Anthropoid Origins

This volume brings together information about recent discoveries and current theories concerning the origin and early evolution of anthropoid primates­ monkeys, apes, and humans. Although Anthropoidea is one of the most dis­ tinctive groups of living primates, and the origin of the group is a frequent topic of discussion in the anthropological and paleontological literature, the topic of anthropoid origins has rarely been the foeus of direct discussion in primate evolution. Rather, diseussion of anthropoid origins appears as a ma­ jor side issue in volumes dealing with the origin of platyrrhines (Ciochon and Chiarelli, 1980), in discussions about the phylogenetic position of Tarsius, in descriptions of early anthropoid fossils, and in descriptions and revisions of various fossil prosimians. As a result, the literature on anthropoid origins has a long history of argument by advocacy, in which scholars with different views have expounded individual theories based on a small bit of evidence at hand, often with little consideration of alternative views and other types of evidence that have been used in their support. This type of scholarship struck us as a relatively unproductive approach to a critical issue in primate evolution.

1 The Early Radiation of Euprimates and the Initial Diversification of Omomyidae.- 2 Recently Recovered Specimens of North American Eocene Omomyids and Adapids and Their Bearing on Debates about Anthropoid Origins.- 3 Cranial Anatomy of Shoshonius and the Antiquity of Anthropoidea.- 4 The Messel Primates and Anthropoid Origins.- 5 Relative Ages of Eocene Primate-Bearing Deposits of Asia.- 6 The Asian Origin of Anthropoidea Revisited.- 7 Rencunius zhoui, New Primate from the Late Middle Eocene of Henan, China, and a Comparison with Some Early Anthropoidea.- 8 The Eocene Origin of Anthropoid Primates: Adaptation, Evolution, and Diversity.- 9 Eocene Anthropoid Postcrania from the Fayum, Egypt.- 10 Early North African Primates and Their Significance for the Origin of Simiiformes (= Anthropoidea).- 11 Paleogeography, Paleobiogeography, and Anthropoid Origins.- 12 The Different Meanings of a Tarsioid - Anthropoid Clade and a New Model of Anthropoid Origin.- 13 Dental Evidence for AnthropoidOrigins.- 14 Function and Fusion of the Mandibular Symphysis in Primates: Stiffness or Strength?.- 15 The Craniofacial Evidence for Anthropoid and Tarsier Relationships.- 16 Anatomy, Antinomies, and the Problem of Anthropoid Origins.- 17 Postcranial Anatomy and the Origin of the Anthropoidea.- 18 Primitive Platyrrhines? Perspectives on Anthropoid Origins from Platyrrhine, Parapithecid, and Preanthropoid Posteronia.- 19 Anthropoid Origins: Past, Present, and Future.- Systematic Index.- Geological and Geographic Index.