Document Detail


Evolution and extinction of Afro-Arabian primates near the Eocene-Oligocene boundary.
MedLine Citation:
PMID:  17855785     Owner:  NLM     Status:  MEDLINE    
Abstract/OtherAbstract:
Revised age estimates for the primate-bearing localities of the Jebel Qatrani Formation (Fayum area, northern Egypt) have provided a new perspective on primate response to early Oligocene climate change in North Africa. Environmental changes associated with early Oligocene cooling might have driven the local extinction of at least 4 strepsirrhine primate clades (adapids, djebelemurines, plesiopithecids and galagids). Contrary to previous suggestions, oligopithecid (and possibly proteopithecid) anthropoids persisted beyond the Eocene-Oligocene boundary (EOB) in the Fayum area, and the former group evidently continued to diversify through the early Oligocene at lower latitudes. Propliopithecids and parapithecine parapithecids first appear in the Jebel Qatrani Formation millions of years after the EOB, so their derived dental and gnathic features can no longer be interpreted as sudden adaptive morphological responses to earliest Oligocene climatic events. Evidence for latitudinal contraction of Afro-Arabian primate distribution through the early Oligocene suggests that the profound late Oligocene restructuring of Afro-Arabian primate communities is most likely to have occurred in equatorial and low-latitude tropical Africa.
Authors:
Erik R Seiffert
Related Documents :
12473355 - Aiming to eliminate tsetse from africa.
8219325 - Co-operation in veterinary education between sub-saharan africa and the developed count...
12222385 - Unprecedented emergency in southern africa.
15463305 - Onchocerciasis (river blindness)- can it be eradicated?
7362535 - Industrial accidents and their prevention.
16346395 - Effect of microorganisms on in situ uranium mining.
Publication Detail:
Type:  Historical Article; Journal Article; Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't     Date:  2007-09-07
Journal Detail:
Title:  Folia primatologica; international journal of primatology     Volume:  78     ISSN:  1421-9980     ISO Abbreviation:  Folia Primatol.     Publication Date:  2007  
Date Detail:
Created Date:  2007-09-14     Completed Date:  2007-10-12     Revised Date:  -    
Medline Journal Info:
Nlm Unique ID:  0370723     Medline TA:  Folia Primatol (Basel)     Country:  Switzerland    
Other Details:
Languages:  eng     Pagination:  314-27     Citation Subset:  IM    
Copyright Information:
Copyright 2007 S. Karger AG, Basel.
Affiliation:
Department of Anatomical Sciences, Stony Brook University, Stony Brook, NY, USA. erik.seiffert@stonybrook.edu
Export Citation:
APA/MLA Format     Download EndNote     Download BibTex
MeSH Terms
Descriptor/Qualifier:
Adaptation, Physiological
Africa, Northern
Animals
Climate*
Egypt
Evolution*
Extinction, Biological*
Female
Fossils*
History, Ancient
Male
Oman
Paleontology / methods
Primates / physiology*

From MEDLINE®/PubMed®, a database of the U.S. National Library of Medicine


Previous Document:  Invading Europe: did climate or geography trigger early Eocene primate dispersals?
Next Document:  Middle Miocene dispersals of apes.