title: Cercopithecoid humeri from Taung support the distinction of major papionin clades in the South African fossil record.
abstract: Associated cercopithecoid postcrania are rare in the Plio-Pleistocene fossil record, particularly in the case of South African karst cave sites. However, as clear postcranial differences between major papionin clades have been documented, it should be possible to assign isolated papionin postcrania to the Cercocebus/Mandrillus and Papio/Lophocebus/Theropithecus groups wherever sufficient anatomy is preserved. Here, we demonstrate that two partial humeri preserved at Taung, UCMP 56693 and UCMP 125898, are most likely attributable to the Cercocebus/Mandrillus and Papio/Lophocebus/Theropithecus clades, respectively. Univariate analyses (ANOVAs and t-tests) and multivariate analyses (discriminant function analyses) of humeral features, combined with a phylogenetic analysis of 24 humeral characters, all support our assessment. Given that the overwhelming number of craniodental specimens at Taung are attributable to two papionin taxa, Procercocebus antiquus (a member of the Cercocebus/Mandrillus clade) and Papio izodi (a purported fossil species of the modern genus Papio), we assign UCMP 56693 to Pr. antiquus and UCMP 125868 to P. izodi with a high degree of confidence. Implications for cercopithecoid evolution and biogeography are discussed, with a particular emphasis on these two fossil taxa.
authors.affiliation: Department of Anthropology, Hunter College of the City University of New York, 695 Park Avenue, New York, NY 10065, USA; PhD Program in Anthropology, The Graduate Center of the City University of New York, 365 Fifth Avenue, New York, NY 10016, USA; New York Consortium in Evolutionary Primatology, New York, NY, USA. Electronic address: cgilbert@hunter.cuny.edu.
authors.forename: Christopher C
authors.initials: CC
authors.lastname: Gilbert
authors.affiliation: New York Consortium in Evolutionary Primatology, New York, NY, USA; Department of Ecology, Evolution, and Environmental Biology, Columbia University, 1200 Amsterdam Avenue, New York, NY 10027, USA.
authors.forename: Maressa Q
authors.initials: MQ
authors.lastname: Takahashi
authors.affiliation: PhD Program in Anthropology, The Graduate Center of the City University of New York, 365 Fifth Avenue, New York, NY 10016, USA; New York Consortium in Evolutionary Primatology, New York, NY, USA; Department of Anthropology, Lehman College of the City University of New York, 250 Bedford Park Boulevard West, Bronx, NY 10468, USA; Department of Vertebrate Paleontology, American Museum of Natural History, 200 Central Park West, New York, NY 10024, USA; Institut Català de Paleontologia Miquel Crusafont (ICP), Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, Edifici Z (ICTA-ICP), campus de la UAB, c/ de les Columnes, s/n., Cerdanyola del Vallès, Barcelona 08193, Spain.
authors.forename: Eric
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Delson
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D016663:Cercopithecinae / Q000033:anatomy & histology* / Q000145:classification*; D005260:Female; D006811:Humerus / Q000033:anatomy & histology*; D008297:Male; D010802:Phylogeny; D013019:South Africa
keywords: Cercocebus; Mandrillus; Papio izodi; Parapapio; Phylogeny; Procercocebus