New primate genus from the Miocene of Argentina

doi:10.1073/pnas.0506126103

New primate genus from the Miocene of Argentina

*Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas, Laboratorio de Investigaciones en Evolución y Biodiversidad, Facultad de Ciencias Naturales, Sede Esquel, Universidad Nacional de la Patagonia “San Juan Bosco,” Sarmiento 849, 9200 Esquel, Argentina;
^‡Facultad de Ciencias Exactas, Físicas y Naturales, Universidad Nacional de Córdoba, Avenida Velez Sarsfield 249, 5000 Córdoba, Argentina;
^§Department of Archaeology and Anthropology, Brooklyn College, City University of New York, 2900 Bedford Avenue, Brooklyn, NY 11210;
^¶Division of Vertebrate Zoology (Mammalogy), American Museum of Natural History, Central Park West at 79th Street, New York, NY 11024;
^‖Department of Geological Sciences, Rutgers University, Piscataway, NJ 08854; and
**Museo Regional Provincial “Padre Manuel Jesús Molina,” Ramón y Cajal 51, 9400 Río Gallegos, Argentina

Edited by Jeremy A. Sabloff, University of Pennsylvania Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology, Philadelphia, PA, and approved December 28, 2005 (received for review August 4, 2005)

Abstract

Killikaike blakei is a new genus and species of anthropoid from the late Early Miocene of southeastern Argentina based on the most pristine fossil platyrrhine skull and dentition known so far. It is part of the New World platyrrhine clade (Family Cebidae; Subfamily Cebinae) including modern squirrel (Saimiri) and capuchin monkeys (Cebus) and their fossil relatives known from Early to Middle Miocene and subrecent periods. Living cebines are relatively large-brained, adroit predatory foragers and live within complex social groups, and wild capuchins exhibit a wide range of behaviors associated with enhanced intelligence. We show that K. blakei lacks diagnostic derived characteristics of the lower face and premolar dentition that are shared by modern cebines, but its strongly vaulted frontal bone and capacious anterior cranial fossa indicate the early evolution of an enlarged forebrain.

Footnotes

^†To whom correspondence should be addressed. E-mail: mtejedor{at}lieb.org.ar
Author contributions: M.F.T., A.A.T., and A.L.R. designed research; M.F.T., A.A.T., A.L.R., and C.C.S. performed research; M.F.T., A.L.R., and C.C.S. contributed new reagents/analytic tools; M.F.T., A.A.T., A.L.R., C.C.S., and M.E.P. analyzed data; and M.F.T., A.A.T., A.L.R., and C.C.S. wrote the paper.
↵ †† Fleagle, J. G., Buckley, G. A. & Schloeder, M. E. (1988) J. Vert. Paleontol. 8, 14a (abstr.).
↵ ‡‡ Fleagle, J. G. Perkins, M., Bown, T. M., Tauber, A. A. & Dozo, M. T. (2004) J. Vert. Paleont. 24, Suppl. 3, 58A (abstr.).
↵ §§ Kay, R. F., Vizcano, S. F., Tauber, A. A., Bargo, M. S., Williams, B. A., Luna, C. & Colbert, M. W. (2005) Am. J. Phys. Anthropol. Suppl., 131 (abstr.).
Conflict of interest statement: No conflicts declared.
This paper was submitted directly (Track II) to the PNAS office.
Abbreviations:

Abbreviation:

Ma,

mega-annum.