Home > Articles > Published articles > First joint record of Mesopithecus and cf. Macaca in the Miocene of Europe |
Date: | 2014 |
Abstract: | Cercopithecid fossil remains from the post-evaporitic Messinian (5. 40-5. 33 Ma, MN13, latest Turolian, latest Miocene) locality of Moncucco Torinese (Tertiary Piedmont Basin, NW Italy) are described. A talus is assigned to the fossil colobine Mesopithecus pentelicus, while a proximal fragment of ulna and a male lower canine are attributed to cf. Me. pentelicus. An isolated I2 and M3 are assigned to the papionin cf. Macaca sp. , and two cercopithecid phalanges are left unassigned even to the subfamily level. The record of Mesopithecus at Moncucco Torinese agrees well with the previously-known range of this species in Italy and elsewhere in Europe, whereas that of cf. Macaca constitutes only the second occurrence of macaques in the Miocene of Eurasia. Although the co-occurrence of these two genera in a single locality had been previously reported in the Pliocene, this is the first instance in which macaques are associated with the Late Miocene M. pentelicus instead of Mesopithecus monspessulanus. The record of cf. Macaca and Mesopithecus-and especially the latter's talar morphology, similar to that of extant arboreal colobines-fits well with paleoenvironmental reconstructions of Moncucco Torinese based on the associated fauna, which indicate a humid and densely-forested environment, probably with more open and drier habitats nearby. From a paleobiogeographic viewpoint, the record of Macaca at Moncucco Torinese, together with the previously reported occurrence at Almenara-Casablanca M (Spain), supports the contention that macaques dispersed from Africa into Europe during the latest Miocene (ca. 5. 9-5. 3 Ma) at the same time as the sea level drop associated with the Messinian Salinity Crisis. |
Grants: | Ministerio de Economía y Competitividad CGL2011-28681 Ministerio de Economía y Competitividad CGL2011-27343 Ministerio de Economía y Competitividad RYC-2009-04533 Agència de Gestió d'Ajuts Universitaris i de Recerca 2009/SGR-754 Agència de Gestió d'Ajuts Universitaris i de Recerca 2011/BE-DGR-00310 |
Rights: | Aquest document està subjecte a una llicència d'ús Creative Commons. Es permet la reproducció total o parcial, la distribució, i la comunicació pública de l'obra, sempre que no sigui amb finalitats comercials, i sempre que es reconegui l'autoria de l'obra original. No es permet la creació d'obres derivades. |
Language: | Anglès |
Document: | Article ; recerca ; Versió acceptada per publicar |
Subject: | Colobinae ; Cercopithecinae ; Fossil monkeys ; Miocene ; Moncucco Torinese ; Tertiary Piedmont Basin ; Italy |
Published in: | Journal of human evolution, Vol. 67 (February 2014) , p. 1-18, ISSN 0047-2484 |
Postprint 59 p, 1.5 MB |