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New species of bushbaby from the middle Miocene of Maboko Island, Kenya
Author(s) -
McCrossin Monte L.
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.1330890207
Subject(s) - genus , cingulum (brain) , extant taxon , premolar , biology , cusp (singularity) , mandible (arthropod mouthpart) , paleontology , zoology , late miocene , evolutionary biology , molar , medicine , fractional anisotropy , geometry , mathematics , radiology , structural basin , magnetic resonance imaging , white matter
A mandible recovered from ca. 15 million year old deposits of Maboko Island, Kenya, represents the first bushbaby known from the middle Miocene. The specimen is from a new species of Komba , a genus previously known from early Miocene occurrences in western Kenya and northeastern Uganda. Komba is revised, with emended diagnoses proposed for the genus, type‐species, and referred species. Komba sp. nov. is distinguished by its larger size and differences of molar cusp acuity, buccal cingulum expression, and mental foramen configuration. Contrary to previous opinion, species of Komba probably diverged prior to the last common ancestor of extant Galaginae, and it is unlikely that they represent early stages of living bushbaby species lineages. Although contemporary Progalago is widely regarded as a galagine, aspects of upper molar, lower premolar, and mandibular corpus morphology indicate that it is more closely related to lorisines. Unlike the greater success currently enjoyed by bushbabies, lorisines were more diverse and almost as abundant as galagines in the early Miocene of eastern Africa. © 1992 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.