The Platyrrhine Fossil Record

The Platyrrhine Fossil Record is a compendium of papers presented in a symposium of the 12th Congress of the International Congress of Primatology held in Brazil. One paper reviews evidence from fossil platyrrhines where the author concludes new dating and environmental data where these animals lived. Another paper describes the major changes pertaining to South American mammalian fauna during the Cenozoic Era, which he relates to global and regional geotectonic changes. Other papers review the paleontology and geology of the Miocene Pintura Formation and reassess the morphological transformations traditionally assumed as having been involved in platyrrhine phylogeny. One author also proposes that a prosimian-like ancestor is probably the predecessors of anthropoids; any similarities and primitive mammals can be evolutionary reversals associated with quadrupedal movements. The text also addresses the issue whether anthropoids, including platyrrhines, evolved from a prosimian ancestor or prosimians are just a group with mammalian postcranial skeletal structure. One author also reviews fossil remains found in the Caribbean, citing seven endemic taxa of platyrrhines in Cuba, Hispaniola, and Jamaica. Anthropologists, researchers involved in anatomical sciences, academicians, and administrators whose works are connected with museums of natural history or institutes of primate research will find this collection valuable.

ContributorsPrefaceChronology of Cenozoic Primate Localities in South AmericaEvolving Climates and Mammal Faunas in Cenozoic South AmericaNew Fossil Platyrrhines from the Pinturas Formation, Southern ArgentinaSedimentary Paleoenvironments of Fossil Platyrrhine Localities, Miocene Pinturas Formation, Santa Cruz Province, ArgentinaModels for the Origin of the Anthropoid PostcraniumLocomotor Adaptations of Fossil PlatyrrhinesThe Phyletic Relationships of Extant and Fossil Pitheciinae (Platyrrhini, Anthropoidea)The Fossil Record of Callitrichine PrimatesPlatyrrhine Evolution in the West Indies