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20 - Dispersion, Speciation, Evolution, and Coexistence of East Asian Catarrhine Primates and Humans in Yunnan, China
- from Part IV - Asia
- Edited by Bernardo Urbani, Dionisios Youlatos, Aristotle University, Thessaloniki, Andrzej T. Antczak, Universiteit Leiden
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- Book:
- World Archaeoprimatology
- Published online:
- 03 August 2022
- Print publication:
- 18 August 2022, pp 497-515
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Summary
Based on a broad literature review of journal and book publications, governmental archives, and annals, this study comprehensively examines the special contribution of Yunnan, China, to understanding East Asian catarrhines (colobines, macaques), as well as hominoids, gibbons, hominins, and modern ethnic groups since the Later Miocene or Early Pliocene. It spatially demonstrates their relationship, particularly that between primates and archaic and modern humans. The results indicate that a specific region in Yunnan, joining with the southeast Qinghai–Tibet Plateau, the end of the eastern margin of the Himalayas, and the Hengduan Mountains (SQPMH), is globally distinctive in promoting catarrhine dispersion, radiation, speciation, and evolution in East and Southeast Asia. This area forms the gateway between West, East and Southeast. Six major archaeological sites in Yunnan (Yuanmou, Jiangchuan, Tangzigou, Xianrendong, Xiaodong, and Maludong) share the same environments and habitats with primates, indicating a strong tendency for coexistence. Yunnan also offered an exclusive refugium for plants, animals, and humans during the glaciation so that it maintains the largest numbers of ethnic groups (26) and primate species (21 of 25 species) in China. Although primates inspired significant contributions to arts, culture, social life, and medical research for humans, as in other parts of China, they have suffered greatly in recent Chinese history, particularly since the second half of the last century, resulting in the extirpation of two gibbon species in the province.
KeywordsEast Asia, Yunnan, Qinghai Tibet Plateau, Mts. Hengduan, Refugium, Homo, Primates, Dispersion, Catarrhine Evolution
3 - Advances in the analysis of form and pattern: facial growth in African colobines
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- By Paul O'Higgins, Hull York Medical School and Department of Biology, The University of York, Heslington, York, YO10 5DD, UK, Ruliang L. Pan, School of Anatomy and Human Biology, University of Western Australia, 35 Stirling Highway, Crawley, WA, 6009 Australia
- Edited by Fred Anapol, University of Wisconsin, Milwaukee, Rebecca Z. German, University of Cincinnati, Nina G. Jablonski, California Academy of Sciences, San Francisco
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- Book:
- Shaping Primate Evolution
- Published online:
- 10 August 2009
- Print publication:
- 20 May 2004, pp 24-44
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Summary
Introduction
One of Oxnard's enduring contributions to primatology has been the demonstration of the value of multivariate morphometric methods in providing insights into patterns of morphological variation and their ontogenetic, functional, ecological, and phylogenetic correlates. Oxnard's studies have spanned the whole range of primates and a very broad spectrum of anatomy from the skeleton to the soft tissues of muscle and brain. He was one of the first to emphasize the importance of ontogeny in providing an interpretive framework for adult anatomy (Oxnard, 1984, Fig. 2.4). The work and ideas presented in this chapter continue this morphometric tradition. Thus we present a study of ontogenetic and adult variation in the facial skeleton of one group of primates using geometric morphometric methods. While these methods are becoming widely used, they may still be unfamiliar to many readers. The methods section therefore presents an outline summary of some relevant geometric morphometric tools before detailing the specific analyses employed in this chapter.
The study examines patterns of facial variation and ontogeny within and between three African colobine taxa. The ontogenetic origins of diversity in facial skeletal morphology of this group of monkeys have never been studied and yet they are interesting since, unlike the Asian colobines, they form a closely related, possibly monophyletic group (subtribe Colobina: Delson, 1994). This is suggested by the fact that they share quite a number of similarities including a vestigial thumb and shortened midtarsals together with postcranial and dental features (Szalay and Delson, 1979; Strasser and Delson, 1987; Delson, 1994).
4 - Cranial variation among the Asian colobines
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- By Ruliang L. Pan, School of Anatomy and Human Biology, University of Western Australia, 35 Stirling Highway, Crawley, WA, 6009 Australia, Colin P. Groves, School of Archaeology and Anthropology, Australian National University, Canberra, ACT 0200, Australia
- Edited by Fred Anapol, University of Wisconsin, Milwaukee, Rebecca Z. German, University of Cincinnati, Nina G. Jablonski, California Academy of Sciences, San Francisco
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- Book:
- Shaping Primate Evolution
- Published online:
- 10 August 2009
- Print publication:
- 20 May 2004, pp 45-65
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Summary
Introduction
Variation in cranial measurements between species has been commonly used to shed light on controversies in the classification, evolution, phylogeny, and functional adaptation of primates. Variation within species has also been used frequently to reveal differences between populations or sexes in morphology, social activities, behavior, ancestral heritage, size, and sexual selection (e.g., Leutenegger and Kelly, 1977; Oxnard, 1983a; Cheverud et al., 1985; Albrecht and Miller, 1993). Studies involving both inter- and intraspecific variation simultaneously are, however, rare (Pan, 1998; Pan and Oxnard, 2000, 2001a). This approach has proven useful in revealing patterns of variation in different functional units or anatomic regions in the same organ (e.g., skull) and in the analysis of the relationship between species or species groups in terms of shape and functional adaptation of various structures. Such studies, although clearly phenetic, have the potential to shed useful light on controversies relating to phylogeny and classification, especially of closely related primate taxa. Previous studies examining inter- and intraspecific variation were carried out on macaques (Pan, 1998; Pan and Oxnard, 2000, 2001a). In this study, the same approach is applied to the Asian colobines because they appear to have evolved in the same places and roughly at the same time as the macaques, and their evolution was probably influenced by many of the same environmental changes during the Pliocene and Pleistocene (Pan and Jablonski, 1987; Jablonski, 1993).
Asian colobines have been a highly successful radiation, as judged by their diversity and wide distribution.