Equatorius: A new hominoid genus from the middle Miocene of Kenya

Science

Volumn 285, Issue 5432, 1999, Pages 1382-1386

  Ward, Steve ^a,e   Brown, Barbara ^a   Hill, Andrew ^b   Kelley, Jay ^c   Downs, Will ^d  

^a Northeast Ohio Medical University   (United States)

^b YALE UNIVERSITY   (United States)

^c UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS AT CHICAGO   (United States)

^d NORTHERN ARIZONA UNIVERSITY   (United States)

^e KENT STATE UNIVERSITY   (United States)

Author keywords

[No Author keywords available]

Indexed keywords

MIOCENE;

ARTICLE; EVOLUTION; HOMINID; HUMAN; KENYA; PRIORITY JOURNAL; SKELETON; SPECIES DIFFERENCE; TAXONOMY;

ANIMALS; BONE AND BONES; DENTITION; FOSSILS; HISTORY, ANCIENT; HOMINIDAE; HUMANS; KENYA; MANDIBLE; PALEODONTOLOGY; SKELETON; TERMINOLOGY; TOOTH;

KENYA;

ALOCASIA MACRORRHIZOS; EQUATORIUS; HOMINIDAE; HOMINOIDEA; HOMO; KENYAPITHECUS; KENYAPITHECUS AFRICANUS; PRIMATES;

EID: 0033610035     PISSN: 00368075     EISSN: None     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: 10.1126/science.285.5432.1382     Document Type: Article

References (38)

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19. Preliminary descriptions of large hominoid specimens from Nachola (20, 23, 24) and differences in the morphology of hominoid humeri from Maboko (35) suggest that material herein assigned to Equatorius may comprise more than one species.
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29. KNM-FT 28 has an index of relative canine height (crown height divided by maximum mesiodistal length) of 1.62. The value for the canine belonging to KNM-TH 28860 is 1.35. Ranges of values and sample sizes for Proconsul and Afropithecus are, respectively, 1.40 to 1.50 (9) and 1.14 to 1.18 (2); for Dryopithecus and Lufengpithecus values are 1.54 to 1.61 (3) and 1.56 to 1.85 (7).
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33. 4, and the maxilla.
34. Two distinct lower canine morphologies are now recognized in the Paşalar sample. Canines belonging to the unnamed species are uniformly higher crowned in relation to length than those assigned to G. alpani.
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36. Andrews (12) proposed phyletic links between Kenyapithecus and all Turkish Middle Miocene taxa. We would restrict this relationship to the second, unnamed species at Paşalar.
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38. This research forms part of the work of the Baringo Paleontological Research Project (BPRP), in collaboration with the National Museums of Kenya. We thank the Office of the President of the Republic of Kenya for permission to carry out research in Kenya. BPRP has been supported by grants to A.H. from NSF (SBR-9208903), the Louise H. and David S. Ingalls Foundation, the Louise I. Brown Foundation, Clayton Stephenson, and Yale University. J.K. acknowledges support from NSF grant SBR-9408664 and thanks B. Alpagut who kindly gave permission to study the Paşalar hominoids. We thank E. Mbua and the staff of the National Museums of Kenya for their support; P. Andrews, T. Harrison, and D. Pilbeam for valuable insights regarding the relationships of Kenyapithecus; B. Kimeu, who discovered KNM-TH 28860; K. Cheboi for assistance in the field; and S. McBrearty, who suggested the generic name. L. Anderson, J. Kingston, and M. Tomasco prepared the figures.