacking paraconids on M(2-3). Although Myanmarpithecus resembles some utahiin omomyines in superficial aspects of the morphology of M(2-3)(i.e., mesiodistally compressed molar trigonid and enamel crenulation), the morphological analysis of upper molars and lower premolars indicates that it is neither an omomyoid nor an adapoid but is more derived than fossil prosimians (such as adapoids, omomyoids, and tarsiers) and more anthropoid-like. On the other hand, it is more primitive (prosimian-like) than early anthropoids from the late Eocene/early Oligocene of the Fayum, Egypt. Myanmarpithecus is likely to be an early, primitive anthropoid ("protoanthropoid").     

Shallow-marine ostracode faunas around the Eocene/Oligocene boundary in the northwestern Kyushu, southwestern Japan

Middle Eocene–early Oligocene ostracode faunal changes in northwestern Kyushu of southwestern Japan are identified in this study. Ostracodes occur from shelf deposits of five formations: the middle Eocene Okinoshima, the upper Eocene Funazu, the uppermost Eocene–lowermost Oligocene Kishima, the lowermost Oligocene Itanoura, and the lower Oligocene Waita Formations. The middle Eocene–earliest Oligocene ostracodes were characterized by warm-water genera, indicating tropical, subtropical and Tethyan genera, whereas the late early Oligocene ostracodes do not include warm-water taxa, consisting of temperate realm genera. The middle Eocene–earliest Oligocene ostracodes do not include remarkable changes of species composition, in contract with equatorial Pacific radiolarians and West Coast USA molluscs. Ostracodes suggest that distinct climatic cooling did not occur in the southwestern Japan during the middle Eocene–earliest Oligocene.     

西藏新生代秋乌组孢粉化石的发现及其初步研究

本文首次报道西藏雅鲁藏布江缝合带附近秋乌组含煤沉积中的孢粉化石。孢粉植物群主要由Quercoidifes,具孔类及三孔沟类花粉组成,包括12科26属及一些未定类群。组合中产有少量的Graminidites及Tsugaepollenites。植物群的总体特征显示其时代可能为渐新世至早中新世。秋乌组沉积早期的环境比较温暖。     

New chiropterans from the middle Eocene of Shanghuang (Jiangsu Province,Coastal China): new insight into the dawn horseshoe bats (Rhinolophidae) in Asia

Until recently, the fossil record of Paleogene bats in Asia primarily included extinct families (i.e. ‘Eochiroptera’) from the early Eocene of Vastan in India and from the middle‐late Eocene of the Liguanqiao and Yuanqu basins in central China. Here, we describe a new fauna of Chiroptera from the middle Eocene Shanghuang fissure fillings of China. The fauna includes abundant material referred to a new rhinolophid (Protorhinolophus shanghuangensis gen. and sp. n.), one specimen of a possible rhinopomatid and several indeterminate rhinolophoids. This new bat assemblage constitutes the earliest record of extant families of microbats in Asia. Because it lacks representatives of ‘Eochiroptera’, this Shanghuang bat fauna indicates significant turnover in Asian bat communities. The dental pattern of P. shanghuangensis shows a mosaic of primitive and derived features (‘Eochiroptera’ vs Rhinolophidae dental characteristics), suggesting that this taxon occupies a basal position among the Rhinolophidae. Rhinolophids were already well diversified at the end of the late Eocene in Europe. Interestingly, many dental characteristics of Protorhinolophus are also found in a primitive rhinolophoid taxon, Vaylatsia, from the middle Eocene to late Oligocene of Europe, supporting a close relationship between these taxa. These affinities testify to the widespread Eurasian distribution of rhinolophoids during the Eocene and are consistent with a westward dispersal of the group from eastern Asia to Europe owing to the greater antiquity of Protorhinolophus.     

A new basal tapiromorph (Perissodactyla, Mammalia) from the middle Eocene of Myanmar

A new genus and species of tapiromorph, Skopaiolophus burmese nov. gen., nov. sp., is described from the middle Eocene Pondaung Formation in central Myanmar. This small form displays a striking selenolophodont morphology associated with a mixture of primitive “condylarthran” dental characters and derived tapiromorph features. Skopaiolophus is here tentatively referred to a group of Asian tapiromorphs unknown so far. The occurrence of such a form in Pondaung suggests that primitive tapiromorphs might have persisted in southeast Asia until the late middle Eocene while they became extinct elsewhere in both Eurasia and North America.     

First fossil record of Cedrelospermum (Ulmaceae) from the Qinghai–Tibetan Plateau: Implications for morphological evolution and biogeography

Cedrelospermum Saporta is an extinct genus in the Ulmaceae with abundant fossil records in North America and Europe. However, so far, fossil records of this genus from Asia are sparse, which limits the interpretations of the morphological evolution and biogeographical history of the genus. Here we report well‐preserved fruits (Cedrelospermum tibeticum sp. nov.) and a leaf (Cedrelospermum sp.) of Cedrelospermum from the upper Oligocene Lunpola and Nyima basins in the Qinghai–Tibetan Plateau (QTP). This is the first fossil record of Cedrelospermum in the QTP, showing that this genus grew in this region during the late Oligocene. Cedrelospermum tibeticum fruits are double‐winged, morphologically similar to the Eocene and Oligocene double‐winged Cedrelospermum species from North America. This supports the hypothesis that Cedrelospermum migrated to Asia from North America by way of the Bering Land Bridge. Given that Cedrelospermum was a typical element of Northern Hemispheric flora in the Paleogene and Neogene, the presence of this genus indicates that the central region of the QTP was phytogeographically linked with other parts of the Northern Hemisphere during the late Oligocene. The morphological observations of C. tibeticum fruits and other double‐winged Cedrelospermum fruits suggest an evolutionary trend from obtuse to acute apex for the primary wing. Cedrelospermum tibeticum likely had warm and wet climatic requirements. This type of an environment possibly existed in the central QTP in the late Oligocene, thereby supporting the survival of C. tibeticum.     

甘肃党河下游地区早渐新世哺乳动物化石的发现

描述了产于党河下游地区的狍牛泉组下部地层中的叮当沟哺乳动物群。化石共计 1 1属 1 4种 :Palaeoscaptorcf.P .acridens、Palaeoscaptorsp .、Oligosciurusdangheensisgen .etsp .nov.、Tataromyscf.T .sigmodon、Karakoromysdecessus、Coelodontomysasiaticus、Parasminthusspp .、Cricetidaegen .etsp .indet.、Desmatolagusgobiensis、D .pusillus、Allaceropssp .、Schizotheriumordo sium和Parabrachyodussp .。党河鲜松鼠 (新属、新种 )的主要特征是个体较小而原始 ,下颌骨咬肌窝前缘达m2下方 ;冠状突前缘近于垂直 ,起于m2后部下方 ,颊齿齿冠很低 ,臼齿具明显的下内尖、下次脊和下中附尖 ,但无下中尖。上述化石的已知时代分布表明 ,狍牛泉组下部的叮当沟哺乳动物群的时代为早渐新世     

Molecular phylogeny of the Magnoliaceae: the biogeography of tropical and temperate disjunctions

The boreotropical flora concept suggests that relictual tropical disjunctions between Asia and the Americas are a result of the expansion of the circumboreal tropical flora from the middle to the close of the Eocene. Subsequently, temperate species diverged at high latitudes and migrated to other continents. To test this concept, we conducted a molecular phylogenetic analysis (using cpDNA) of the Magnoliaceae, a former boreotropical element that currently contains both tropical and temperate disjuncts. Divergence times of the clades were estimated using sequences of matK and two intergenic regions consisting of psbA-trnH and atpB-rbcL. Results indicate the tropical American section Talauma branched first, followed by the tropical Asian clade and the West Indies clade. Within the remaining taxa, two temperate disjunctions were formed. Assuming the temperate disjunction of Magnolia acuminata and Asian relatives occurred 25 mya (late Oligocene; based on seed fossil records), section Talauma diverged 42 mya (mid-Eocene), and tropical Asian and the West Indies clades 36 mya (late Eocene). These events correlate with cooling temperatures during the middle to late Eocene and probably caused the tropical disjunctions.     

First record of a tarsometatarsus of Tonsala hildegardae (Plotopteridae) and other avian remains from the late Eocene/early Oligocene of Washington State (USA)

New bird fossils from the late Eocene/early Oligocene Makah Formation and the Oligocene Pysht Formation on the Olympic Peninsula (Washington State, USA) are described. A partial skeleton from the Pysht Formation includes the first reported tarsometatarsus of Tonsala hildegardae Olson, 1980, a wing-propelled diving bird of the taxon Plotopteridae. It shows that Tonsala had a tarsometatarsus that was morphologically intermediate between that of the late Eocene Phocavis and more derived plotopterids. We introduce the new taxon Tonsalinae nov. subfam. for a clade including all named plotopterids except Phocavis, Plotopterum, and the recently described Stemec. We furthermore describe a partial plotopterid pelvis and a sternum from the Makah Formation. The sternum shows a close resemblance to that of extant Phalacrocoracoidea (cormorants and darters) and may be the earliest North American record of this taxon.     

Oligocene larger foraminifera from United Arab Emirates,Oman and Western Desert of Egypt

An early Oligocene (Rupelian) diagnostic larger foraminiferal assemblage is described and illustrated from marls and limestones of the Asmari Formation, at Jabals Hafit and Malaqet in the UAE. An equivalent assemblage is identified in the mudstones of the Tahwah Formation, Wadi Suq, Oman. Although Nummulites intermedius (D'Archiac 1846) and N. fichteli are fully synonymous (e.g. Roveda 1970; Schaub 1981; Sirel 2003), in this study both species are biometrically differentiated, distinct and both names are valid. N. fichteli Michelotti 1841, N. intermedius (D'Archiac 1846) and N. emiratus n. sp., which are index for the early Oligocene (Rupelian), and they are replacing each others competitively and environmentally.

The presence of Blondeauina bouillei n.gen., N. emiratus n.sp., N. intermedius, N. fichteli, Planoperculina complanata (Defrance 1822) and Austrotrillina asmariensis Adams 1968 ascribed the section of the Asmari Formation to the early Oligocene (Rupelian). The studied marls and limestones were deposited in outer and inner shelf environments, respectively. The Asmari Formation in the area studied consists mainly of marl in its lower portion and reefal limestone in its upper part, indicating a major marine regression. The Tahwah Formation in Oman is composed of bioturbated silty and muddy marls and is a facies equivalent to the Asmari Formation marls. The Asmari Formation facies change probably relates to a mid-Oligocene fall in global sea level.

In this study, the Dabaa Formation, a subsurface unit of late Eocene–Oligocene marine shales in the north Western Desert of Egypt, was chosen to correlate with the Oligocene of Emirates and Oman. The Dabaa Formation comprises Spiroclypeus ornatus (Henson 1937) and Eulepidina dilatata (Michelotti 1861). The environment of deposition was inner shelf to littoral, which become estuarine towards the top in many areas. This Oligocene Dabaa sequence is correlatable with Wadi El Arish sequence recently discovered by Kuss and Boukhary (2008) from Risan Aneiza, Northern Sinai, Egypt.     

Terpenoid Compositions and Botanical Origins of Late Cretaceous and Miocene Amber from China

The terpenoid compositions of the Late Cretaceous Xixia amber from Central China and the middle Miocene Zhangpu amber from Southeast China were analyzed by gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS) to elucidate their botanical origins. The Xixia amber is characterized by sesquiterpenoids, abietane and phyllocladane type diterpenoids, but lacks phenolic abietanes and labdane derivatives. The molecular compositions indicate that the Xixia amber is most likely contributed by the conifer family Araucariaceae, which is today distributed primarily in the Southern Hemisphere, but widely occurred in the Northern Hemisphere during the Mesozoic according to paleobotanical evidence. The middle Miocene Zhangpu amber is characterized by amyrin and amyrone-based triterpenoids and cadalene-based sesquiterpenoids. It is considered derived from the tropical angiosperm family Dipterocarpaceae based on these compounds and the co-occurring fossil winged fruits of the family in Zhangpu. This provides new evidence for the occurrence of a dipterocarp forest in the middle Miocene of Southeast China. It is the first detailed biomarker study for amber from East Asia.     

Oligocene sivaladapid primate from the Bugti Hills (Balochistan, Pakistan) bridges the gap between Eocene and Miocene adapiform communities in Southern Asia

A new species of Guangxilemur (Sivaladapidae, Adapiformes) is described from the early Oligocene Chitarwata Formation (Bugti Member) of the Bugti Hills, Sulaiman geological Province, Balochistan, Pakistan. Guangxilemur singsilai n. sp. provides further diagnostic morphological characters from its newly described upper and lower dentitions, confirming its intermediate phylogenetic position between Eocene and Miocene Asian sivaladapid adapiforms. G. singsilai possesses moderately developed shearing and puncturing molar features and maintains lingual cusps on upper molars as in Eocene hoanghoniines; in contrast, it possesses a typical molariform P(4) as in Miocene sivaladapines. The important paleogeographic changes that have affected South Asia during the Tertiary (related to the collision between the Indian and Eurasian Plates) have played a critical role in reforming circulation and climatic differentiation. The presence in Pakistan of an unique and well-diversified Oligocene primate fauna, clearly demonstrates that South Asia maintained favourable environmental conditions during the middle Caenozoic global climatic deterioration that coincides with drastic changes in faunal structure on the whole Holarctic Province, including the extinction of adapiform primates.