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| Kapi ramnagarensis Gilbert, Ortiz, Pugh, Campisano, et al., 2020. |
Abstract
The fossil record of ‘lesser apes’ (i.e. hylobatids = gibbons and siamangs) is virtually non-existent before the latest Miocene of East Asia. However, molecular data strongly and consistently suggest that hylobatids should be present by approximately 20 Ma; thus, there are large temporal, geographical, and morphological gaps between early fossil apes in Africa and the earliest fossil hylobatids in China. Here, we describe a new approximately 12.5–13.8 Ma fossil ape from the Lower Siwaliks of Ramnagar, India, that fills in these long-standing gaps with implications for hylobatid origins. This ape represents the first new hominoid species discovered at Ramnagar in nearly a century, the first new Siwalik ape taxon in more than 30 years, and likely extends the hylobatid fossil record by approximately 5 Myr, providing a minimum age for hylobatid dispersal coeval to that of great apes. The presence of crown hylobatid molar features in the new species indicates an adaptive shift to a more frugivorous diet during the Middle Miocene, consistent with other proposed adaptations to frugivory (e.g. uricase gene silencing) during this time period as well.
Keywords: Asia, fossil, lower Siwaliks, gibbon, biogeography, hylobatid
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| Map illustrating the location of Kapi ramnagarensis (black star) relative to modern (dark green) and historical (light green) populations of hylobatids and the approximate distribution of stem hominoid sites in East Africa (blue triangles). Green triangles mark the location of the hylobatid fossil taxa Bunopithecus and Yuanmoupithecus; yellow rectangles mark the location of the fossil catarrhine taxon Dionysopithecus sp. from Middle Miocene sites in Pakistan. |
Systematic palaeontology
Order Primates Linnaeus, 1758
Suborder Anthropoidea Mivart, 1864
Infraorder Catarrhini Geoffroy St. Hilaire, 1812
Superfamily Hominoidea Gray, 1825
Family Hylobatidae Gray, 1870
Kapi ramnagarensis gen. et sp. nov.
Etymology: Genus name from the Hindi word for a common anthropoid ape or monkey (kapi). Species name in reference to Ramnagar (Jammu and Kashmir), India, where the type specimen was found.
Horizon: Lower Siwalik deposits; approximately 12.5–13.8 Ma
Christopher C. Gilbert, Alejandra Ortiz, Kelsey D. Pugh, Christopher J. Campisano, Biren A. Patel, Ningthoujam Premjit Singh, John G. Fleagle and Rajeev Patnaik. 2020. New Middle Miocene Ape (Primates: Hylobatidae) from Ramnagar, India fills Major Gaps in the Hominoid Fossil Record. Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences. 287(1934), 20201655. DOI: 10.1098/rspb.2020.1655
