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Reconstructing the Locomotor Repertoire of Protopithecus brasiliensis . I. Body Size
Author(s) -
Halenar Lauren B.
Publication year - 2011
Publication title -
the anatomical record: advances in integrative anatomy and evolutionary biology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.678
H-Index - 62
eISSN - 1932-8494
pISSN - 1932-8486
DOI - 10.1002/ar.21501
Subject(s) - postcrania , baboon , body proportions , regression , biology , taxon , primate , range (aeronautics) , statistics , paleontology , evolutionary biology , mathematics , ecology , geometry , materials science , composite material
An accurate body size estimate is essential for reconstructing and interpreting many aspects of the paleobiology of an extinct taxon. With this in mind, the purpose of this study is two‐fold: first, to create statistically robust predictive regression equations for body mass, total body length, and head and body length from postcranial elements using a platyrrhine reference sample, data that do not exist elsewhere in the literature; and, second, to apply those regression equations to the “giant” subfossil platyrrhine Protopithecus brasiliensis , a little‐studied taxon represented by a nearly complete skeleton. Building on results of previous work with other primate groups, different skeletal elements, subgroups of the reference sample, and regression models lead to different body size estimates with different standard errors and prediction errors. However, relatively tight clusters of estimates around 20 kg, total length of 1,675 mm, and head and body length of 710 mm are obtained, placing the fossil in the size range of a large male baboon. While not quite as large as the original 25 kg body mass estimate for the fossil, this new estimate is still approximately 150% larger than the largest living New World monkey. Confirmation of its place in a large‐bodied size class of platyrrhines has a profound effect on reconstructing the locomotor repertoire of Protopithecus and the evolutionary trajectory of the alouattin lineage. Anat Rec, , 2011. © 2011 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.