New Pliopithecoids from the Miocene of Asia

(Credit: T. Harrison)

Catarrhine primates originated in Afro-Arabia during the Eocene and were restricted to this zoogeographic province until the early Miocene.  The pliopithecoids, a group of primitive catarrhines, were the first to appear in Eurasia at about 20-18 million years ago. Dionysopithecid pliopithecoids from the early Miocene (18-17 million years ago) locality of Sihong in China are the earliest known Eurasian catarrhines. During the middle and late Miocene pliopithecoids diversified, and were represented by more than a dozen species distributed across Eurasia from Spain to China. During the late Miocene, global cooling led to major ecological changes, and pliopithecoids became extinct in Europe about 9 million years ago.  However, they lingered on in the subtropical woodlands and forests of southern China until at least 7 million years ago.  Terry Harrison’s recent work in this area has focused on the taxonomy, phylogenetic relationships, and biogeography of the pliopithecoids from Asia.  Some exciting new discoveries from China and India show that Asian pliopithecoids were much more diverse than previously known.

Selected recent publications

Sukselainen, L., Kaakinen, A., Eronen, J.T., Passey, B.H., Harrison, T., Zhang, Z., & Fortelius, M. 2017. The palaeoenvironment of the middle Miocene pliopithecid locality in Damiao, Inner Mongolia, China.  Journal of Human Evolution 108: 31-46.

Sankhyan, A.R., Kelley, J., & Harrison, T. 2017. Nine million-year-old ape-like fossils found at Haritalyangar, India.  Current Science 112: 1632-1634.

Sankhyan, A.R., Kelley, J., & Harrison, T. 2017. A highly derived pliopithecoid from the Late Miocene of Haritalyangar, India. Journal of Human Evolution 105: 1-12.

Sukselainen, L., Fortelius, M., & Harrison, T. 2013. Co-occurrence of pliopithecid and hominid primates in the fossil record: an ecometric analysis. Journal of Human Evolution 84: 25-41.

Harrison, T. 2013. Catarrhine origins, in D. Begun (Ed.) A Companion to Paleoanthropology, pp. 376-396.  New York: Blackwell Publishing Ltd.

Zhang, Z. & Harrison, T. 2008. A new middle Miocene pliopithecid from Inner Mongolia, China. Journal of Human Evolution 54: 444-447.

Harrison, T. 2005. The zoogeographic and phylogenetic relationships of early catarrhine primates in Asia.  Anthropological Science 113: 43-51.