A morphometric mapping analysis of lower fourth deciduous premolar in hominoids: Implications for phylogenetic relationship between Nakalipithecus and Ouranopithecus |
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Authors: | Wataru Morita Naoki Morimoto Yutaka Kunimatsu Arnaud Mazurier Clément Zanolli Masato Nakatsukasa |
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Affiliation: | 1. Department of Oral Functional Anatomy, Graduate School of Dental Medicine, Hokkaido University, Hokkaido, Japan;2. Laboratory of Physical Anthropology, Department of Zoology, Graduate School of Science, Kyoto University, Kyoto, Japan;3. Faculty of Business Administration, Ryukoku University, Kyoto, Japan;4. Institut de Chimie des Milieux et Matériaux de Poitiers, UMR 7285, Université de Poitiers, Poitiers, France;5. Laboratoire AMIS, UMR 5288 CNRS, Université Toulouse-3, Toulouse, France |
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Abstract: | 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. |
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Keywords: | Miocene Hominoid evolution Micro-CT 3D morphometrics Miocène Evolution des hominoïdes Micro-CT Morphométrie 3D |
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