EVOLUTIONARY ANTHROPOLOGY 23:209–211 (2014)
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Primates, Paleontology, and Pilsners in Berlin
T
he 74th Annual Meeting of the Society of Vertebrate Paleontology (SVP) was held in Berlin November 5–8, 2014, coinciding with the 25th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall (Fig. 1). This meeting was only the second time that the SVP has convened outside North America. This also was the first time the meeting has been held in continental Europe; the first international meeting was in Bristol, UK, in 2009. The opening reception was held at the Museum fur Naturkunde Berlin, which allowed the attendees to appreciate one of the best preserved and most complete specimens of Archaeopteryx. The numerous posters and podium presentations on primate evolution focused on subjects ranging from the origins of primates to cranial evolution in hominins, as well as paleoecological reconstructions and novel methodological approaches. Mary Silcox and associates (Toronto) reported evidence of cladogenetic speciation events in response to climate change in the early Eocene Microsyopidae from Wyoming. Although some consider microsyopids to be stem primates from North America and Europe, Silcox raised the possibility of other interpretations based on cranial morphology. Lopez and Silcox also showed how the inclusion of fossils affects the likelihood estimates of the biogeographic origins of relevant primate clades. Their results support the view that Euprimates originated in North America. Morse and coworkers (Florida Museum of Natural History) analyzed the changes in body size in early primatomorphs during the Paleocene-Eocene Thermal Maximum (PETM) in North America (56 Ma), a period of rapid global warming. They found that a shift toward larger body size occurred only in the endemic microsyopids, which they link to a response to climate change rather than the arrival of potential competitors, the euprimates. McGee
and Singleton (San Jose) discussed the biogeography of plesiadapiforms during the Paleogene of North America, providing survivorship patterns for different clades. Beard et al. (Kansas) discussed patterns of mammalian dispersals between Asia and Africa during the late Paleogene. They concluded that multiple Asian anthropoid primates and hystricognathous rodents colonized Africa more or less simultaneously. These two taxa were subsequently able to colonize South America from Africa, highlighting the success of these early Cenozoic mammals at transoceanic dispersal. Ramdarshan and Beard (Carnegie Museum) studied the dietary adaptations of Omomys carteri, a small, nocturnal, and probably insectivorous fossil primate from the middle Eocene of North America. Based on dental microwear, these authors found two complete dietary groupings that could represent a dietary shift related to competition. MinwerBarakat et al. (Institut Catal a de Paleontologia Miquel Crusafont, Barcelona) presented new fossil teeth from the late Eocene site of Sossıs (Southern Pyrenees). These teeth probably correspond to a new species of Microchoerus (Omomyidae, Primates), identified from the classic collections of the Naturhistorisches Museum in Basel. In reports on more recent nonhominoid primates, Kristjanson and coworkers (Johns Hopkins) used three-dimensional shape analyses of basicranium of the Oligocene Parapithecus grangeri (Anthropoidea, Parapithecidae, 33 Ma, Egypt) to show that this taxon shared a unique combination of derived (platyrrhine and catarrhine-like) and plesiomorphic (tarsier-like) features that support its phylogenetic placement as a basal anthropoid. Cote and coworkers (Calgary) studied newly available remains of the stem catarrhine Limnopithecus evansi from Songhor (Kenya, 19.5 Ma) and found that,
based on premolar morphology, it can be distinguished from the stem catarrhine Lomorupithecus from Napak (Uganda, 20 Ma). Hori (Tokyo Gas Technical Research Institute) provided information regarding the evolutionary tendency in the molars of the middle Miocene fossil platyrrhine Neosaimiri. Famoso and Frost (Oregon) presented results on the evolution of enamel complexity in the occlusal molar surface of the fossil Theropithecus oswaldi and described how it can potentially be used to track evolutionary changes in fossil lineages. Shapiro (ASU) inspected the dietary breadth of cercopithecids and its relationship with the variation in dental microwear textures, which have implications for inferring ecological niches in fossil species. Several communications were devoted to ape and human origins and evolution. Stevens and colleagues (Ohio University) presented gross paleobiological patterns in the late Oligocene Nsungwe Formation (Tanzania, 26–24 Ma), an area that has yielded the earliest evidence of the split between cercopithecoids and hominoids. McNulty and coworkers (Minnesota) presented results from the research consortium REACHE, designed to develop a regional geochronology, paleoecology, paleoenvironment, and biogeography of early Miocene fossil localities in East Africa. In only two years, this team has identified new fossil localities in Napak (Uganda), new remains of Morotopithecus, and the remains of other fossil catarrhines from several Kenyan localities. Furthermore, their novel paleobiological background reconstructions should provide a better understanding of the origins of apes. Within the same project, Lehman and associates (Senckenberg, Frankfurt) presented preliminary results of new field campaigns at the early Miocene site of Karungu (Kenya), which shows a faunal composition similar to that at
cija 210 Sergio Alme
News
Figure 1. Pieces of the Berlin Wall were exhibited in the outdoor space of the conference hotel. [Color figure can be viewed in the online issue, which is available at wileyonlinelibrary.com.]
Rusinga Island, although with different sedimentological characteristics, which could cause the paucity of small taxa and primates relative to Rusinga Island. Bales (NYU) addressed the phylogenetic position of Proconsul. Although the general consensus is that Proconsul is a stem hominoid, Bales’ phylogenetic analyses, based on 715 characters drawn from the cranium, forelimb, pelvis, and foot in a large sample of anthropoid species, offered little support for a hominoid clade including Proconsul. Casanovas-Vilar and coworkers (Institut Catal a de Paleontologia Miquel Crusafont, Barcelona) used stable isotope analyses of tooth enamel in muroid rodents to reconstruct and compare the paleoclimate and vegetation of two distant fossil hominoid-bearing localities, Siwaliks (Pakistan; 13.8 to 6.5 Ma) and Valle`sPenede`s (near Barcelona; 12.5 to 9.1 Ma). These investigators’ isotopic evidence does not support a link between the ape extinction in the Valle`s-Penede`s and a significant cooling around 9.5 Ma (as previously defended), leaving the cause of the ape extinction in Western Europe an open question. Begun (Toronto) inspected the diverse fossil apes from
the Valle`s-Penede`s Basin, finding that they all share several dentognathic “phylogenetic markers,” suggesting that they evolved from a single ancestor that immigrated from Africa around 17.5 Ma. Kaya and associates (Helsinki) provided new paleoecological and magnetostratrigraphical information regarding the Corakyerler site in Central Anatolia, which contains remains of the fossil great ape Ouranopithecus turkae. The researchers provided an estimated age between 8.13 Ma to 7.15 Ma for this site, and reconstructed it as a past humid refugium within a more arid area, which provided good conditions for hominoids. Macho (Oxford), using a multidisciplinary approach that considered such factors as environment, body mass, and brain size, reconstructed the dietary niches of Plio-Pleistocene hominins of East Africa. Macho found that opposite extremes in the diet range are occupied by Australopithecus bahrelghazali (C3 restricted) and Paranthropus boisei (dietary generalist). Perez-Claros and coworkers (M alaga) discussed covariation between the neurocranium and splanchnocranium in great apes and hominins and found that although both have a
similar pattern, hominins fall in a different “grade,” implying that changes in the hominin face did not merely represent a byproduct of an enlarged braincase. Schulp and colleagues (Leiden) used X-ray fluorescence analyses to test that the skull and femur of the Homo erectus holotype share a similar taphonomic history, which supports that they belong to the same specimen. HensleyMarschand (Indiana) discussed the Paleolithic archeological site of Feiliang (1.2 Ma, near Beijing), which contains faunal remains with clear anthropic activity, attributed to Homo erectus. Interestingly, the proportion of cutmarks at the site is higher than at homologous sites at Olduvai Gorge (Tanzania), indicating that early hominins at Feiliang frequently supplemented their diet with meat, possibly in higher quantities or frequencies than has been observed at some African hominin sites. Wroe and coworkers (University of New England, Australia) compared the hyoid micro-biomechanics of the Neandertal specimen Kebara 2 to those of modern humans and concluded that Neandertals had the capacity for speech. Almecija and Jungers (Stony Brook) reported on a detailed analysis of the intrinsic and extrinsic hand proportions of extant and fossil apes and humans and modeled their evolution along the anthropoid tree of life. Our results support the view that extant apes are highly heterogeneous, with more suspensory taxa independently elongating their digits for enhanced suspensory behaviors. In contrast, gorillas and humans have less digital length than did their last common ancestor, with humans having subtly elongated the thumb to improve manual dexterity. Kingston and colleagues (Michigan) examined the relationship between climate and hominin evolution in the Baringo Basin (Tugen Hills, Kenya 3.5 and 2.5 Ma). They concluded that although hominins showed resilience to environmental change, they were sensitive to climatic perturbations. Patterson and coworkers (George Washington) provided a combination of isotopic and morphological evidence regarding dietary
Primates, Paleontology, and Pilsners in Berlin 211
NEWS
evolution in the co-existing Theropithecus, Paranthropus, and Homo in the Koobi Fora Formation (Kenya) between 2 and 1.4 Ma. Isotopes indicate that the three genera became more enriched in carbon, but that molar size increased only in Theropithecus and Paranthropus, not in Homo. Overall, the data suggest that Paranthropus specialized in a different dietary niche that probably included the ingestion of higher amounts of low-quality food. Melcher and associates (Senckenberg, Frankfurt) reconstructed the hominin environments of the Turkana Basin (Kenya) from the late Miocene through the Pleistocene using specialized herbivores. They found that most of the time the climate was cooler and more humid than it is today, conditions compatible with several ecosystems, from humid savannahs to forests. Njau and coworkers (Indiana University) presented new paleoenvironmental evidence from Bed II (1.7 Ma) of Olduvai Gorge based on macrofauna associations suggesting wetland regimes, which matches previous paleogeographical reconstructions. With a more methodological focus, Asher and colleagues (Cambridge) provided experimental data on how
incomplete fossils can affect reconstructions of the primate tree of life. These authors compared the phylogeny produced with the full set of available data with that incorporating “artificial fossils,” extant taxa from which only a partial data matrix was provided. Smith and Von CramonTaubadel (Midwestern University AZ and SUNY Buffalo) presented analyses of cranial modules in cercopithecoid and hominoid primates showing that different cranial portions correlate better with phylogeny in different catarrhine clades, highlighting the potential use of this proxy to better interpret the hominin fossil record. Kemp and Barr (Texas) studied rates of homoplasy in the skeletons of 45 extant mammals by means of the consistency index (CI) in 1,240 dental, 1,175 cranial, and 912 postcranial traits on a well-resolved molecular phylogeny. These investigators showed the potential of CIs in evaluating competing fossil clade hypotheses. As an example, they applied the approach to available fossil platyrrhines and found support for a “short lineage hypothesis,” meaning that available fossil New World monkeys are most appropriately considered stem platyrrhines. Sellers and
Articles in Forthcoming Issues
• Applied Evolutionary Anthropology Mhairi Gibson and David W. Lawson
• Evolution of the hominoid vertebral column: the long and the short of it Scott A.Williams and Gabrielle A. Russo
• Integrating Studies of Paleoclimate, Paleoenvironment, and Paleoanthropology Curtis Marean et al.
• An Evolutionary Theory of Large-scale Human Warfare Mathew R. Zafferman and Sarah Mathew
Manning (Manchester) provided an interesting view of how robotics can be used to address questions related to evolutionary biomechanics. Among others, these authors showed reliable cinematic reconstructions of the gate in “Lucy” (Australopithecus afarensis). Ungar and coworkers (Arkansas) inspected the comparability between the data of different dental microwear studies from autralopiths and other taxa. Their results indicate that microwear texture data generated using different instruments can be compared when differences in the software and hardware used are accounted for. The 75th Annual Meeting of the SVP will be held in Dallas TX October 14–17, 2015. Further information can be found at http://vertpa leo.org/Annual-Meeting/Annual-Meet ing-Home.aspx
cija Sergio Alme de Paleontologia Miquel Institut Catala Crusafont Dept. of Anatomy Stony Brook University Stony Brook, NY 11790 C 2015 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. V Published online in Wiley Online Library (wileyonlinelibrary.com). DOI 10.1002/evan.21433
NEWS
Primates, Paleontology, and Pilsners in Berlin
T
he 74th Annual Meeting of the Society of Vertebrate Paleontology (SVP) was held in Berlin November 5–8, 2014, coinciding with the 25th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall (Fig. 1). This meeting was only the second time that the SVP has convened outside North America. This also was the first time the meeting has been held in continental Europe; the first international meeting was in Bristol, UK, in 2009. The opening reception was held at the Museum fur Naturkunde Berlin, which allowed the attendees to appreciate one of the best preserved and most complete specimens of Archaeopteryx. The numerous posters and podium presentations on primate evolution focused on subjects ranging from the origins of primates to cranial evolution in hominins, as well as paleoecological reconstructions and novel methodological approaches. Mary Silcox and associates (Toronto) reported evidence of cladogenetic speciation events in response to climate change in the early Eocene Microsyopidae from Wyoming. Although some consider microsyopids to be stem primates from North America and Europe, Silcox raised the possibility of other interpretations based on cranial morphology. Lopez and Silcox also showed how the inclusion of fossils affects the likelihood estimates of the biogeographic origins of relevant primate clades. Their results support the view that Euprimates originated in North America. Morse and coworkers (Florida Museum of Natural History) analyzed the changes in body size in early primatomorphs during the Paleocene-Eocene Thermal Maximum (PETM) in North America (56 Ma), a period of rapid global warming. They found that a shift toward larger body size occurred only in the endemic microsyopids, which they link to a response to climate change rather than the arrival of potential competitors, the euprimates. McGee
and Singleton (San Jose) discussed the biogeography of plesiadapiforms during the Paleogene of North America, providing survivorship patterns for different clades. Beard et al. (Kansas) discussed patterns of mammalian dispersals between Asia and Africa during the late Paleogene. They concluded that multiple Asian anthropoid primates and hystricognathous rodents colonized Africa more or less simultaneously. These two taxa were subsequently able to colonize South America from Africa, highlighting the success of these early Cenozoic mammals at transoceanic dispersal. Ramdarshan and Beard (Carnegie Museum) studied the dietary adaptations of Omomys carteri, a small, nocturnal, and probably insectivorous fossil primate from the middle Eocene of North America. Based on dental microwear, these authors found two complete dietary groupings that could represent a dietary shift related to competition. MinwerBarakat et al. (Institut Catal a de Paleontologia Miquel Crusafont, Barcelona) presented new fossil teeth from the late Eocene site of Sossıs (Southern Pyrenees). These teeth probably correspond to a new species of Microchoerus (Omomyidae, Primates), identified from the classic collections of the Naturhistorisches Museum in Basel. In reports on more recent nonhominoid primates, Kristjanson and coworkers (Johns Hopkins) used three-dimensional shape analyses of basicranium of the Oligocene Parapithecus grangeri (Anthropoidea, Parapithecidae, 33 Ma, Egypt) to show that this taxon shared a unique combination of derived (platyrrhine and catarrhine-like) and plesiomorphic (tarsier-like) features that support its phylogenetic placement as a basal anthropoid. Cote and coworkers (Calgary) studied newly available remains of the stem catarrhine Limnopithecus evansi from Songhor (Kenya, 19.5 Ma) and found that,
based on premolar morphology, it can be distinguished from the stem catarrhine Lomorupithecus from Napak (Uganda, 20 Ma). Hori (Tokyo Gas Technical Research Institute) provided information regarding the evolutionary tendency in the molars of the middle Miocene fossil platyrrhine Neosaimiri. Famoso and Frost (Oregon) presented results on the evolution of enamel complexity in the occlusal molar surface of the fossil Theropithecus oswaldi and described how it can potentially be used to track evolutionary changes in fossil lineages. Shapiro (ASU) inspected the dietary breadth of cercopithecids and its relationship with the variation in dental microwear textures, which have implications for inferring ecological niches in fossil species. Several communications were devoted to ape and human origins and evolution. Stevens and colleagues (Ohio University) presented gross paleobiological patterns in the late Oligocene Nsungwe Formation (Tanzania, 26–24 Ma), an area that has yielded the earliest evidence of the split between cercopithecoids and hominoids. McNulty and coworkers (Minnesota) presented results from the research consortium REACHE, designed to develop a regional geochronology, paleoecology, paleoenvironment, and biogeography of early Miocene fossil localities in East Africa. In only two years, this team has identified new fossil localities in Napak (Uganda), new remains of Morotopithecus, and the remains of other fossil catarrhines from several Kenyan localities. Furthermore, their novel paleobiological background reconstructions should provide a better understanding of the origins of apes. Within the same project, Lehman and associates (Senckenberg, Frankfurt) presented preliminary results of new field campaigns at the early Miocene site of Karungu (Kenya), which shows a faunal composition similar to that at
cija 210 Sergio Alme
News
Figure 1. Pieces of the Berlin Wall were exhibited in the outdoor space of the conference hotel. [Color figure can be viewed in the online issue, which is available at wileyonlinelibrary.com.]
Rusinga Island, although with different sedimentological characteristics, which could cause the paucity of small taxa and primates relative to Rusinga Island. Bales (NYU) addressed the phylogenetic position of Proconsul. Although the general consensus is that Proconsul is a stem hominoid, Bales’ phylogenetic analyses, based on 715 characters drawn from the cranium, forelimb, pelvis, and foot in a large sample of anthropoid species, offered little support for a hominoid clade including Proconsul. Casanovas-Vilar and coworkers (Institut Catal a de Paleontologia Miquel Crusafont, Barcelona) used stable isotope analyses of tooth enamel in muroid rodents to reconstruct and compare the paleoclimate and vegetation of two distant fossil hominoid-bearing localities, Siwaliks (Pakistan; 13.8 to 6.5 Ma) and Valle`sPenede`s (near Barcelona; 12.5 to 9.1 Ma). These investigators’ isotopic evidence does not support a link between the ape extinction in the Valle`s-Penede`s and a significant cooling around 9.5 Ma (as previously defended), leaving the cause of the ape extinction in Western Europe an open question. Begun (Toronto) inspected the diverse fossil apes from
the Valle`s-Penede`s Basin, finding that they all share several dentognathic “phylogenetic markers,” suggesting that they evolved from a single ancestor that immigrated from Africa around 17.5 Ma. Kaya and associates (Helsinki) provided new paleoecological and magnetostratrigraphical information regarding the Corakyerler site in Central Anatolia, which contains remains of the fossil great ape Ouranopithecus turkae. The researchers provided an estimated age between 8.13 Ma to 7.15 Ma for this site, and reconstructed it as a past humid refugium within a more arid area, which provided good conditions for hominoids. Macho (Oxford), using a multidisciplinary approach that considered such factors as environment, body mass, and brain size, reconstructed the dietary niches of Plio-Pleistocene hominins of East Africa. Macho found that opposite extremes in the diet range are occupied by Australopithecus bahrelghazali (C3 restricted) and Paranthropus boisei (dietary generalist). Perez-Claros and coworkers (M alaga) discussed covariation between the neurocranium and splanchnocranium in great apes and hominins and found that although both have a
similar pattern, hominins fall in a different “grade,” implying that changes in the hominin face did not merely represent a byproduct of an enlarged braincase. Schulp and colleagues (Leiden) used X-ray fluorescence analyses to test that the skull and femur of the Homo erectus holotype share a similar taphonomic history, which supports that they belong to the same specimen. HensleyMarschand (Indiana) discussed the Paleolithic archeological site of Feiliang (1.2 Ma, near Beijing), which contains faunal remains with clear anthropic activity, attributed to Homo erectus. Interestingly, the proportion of cutmarks at the site is higher than at homologous sites at Olduvai Gorge (Tanzania), indicating that early hominins at Feiliang frequently supplemented their diet with meat, possibly in higher quantities or frequencies than has been observed at some African hominin sites. Wroe and coworkers (University of New England, Australia) compared the hyoid micro-biomechanics of the Neandertal specimen Kebara 2 to those of modern humans and concluded that Neandertals had the capacity for speech. Almecija and Jungers (Stony Brook) reported on a detailed analysis of the intrinsic and extrinsic hand proportions of extant and fossil apes and humans and modeled their evolution along the anthropoid tree of life. Our results support the view that extant apes are highly heterogeneous, with more suspensory taxa independently elongating their digits for enhanced suspensory behaviors. In contrast, gorillas and humans have less digital length than did their last common ancestor, with humans having subtly elongated the thumb to improve manual dexterity. Kingston and colleagues (Michigan) examined the relationship between climate and hominin evolution in the Baringo Basin (Tugen Hills, Kenya 3.5 and 2.5 Ma). They concluded that although hominins showed resilience to environmental change, they were sensitive to climatic perturbations. Patterson and coworkers (George Washington) provided a combination of isotopic and morphological evidence regarding dietary
Primates, Paleontology, and Pilsners in Berlin 211
NEWS
evolution in the co-existing Theropithecus, Paranthropus, and Homo in the Koobi Fora Formation (Kenya) between 2 and 1.4 Ma. Isotopes indicate that the three genera became more enriched in carbon, but that molar size increased only in Theropithecus and Paranthropus, not in Homo. Overall, the data suggest that Paranthropus specialized in a different dietary niche that probably included the ingestion of higher amounts of low-quality food. Melcher and associates (Senckenberg, Frankfurt) reconstructed the hominin environments of the Turkana Basin (Kenya) from the late Miocene through the Pleistocene using specialized herbivores. They found that most of the time the climate was cooler and more humid than it is today, conditions compatible with several ecosystems, from humid savannahs to forests. Njau and coworkers (Indiana University) presented new paleoenvironmental evidence from Bed II (1.7 Ma) of Olduvai Gorge based on macrofauna associations suggesting wetland regimes, which matches previous paleogeographical reconstructions. With a more methodological focus, Asher and colleagues (Cambridge) provided experimental data on how
incomplete fossils can affect reconstructions of the primate tree of life. These authors compared the phylogeny produced with the full set of available data with that incorporating “artificial fossils,” extant taxa from which only a partial data matrix was provided. Smith and Von CramonTaubadel (Midwestern University AZ and SUNY Buffalo) presented analyses of cranial modules in cercopithecoid and hominoid primates showing that different cranial portions correlate better with phylogeny in different catarrhine clades, highlighting the potential use of this proxy to better interpret the hominin fossil record. Kemp and Barr (Texas) studied rates of homoplasy in the skeletons of 45 extant mammals by means of the consistency index (CI) in 1,240 dental, 1,175 cranial, and 912 postcranial traits on a well-resolved molecular phylogeny. These investigators showed the potential of CIs in evaluating competing fossil clade hypotheses. As an example, they applied the approach to available fossil platyrrhines and found support for a “short lineage hypothesis,” meaning that available fossil New World monkeys are most appropriately considered stem platyrrhines. Sellers and
Articles in Forthcoming Issues
• Applied Evolutionary Anthropology Mhairi Gibson and David W. Lawson
• Evolution of the hominoid vertebral column: the long and the short of it Scott A.Williams and Gabrielle A. Russo
• Integrating Studies of Paleoclimate, Paleoenvironment, and Paleoanthropology Curtis Marean et al.
• An Evolutionary Theory of Large-scale Human Warfare Mathew R. Zafferman and Sarah Mathew
Manning (Manchester) provided an interesting view of how robotics can be used to address questions related to evolutionary biomechanics. Among others, these authors showed reliable cinematic reconstructions of the gate in “Lucy” (Australopithecus afarensis). Ungar and coworkers (Arkansas) inspected the comparability between the data of different dental microwear studies from autralopiths and other taxa. Their results indicate that microwear texture data generated using different instruments can be compared when differences in the software and hardware used are accounted for. The 75th Annual Meeting of the SVP will be held in Dallas TX October 14–17, 2015. Further information can be found at http://vertpa leo.org/Annual-Meeting/Annual-Meet ing-Home.aspx
cija Sergio Alme de Paleontologia Miquel Institut Catala Crusafont Dept. of Anatomy Stony Brook University Stony Brook, NY 11790 C 2015 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. V Published online in Wiley Online Library (wileyonlinelibrary.com). DOI 10.1002/evan.21433
