Extreme sexual dimorphism in a Miocene hominoid.
Some Miocene hominoids may have been extremely sexually dimorphic for body size, inferred from the apparent dimorphism of dental and gnathic remains. But this has never been demonstrated convincingly for any fossil species because of small sample sizes, uncertainties about the number of species in most fossil samples, and the inability to reliably sex individual specimens. Here we demonstrate a case of extreme dental dimorphism, and presumed body-size dimorphism, in a Miocene hominoid sample in which these limitations have been overcome. Lufengpithecus lufengensis from the late Miocene site of Lufeng, China, was more dimorphic than the most dimorphic living hominoid, the orangutan, and may have been more dimorphic than any living anthropoid.
Kelley
J
J
Division of Biology and Medicine, Brown University, Providence, Rhode Island 02912.
Xu
Q H
QH
D000818:Animals; D002508:Cephalometry; D002681:China; D003481:Cuspid / Q000033:anatomy & histology; D005260:Female; D005580:Fossils; D000882:Haplorhini / Q000033:anatomy & histology*; D049690:History, Ancient; D008297:Male; D010161:Paleodontology; D012727:Sex Characteristics; D014070:Tooth / Q000033:anatomy & histology