Upper molar morphology of the early oligocene egyptian anthropoid Qatrania wingi

Bibliographic Data

ID8317183
AuthorsK Christopher Beard (0000-0002-6279-9837, Biodiversity Institute, University of Kansas Lawrence KS 66045, corresponding author), Pauline M C Coster (Biodiversity Institute, University of Kansas Lawrence KS 66045), Pauline Coster (0000-0003-4015-252X, University of Kansas)
Year2016
Volume159
Issue4
Pages714-721
Publication date2016-04-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueAmerican Journal of Physical Anthropology (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0002-9483 • E-ISSN: 1096-8644
PublisherWiley (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1002/ajpa.22913
PMID26660957
OpenAlexW2192135531
LanguageEN
Citations received2
References cited31

OBJECTIVES: Qatrania wingi is a poorly documented fossil anthropoid known only from Quarry E in the Jebel Qatrani Formation, Fayum Depression, Egypt. This report augments our knowledge of the dental morphology of Qatrania in order to clarify its phylogenetic relationships with other early African anthropoids. MATERIALS AND METHODS: YPM 18008 from Quarry E is the first example of an upper molar fragment that can reasonably be assigned to Qatrania wingi. Maximum parsimony phylogenetic analyses incorporating the new data from YPM 18008 were performed. RESULTS: If YPM 18008 is treated as a separate OTU, it is reconstructed as a member of Qatraniinae (the parapithecid clade containing Qatrania and Apidium). The only qatraniine known to occur at Quarry E is Qatrania wingi, and YPM 18008 is allocated to this species based on its size, provenance, and morphology. Despite its small size and early stratigraphic occurrence, the upper molar morphology of Qatrania wingi is highly derived with respect to that of other parapithecids aside from Apidium. Like that of Apidium, the upper molar morphology of Qatrania bears multiple neomorphic cusps and cuspules. These features appear to be synapomorphies linking Apidium and Qatrania to the exclusion of other parapithecids for which upper molar morphology is known, namely Simonsius grangeri and Biretia spp. DISCUSSION: YPM 18008 supports the recent proposal of a Qatrania + Apidium clade within Parapithecidae. This conflicts with earlier hypotheses, in which Qatrania was reconstructed as being phylogenetically basal to a clade including the younger, larger-bodied parapithecid taxa Apidium, Parapithecus, and Simonsius

Biology · Clade · Molar · Morphology (biology) · Phylogenetic tree · Synapomorphy · Taxon · Zoology · Evolution and Paleontology Studies · Genetics · Paleontology · Paleontology and Evolutionary Biology · Pleistocene-Era Hominins and Archaeology

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