Geographical and body size distributions of the Pondaung primates with a comment on the taxonomic assignment of NMMP 20, postcranium of an amphipithecid

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Relative abundance and body size were compared among six primate genera found from the Pondaung Formation (latest middle Eocene, Myanmar). Pondaungia, consisting of two species, is the most common primate in the Pondaung fauna. A high abundance of Pondaungia savagei, the larger species, is recorded at the northern fossil localities (Mogaung area). At the southwestern localities (Bahin area), the primates are taxonomically more diverse than in the other areas, and there are no significant differences in abundance of the amphipithecid genera, Myanmarpithecus, Amphipithecus, and Pondaungia. The body sizes of the three eosimiid taxa (Eosimias-like eosimiid, undescribed eosimiid, and Bahinia) and Myanmarpithecus are distinct from one another, but those of the Amphipithecus and Pondaungia species are inseparable. The postcranial bones of a large-sized primate (NMMP 20) from the Pondaung Formation, consisting of humeral, calcaneal, ulnar, and vertebral fragments, most likely belong to Pondaungia cotteri or Amphipithecus mogaungensis, based on comparisons of body mass estimates of NMMP 20 with those of the taxonomically allocated dentognathic specimens. Although NMMP 20 was previously cited as Pondaungia savagei, we consider the current evidence to be insufficient to resolve its species or generic-level taxonomic assignment.
日本人類学会の論文
2004-04-01