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Phyletic diversity and locomotion in primitive European hominids
Author(s) -
Begun David R.
Publication year - 1992
Publication title -
american journal of physical anthropology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.146
H-Index - 119
eISSN - 1096-8644
pISSN - 0002-9483
DOI - 10.1002/ajpa.1330870307
Subject(s) - phyletic gradualism , postcrania , biology , evolutionary biology , late miocene , phylogenetic tree , zoology , paleontology , taxon , structural basin , biochemistry , gene
A major contribution of previous analyses of Miocene hominoid postcrania is the recognition of a great ape grade of locomotor morphology in the late Miocene. However, in the absence of a consideration of the taxonomic and phylogenetic implications of the specimens concerned, the importance of this conclusion remains unappreciated. This paper presents a revised view of the positional implications of late Miocene hominid fossils and considers some of the taxonomic and phyletic implications of these specimens. The taxonomic status of a number of large catarrhine specimens from Europe (attributed to Dryopithecus , Sivapithecus , Austriacopithecus , Paidopithex , Rudapithecus ) is discussed. The functional and phyletic significance of this material reveals a complex pattern of behavioral and phyletic diversity among large‐bodied catarrhines in Europe and suggests that this diversity evolved in situ from circum‐Mediterranean middle Miocene ancestors.