The evolution of hominoid locomotor versatility: Evidence from Moroto, a 21 Ma site in Uganda

• 成果类型: Article
• 署名作者: MacLatchy, Laura M.; Cote, Susanne M.; Deino, Alan L.; Kityo, Robert M.; Mugume, Amon A. T.; Rossie, James B.; Sanders, William J.; Cosman, Miranda N.; Driese, Steven G.; Fox, David L.; Freeman, April J.; Jansma, Rutger J. W.; Jenkins, Kirsten E. H.; Kinyanjui, Rahab N.; Lukens, William E.; McNulty, Kieran P.; Novello, Alice; Peppe, Daniel J.; Stromberg, Caroline A. E.; Uno, Kevin T.; Winkler, Alisa J.; Kingston, John D.
• 署名单位: University of Michigan System; University of Michigan; University of Michigan System; University of Michigan; University of Calgary; Berkeley Geochronolgy Center; Makerere University; State University of New York (SUNY) System; Stony Brook University; Baylor University; University of Minnesota System; University of Minnesota Twin Cities; Arizona State University; Arizona State University-Tempe; Max Planck Society; Smithsonian Institution; Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History; James Madison University; University of Minnesota System; University of Minnesota Twin Cities; Institut de Recherche pour le Developpement (IRD); Universite PSL; College de France; Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS); INRAE; Aix-Marseille Universite; University of Washington; University of Washington Seattle; University of Washington; University of Washington Seattle; Columbia University; Southern Methodist University; University of Texas System; University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center
• 刊物名称: SCIENCE
• ISSN/ISSBN: 0036-13737
• DOI: 10.1126/science.abq2835
• 发表日期: 2023-04-13
• 页码: 172-+
• 关键词: old-world monkeys; miocene great ape; pierolapithecus-catalaunicus; positional behavior; vegetation change; middle miocene; dietary; oligocene; primate; paleoecology

摘要

Living hominoids are distinguished by upright torsos and versatile locomotion. It is hypothesized that these features evolved for feeding on fruit from terminal branches in forests. To investigate the evolutionary context of hominoid adaptive origins, we analyzed multiple paleoenvironmental proxies in conjunction with hominoid fossils from the Moroto II site in Uganda. The data indicate seasonally dry woodlands with the earliest evidence of abundant C4 grasses in Africa based on a confirmed age of 21 million years ago (Ma). We demonstrate that the leaf-eating hominoid Morotopithecus consumed water-stressed vegetation, and postcrania from the site indicate ape-like locomotor adaptations. These findings suggest that the origin of hominoid locomotor versatility is associated with foraging on leaves in heterogeneous, open woodlands rather than forests.