Mammalian interchanges between Africa and Eurasia

An analysis of temporal constraints on plausible anthropoid dispersals during the Paleogene

Bibliographic Data

ID7986196
AuthorsRodolphe Tabuce (0000-0002-4713-3981, Laboratoire de Paléontologie, Institut des Sciences de l’Évolution (ISEM, CNRS-UMR 5554), C.C. 064, Université Montpellier II), Laurent Marivaux (0000-0002-2882-0874, Laboratoire de Paléontologie, Institut des Sciences de l’Évolution (ISEM, CNRS-UMR 5554), C.C. 064, Université Montpellier II)
Year2005
Volume113
Issue1
Pages27-32
Publication date2005-01-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueAnthropological Science (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0918-7960 • E-ISSN: 1348-8570
PublisherAnthropological Society of Nippon (PUBLISHER • JP)
DOI10.1537/ase.04s004
OpenAlexW2003747784
LanguageEN
Citations received4
References cited39

Paleogene temporal and paleogeographic constraints on mammalian faunal interchange between Africa and Eurasia are reassessed in order to discuss the origin of Primates, Anthropoidea, and Catarrhini. During the late Paleocene to early Eocene interval, the fossil record indicates faunal exchange between Africa and the North Tethyan areas involving several groups of mammals, such as the earliest primates, carnivores, and some archaic ungulates. The polarities of such dispersal events are unresolved to date. Regarding the paleogeography of anthropoid origins, previous cladistic assessments argued for a dispersal from Asia to Africa during the early Eocene. However, faunal exchange during that period has been documented only between Africa and Europe. A speculative basis for an Asian origin of African zegdoumyid rodents is the only body of evidence that suggests that the earliest anthropoids might have migrated to Africa from Asia. Finally, according to the putative occurrence of catarrhines (amphipithecids) in the middle Eocene of Asia, a middle Eocene migration event towards Africa is proposed, although this is supported only by hystricognath and anomaluroid rodents, and by anthracotheriid artiodactyls. In conclusion, the early paleobiogeographic history of anthropoids remains conjectural because of the lack of phylogenetic resolution

Biogeography · Biological dispersal · Biology · Cretaceous · Evolutionary biology · Geography · Old World · Out of africa · Paleogene · Population · Bat Biology and Ecology Studies · Demography · Evolution and Paleontology Studies · Primate Behavior and Ecology · Paleontology

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