La mà dels simis, més evolucionada que la dels humans

La mà dels humans és relativament més curta que la dels simis i amb un polze més poderós. L'estudi dels homínids fòssils del Miocè de Catalunya, com Pierolapithecus i Hispanopithecus, juntament amb la d'altres tàxons fòssils d'arreu del món, demostra que els primers homínids tenien mans relativament curtes amb polzes llargs que feien servir per agafar-se de manera segura a les branques dels arbres durant la progressió quadrúpeda i la grimpació vertical. Al contrari del que podria semblar, les mans curtes dels humans no varen derivar a partir de les mans allargades dels actuals grans simis.La mano de los humanos es relativamente más corta que la de los simios y con un pulgar más poderoso. El estudio de los homínidos fósiles del Mioceno de Cataluña, como Pierolapithecus e Hispanopithecus, junto con la de otros taxones fósiles de todas partes del mundo, demuestra que los primeros homínidos tenían manos relativamente cortas con pulgares largos que usaban para cogerse de manera segura a las ramas de los árboles durante la progresión cuadrúpeda y la grimpación vertical. Al contrario de lo que podría parecer, las manos cortas de los humanos no derivaron a partir de las manos alargadas de los actuales grandes simios

Les desconegudes formes de caminar dels goril·les de muntanya

Un estudi internacional amb participació de l'ICP revela que els goril·les de muntanya es desplacen recolzant les mans al terra de formes molt diferents i no només amb els artells, com es creia fins ara. Un 40% dels individus estudiats presentaven formes diferents de recolzament, algunes mai vistes a goril·les. La troballa posa en qüestió el model actual d'evolució del bipedisme en els hominins.Un estudio internacional con participación del ICP revela que los gorilas de montaña se desplazan apoyando las manos en la tierra de formas muy diferentes, y no solo con los nudillos, como se creía hasta ahora. Un 40% de los individuos estudiados presentaban formas diferentes de apoyo, algunas nunca vistas en gorilas. El hallazgo pone en cuestión el modelo actual de evolución del bipedismo en los homínidos

First record of Latonia gigantea (Anura, Alytidae) from the Iberian Peninsula

The single extant species of the anuran genus Latonia lives in Israel, but in the fossil record the genus is known mainly from Europe, spanning from the Oligocene to the early Pleistocene. Here we describe new remains of Latonia from the early to late Miocene of the Vallès-Penedès Basin (NE Iberian Peninsula), coming from the following localities: Sant Mamet (MN4), Sant Quirze and Trinxera del Ferrocarril (MN7+8), and Castell de Barberà, Can Poncic 1 and Can Llobateres 1 (MN9). Fossils from the late Aragonian and early Vallesian are attributed to Latonia gigantea mainly because of the morphology of the ornamentation that covers the maxillae. In turn, an ilium from Sant Mamet is not diagnostic at the specific level and is assigned only to the genus Latonia. The newly reported remains represent the first record of L. gigantea in the Iberian Peninsula, where Latonia was previously known by a single report of Latonia cf. ragei from Navarrete del Río (MN2) and remains from other localities unassigned to species. Moreover, the Vallès-Penedès remains represent one of the southernmost records of the species known thus far. The presence of Latonia in these localities confirms the humid and warm environment suggested by the recorded mammal fauna

The evolution of human and ape hand proportions

Human hands are distinguished from apes by possessing longer thumbs relative to fingers. However, this simple ape-human dichotomy fails to provide an adequate framework for testing competing hypotheses of human evolution and for reconstructing the morphology of the last common ancestor (LCA) of humans and chimpanzees. We inspect human and ape hand-length proportions using phylogenetically informed morphometric analyses and test alternative models of evolution along the anthropoid tree of life, including fossils like the plesiomorphic ape Proconsul heseloni and the hominins Ardipithecus ramidus and Australopithecus sediba. Our results reveal high levels of hand disparity among modern hominoids, which are explained by different evolutionary processes: autapomorphic evolution in hylobatids (extreme digital and thumb elongation), convergent adaptation between chimpanzees and orangutans (digital elongation) and comparatively little change in gorillas and hominins. The human (and australopith) high thumb-to-digits ratio required little change since the LCA, and was acquired convergently with other highly dexterous anthropoids

Fossil apes and human evolution

Humans diverged from apes (chimpanzees, specifically) toward the end of the Miocene ~9.3 million to 6.5 million years ago. Understanding the origins of the human lineage (hominins) requires reconstructing the morphology, behavior, and environment of the chimpanzee-human last common ancestor. Modern hominoids (that is, humans and apes) share multiple features (for example, an orthograde body plan facilitating upright positional behaviors). However, the fossil record indicates that living hominoids constitute narrow representatives of an ancient radiation of more widely distributed, diverse species, none of which exhibit the entire suite of locomotor adaptations present in the extant relatives. Hence, some modern ape similarities might have evolved in parallel in response to similar selection pressures. Current evidence suggests that hominins originated in Africa from Miocene ape ancestors unlike any living species

Bio- and magnetostratigraphic correlation of the Miocene primate bearing site of Castell de Barber a to the earliest Vallesian

Castell de Barberà, located in the Vallès-Penedès Basin (NE Iberian Peninsula), is one of the few European sites where pliopithecoids (Barberapithecus) and hominoids (cf. Dryopithecus) co-occur. The dating of this Miocene site has proven controversial. A latest Aragonian (MN7+8, ca. 11.88-11.18 Ma) age was long accepted by most authors, despite subsequent reports of hipparionin remains that signaled a Vallesian age. On the latter basis, Castell de Barberà was recently correlated to the early Vallesian (MN9, ca. 11.18-10.3 Ma) on tentative grounds. Uncertainties about the provenance of the Hippotherium material and the lack of magnetostratigraphic data precluded more accurate dating. After decades of inactivity, fieldwork was resumed in 2014-2015 at Castell de Barberà, including the original layer (CB-D) that in the past delivered most of the fossils. Here we report magnetostratigraphic results for the original outcrop and another nearby section. Our results indicate that CB-D is located in a normal polarity magnetozone at about midheight of a short (~20 m-thick) stratigraphic section. The composite magnetostratigraphic section (~50 m) has as many as four to six magnetozones. These multiple reversals, coupled with the in situ recovery of a Hippotherium humerus from CB-D in 2015, make it very unlikely the correlation of any of the sampled normal polarity magnetozones with the long normal polarity subchron C5n.2n (11.056-9.984 Ma), which is characteristic of the early Vallesian. Our results support instead a correlation of CB-D with C5r.1n (11.188-11.146 Ma), where the Aragonian/Vallesian boundary is situated, and therefore indicate an earliest Vallesian age of ~11.2 Ma for Castell de Barberà. Our results settle the longstanding debate about the Aragonian vs. Vallesian age of this site, which appears roughly coeval with the Creu de Conill 20 locality (11.18 Ma), where hipparionins are first recorded in the Vallès- Penedès Basi

The reconstructed cranium of Pierolapithecus and the evolution of the great ape face

Pierolapithecus catalaunicus (~12 million years ago, northeastern Spain) is key to understanding the mosaic nature of hominid (great ape and human) evolution. Notably, its skeleton indicates that an orthograde (upright) body plan preceded suspensory adaptations in hominid evolution. However, there is ongoing debate about this species, partly because the sole known cranium, preserving a nearly complete face, suffers from taphonomic damage. We 1) carried out a micro computerized tomography (CT) based virtual reconstruction of the Pierolapithecus cranium, 2) assessed its morphological affinities using a series of two-dimensional (2D) and three-dimensional (3D) morphometric analyses, and 3) modeled the evolution of key aspects of ape face form. The reconstruction clarifies many aspects of the facial morphology of Pierolapithecus. Our results indicate that it is most similar to great apes (fossil and extant) in overall face shape and size and is morphologically distinct from other Middle Miocene apes. Crown great apes can be distinguished from other taxa in several facial metrics (e.g., low midfacial prognathism, relatively tall faces) and only some of these features are found in Pierolapithecus, which is most consistent with a stem (basal) hominid position. The inferred morphology at all ancestral nodes within the hominoid (ape and human) tree is closer to great apes than to hylobatids (gibbons and siamangs), which are convergent with other smaller anthropoids. Our analyses support a hominid ancestor that was distinct from all extant and fossil hominids in overall facial shape and shared many features with Pierolapithecus. This reconstructed ancestral morphotype represents a testable hypothesis that can be reevaluated as new fossils are discovered.Fil: Pugh, Kelsey D.. City University of New York; Estados UnidosFil: Catalano, Santiago Andres. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico - Tucumán. Unidad Ejecutora Lillo; Argentina. Universidad Nacional de Tucumán. Facultad de Ciencias Naturales e Instituto Miguel Lillo; ArgentinaFil: Pérez de los Ríos, Miriam. Universidad Complutense de Madrid. Facultad de Biología; EspañaFil: Fortuny, Josep. Institut Català de Paleontologia Miquel Crusafont.; EspañaFil: Shearer, Brian M.. New York Consortium in Evolutionary Primatology; Estados Unidos. New York University Grossman School of Medicine; Estados UnidosFil: Vecino Gazabón, Alessandra. American Museum of Natural History; Estados Unidos. New York Consortium in Evolutionary Primatology; Estados UnidosFil: Hammond, Ashley S.. American Museum of Natural History; Estados Unidos. New York Consortium in Evolutionary Primatology; Estados UnidosFil: Moyà Solà, Salvador. Institut Català de Paleontologia Miquel Crusafont.; España. Institució Catalana de Recerca i Estudis Avancats; España. Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona; EspañaFil: Alba, David M.. Institut Català de Paleontologia Miquel Crusafont.; EspañaFil: Almécija, Sergio. American Museum of Natural History; Estados Unidos. New York Consortium in Evolutionary Primatology; Estados Unidos. Institut Català de Paleontologia Miquel Crusafont; Españ

Los vertebrados fosiles del Abocador de Can Mata (els Hostalets de Pierola, l'Anoia, CataluÑa), una sucesion de localidades del Aragoniense superior (MN6 y MN7+8) de la cuenca del Valles-Penedes. CampaÑas 2002-2003, 2004-2005

Se presenta una síntesis del registro de vertebrados fósiles del Abocador de Can Mata (els Hostalets de Pierola, cuenca neógena del Vallès-Penedès), con especial énfasis en los aspectos taxonómico y bioestratigráfico. Este macroyacimiento incluye por el momento una sucesión de 91 localidades de micro- y/o macrovertebrados muestreadas, repartidas a lo largo de unos 300 m de serie estratigráfica, abarcando un intervalo de tiempo de más de un millón de años correspondiente al Aragoniense superior. Durante los 28 meses de trabajo de campo desarrollados a lo largo de las campañas 2002-2003, 2004 y 2005, se han recuperado más de 15.000 restos de macrovertebrados fósiles y más de 1.300 dientes de micromamíferos (cantidad que se verá incrementada en el futuro cuando haya finalizado el lavado y triado de los sedimentos acumulados). Se presenta por primera vez una lista exhaustiva del conjunto de localidades y su contextualización estratigráfica, además de una lista faunística actualizada y una propuesta de biozonación local. La gran riqueza fosilífera de la zona y el enorme esfuerzo de muestreo, combinados con los requerimientos de la legislación vigente sobre protección del patrimonio paleontológico, explican el éxito de la intervención paleontológica. En conjunto, la ampliación del vertedero de Can Mata, con el adecuado control paleontológico, proporciona una oportunidad única para investigar la composición faunística de los ecosistemas terrestres del Aragoniense superior en el suroeste de Europa