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| Home > Articles > Published articles > A Dryopithecine Talus From Abocador de Can Mata (Vallès-Penedès Basin, NE Iberian Peninsula) : |
| Home > Articles > Published articles > A Dryopithecine Talus From Abocador de Can Mata (Vallès-Penedès Basin, NE Iberian Peninsula) : |
(Institut Català de Paleontologia Miquel Crusafont) (Institut Català de Paleontologia Miquel Crusafont) (Institut Català de Paleontologia Miquel Crusafont) (Institut Català de Paleontologia Miquel Crusafont) (Institut Català de Paleontologia Miquel Crusafont) (Institut Català de Paleontologia Miquel Crusafont) (Institut Català de Paleontologia Miquel Crusafont)
| Date: | 2025 |
| Abstract: | Objectives: The functional interpretation of postcranial remains of Middle Miocene great apes from Europe (dryopithecines) suggests a combination of quadrupedalism and orthograde behaviors without modern analogs. We provide further insights based on an isolated dryopithecine talus (IPS85037) from the Middle Miocene (11. 7 Ma) Abocador de Can Mata locality ACM/C8-B* (Vallès-Penedès Basin, NE Iberian Peninsula), which represents the most complete one known to date. Material and Methods: We compare the specimen with an extant anthropoid sample (n = 68) and the stem hominoid Ekembo heseloni (KMN RU 2036, ~18 Ma, Kenya) using 3D geometric morphometrics. For the two fossil tali, we assess their phenetic affinities using a between-group principal components analysis (bgPCA), estimate body mass based on centroid size, and make locomotor inferences using a partial least-squares regression (PLSR) between talar shape and locomotor repertoire. Results: Its large inferred body mass (~38 kg) and the possession of several modern hominoid-like features (albeit combined with more plesiomorphic traits) support the attribution of IPS85037 to a male dryopithecine. The bgPCA indicates that IPS85037 falls close to the extant hominoid variation and is less cercopithecoid-like than that of Ekembo, whose inferred locomotor repertoire is vastly dominated by quadrupedalism (81%). In contrast, the locomotor repertoire inferred from IPS85037 combines important quadrupedal (32%) and vertical climbing/clambering (50%) components with only moderate suspension (10%). Discussion: Our results align with previous inferences derived from other postcranial elements of Middle Miocene dryopithecines and, given their classification as crown hominoids, support the hypothesis that certain suspensory adaptations shared by extant hylobatids and hominids likely evolved independently. |
| Grants: | Agencia Estatal de Investigación PID2020-116908GB-I00 Agencia Estatal de Investigación PID2020-117289GB-I00 Agència de Gestió d'Ajuts Universitaris i de Recerca 2021/SGR-00620 Agència de Gestió d'Ajuts Universitaris i de Recerca 2021/SGR-01188 Agència de Gestió d'Ajuts Universitaris i de Recerca 2022/SGR-01184 Generalitat de Catalunya CLT0009_22_000018 Agència de Gestió d'Ajuts Universitaris i de Recerca 2021/FI_B-00524 Agència de Gestió d'Ajuts Universitaris i de Recerca 2022/FI_B1-00131 Agència de Gestió d'Ajuts Universitaris i de Recerca 2023/FI-3-00131 |
| 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 publicada |
| Subject: | Functional morphology ; Miocene apes ; Talus ; Geometric morphometrics ; Locomotion |
| Published in: | American Journal of Biological Anthropology, Vol. 186, Issue 4 (April 2025) , art. e70043, ISSN 2692-7691 |
