1. New species of Cercopithecoides from Haasgat, North West Province, South Africa
- Author
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Jeffrey K. McKee, Kevin L. Kuykendall, and Acacia von Mayer
- Subjects
Male ,Pleistocene ,Cephalometry ,Cercopithecidae ,Statistics, Nonparametric ,Theria ,South Africa ,Paleontology ,stomatognathic system ,Eutheria ,Genus ,Animals ,Ecology, Evolution, Behavior and Systematics ,biology ,Fossils ,Skull ,biology.organism_classification ,Interorbital region ,Geography ,Taxon ,Anthropology ,Female ,Tooth ,Cenozoic - Abstract
Analyses of new cercopithecid fossil specimens from the South African site of Haasgat point to craniofacial affinities with the genus Cercopithecoides . Detailed metric and non-metric comparisons with South African Cercopithecoides williamsi , and other East African Cercopithecoides species, Cercopithecoides kimeui , Cercopithecoides meaveae , Cercopithecoides kerioensis , and Cercopithecoides alemyehui demonstrate that the Haasgat fossils have distinct craniofacial morphology and dental metrics. Specifically, material from Haasgat probably represents one of the smaller Cercopithecoides , differing from the others in its particular suite of features that vary within the genus. It is unique in its more vertical ramus, associated with a relatively lengthened mandibular body. Haasgat Cercopithecoides has a particularly narrow interorbital region between relatively larger ovoid orbits, with articulation of the maxillary bones at a suture above the triangular nasal bones. Furthermore, the maxillary arcade is more rounded than other Cercopithecoides , converging at the M 2 and M 3 . The conclusion drawn from this analysis is that the Pleistocene Haasgat fossils are colobines representing a distinct taxon of Cercopithecoides , Cercopithecoides haasgati , thus adding a second species of the genus to southern Africa.
- Published
- 2011
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