Abstract
Two lines of evidence reviewed here argue against the recent proposal that strepsirhinism is an apomorphous feature in primates, shared only by adapiforms and lemuriforms. These are (1) the presence of strepsirhinism in several extant taxa of nonprimate mammals, including Tupaiidae, Tenrecidae, Erinaceus,and Didelphis,and (2) the inferred presence of strepsirhinism not only in adapiforms, but also in all plesiadapiforms and omomyids for which the relevant anatomical regions are known. Therefore, strepsirhinism cannot be invoked as an adaptive innovation underlying the initial strep-sirhine/haplorhine dichotomy. Likewise, the apparent retention of strepsirhinism in omomyids suggests either that the haplorhine oronasal configuration of extant tarsiids and anthropoids was acquired independently or that tarsiids and anthropoids form a clade to the exclusion of omomyids.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Beard, K. C., and Godinot, M. (1988). Carpal anatomy ofSmilodectes gracilis (Adapiformes, Notharctinae) and its significance for lemuriform phylogeny.J. hum. Evol. (in press).
Beard, K. C., Dagosto, M., Gebo, D. L., and Godinot, M. (1988). Interrelationships among primate higher taxa.Nature 331: 712–714.
Biknevicius, A. R. (1986). Dental function and diet in the Carpolestidae (Primates, Plesiadapiformes).Am. J. phys. Anthrop. 71: 157–171.
Cartmill, M. (1974).Daubentonia, Dactylopsila, woodpeckers, and klinorhynchy. In Martin, R. D., Doyle, G. A., and Walker, A. C. (eds.),Prosimian Biology, Duckworth, London, pp. 655–670.
Cartmill, M. (1982). Basic primatology and prosimian evolution. In Spencer, F. (ed.),A History of American Physical Anthropology, 1930–1980, Academic Press, New York, pp. 147–186.
Cooper, J. G., and Bhatnager, K. P. (1976). Comparative anatomy of the vomeronasal organ complex in bats.J. Anat. (London) 122: 571–601.
Estes, R. D. (1972). The role of the vomeronasal organ in mammalian reproduction.Mammalia 36: 315–341.
Gebo, D. L. (1986). Anthropoid origins-the foot evidence.J. hum. Evol. 15: 421–430.
Gingerich, P. D. (1976). Cranial anatomy and evolution of early Tertiary Plesiadapidae (Mammalia, Primates).Univ. Mich. Pap. Paleontol. 15: 1–141.
Gingerich, P. D. (1979). Phylogeny of middle Eocene Adapidae (Mammalia, Primates) in North America:Smilodectes andNotharctus.J. Paleontol. 53: 153–163.
Gingerich, P. D. (1984). Paleobiology of tarsiiform primates. In Niemitz, C. (ed.),Biology of Tarsiers, Gustav Fischer Verlag, New York, pp. 33–44.
Gingerich, P. D., and Martin, R. D. (1981). Cranial morphology and adaptations in Eocene Adapidae. II. The Cambridge skull ofAdapis parisiensis.Am. J. phys. Anthrop. 56: 235–257.
Godinot, M. (1984). Un nouveau genre de Paromomyidae (Primates) del’Eocène inférieur d’Europe.Folia primatol. 43: 84–96.
Gregory, W. K. (1920). On the structure and relationships ofNotharctus, an American Eocene primate.Mem. Am. Mus. Nat. Hist., N.S. 3: 51–243.
Hill, W. C. O. (1948). Rhinoglyphics: epithelial sculpture of the mammalian rhinarium.Proc. tool. Soc. Lond. 118: 1–35.
Hill, W. C. O. (1953).Primates: Comparative Anatomy and Taxonomy. I. Strepsirhini. Edinburgh University Press, Edinburgh.
Hofer, H. O. (1977). The anatomical relations of the Ductus vomeronasalis and the occurrence of taste buds in the Papilla palatina ofNycticebus coucang (Primates, Prosimiae) with remarks on strepsirhinism.Gegenbaurs morph. Jb. 123: 836–856.
Hofer, H. O. (1979). The external nose ofTarsius bancanus borneanus Horsfield, 1821 (Primates, Tarsiiformes).Folia primatol. 32: 180–192.
Hofer, H. O. (1980). The external anatomy of the oro-nasal region of primates.Z. Morph. Anthrop. 71: 233–249.
Hofer, H. O. (1982). Anatomy of the oro-nasal region of some species of Tenrecidae and considerations of tupaiids and lemurids.Gegenbaurs morph. Jb. 128: 588–613.
Krause, D. W. (1978). Paleocene primates from western Canada.Can. J. Earth Sci. 15:1250–1271.
Krishtalka, L. (1978). Paleontology and geology of the Badwater Creek area, central Wyoming. 15. Review of the late Eocene primates from Wyoming and Utah, and the Plesitarsiiformes.Ann. Carnegie Mus. 47: 335–360.
MacPhee, R. D. E., and Cartmill, M. (1986). Basicranial structures and primate systematics. In Swindler, D. R., and Erwin, J. (eds.),Comparative Primate Biology.Vol. 1. Systematics, Evolution, and Anatomy, Alan R. Liss, New York, pp. 219–275.
Maier, W. (1979). A new dental formula for the Tupaiiformes.J. hum. Evol. 8: 319–321.
Maier, W. (1980). Nasal structures in Old and New World primates. In Ciochon, R. L., and Chiarelli, A. B. (eds.),Evolutionary Biology of the New World Monkeys and Continental Drift, Plenum Press, New York, pp. 219–241.
Martin, R. D. (1973). Comparative anatomy and primate systematics.Symp. zool. Soc. Lond. 33: 301–337.
Pocock, R. I. (1918). On the external characters of the lemurs and ofTarsius.Proc. zool. Soc. Lond. 1918: 19–53.
Pollock, J. I., Constable, I. D., Mittermeier, R. A., Ratsirarson, J., and Simons, H. (1985). A note on the diet and feeding behavior of the aye-ayeDaubentonia madagascariensis.Int. J. Primatol. 6: 435–447.
Powers, J. B., and Winans, S. S. (1975). Vomeronasal organ: Critical role in mediating sexual behavior of the male hamster.Science 187: 961–963.
Rose, K. D., and Gingerich, P. D. (1976). Partial skull of the plesiadapiform primateIgnacius from the early Eocene of Wyoming.Contr. Mus. Paleontol. Univ. Mich. 24: 181–189.
Rosenberger, A. L. (1985). In favor of the necrolemur-tarsier hypothesis.Folia primatol. 45: 179–194.
Rosenberger, A. L., and Strasser, E. (1985). Toothcomb origins: Support for the grooming hypothesis.Primates 26: 73–84.
Rosenberger, A. L., and Szalay, F. S. (1980). On the tarsiiform origins of the Anthropoidea. In Ciochon, R. L., and Chiarelli, A. B. (eds.),Evolutionary Biology of the New World Monkeys and Continental Drift, Plenum Press, New York, pp. 139–157.
Rosenberger, A. L., Strasser, E., and Delson, E. (1985). Anterior dentition ofNotharctus and the adapid-anthropoid hypothesis.Folia primatol. 44: 15–39.
Savage, D. E., and Waters, B. T. (1978). A new omomyid primate from the Wasatch Formation of southern Wyoming.Folia primatol. 30: 1–29.
Schilling, A. (1970). L’organe de Jacobson du lémurien malgacheMicrocebus murinus (Miller, 1777).Mém. Mus. Nat. Hist. Nat., Sér. A, 61: 203–280.
Schmid, P. (1981). Comparison of Eocene nonadapids andTarsius. In Chiarelli, A. B., and Corruccini, R. S. (eds.),Primate Evolutionary Biology, Springer-Verlag, Berlin, pp. 6–13.
Schmid, P. (1982).Die systematische Revision der europÄischen Microchoeridae Lydekker, 1887 (Omomyiformes, Primates), Juris Druck & Verlag, Zurich.
Schmid, P. (1983). Front dentition of the Omomyiformes (Primates).Folia primatol. 40: 1–10.
Szalay, F. S. (1969). Mixodectidae, Microsyopidae, and the insectivore-primate transition.Bull. Am. Mus. nat. Hist. 140: 193–330.
Szalay, F. S. (1976). Systematics of the Omomyidae (Tarsiiformes, Primates): Taxonomy, phylogeny, and adaptations.Bull. Am. Mus. nat. Hist. 156: 157–450.
Szalay, F. S., and Delson, E. (1979).Evolutionary History of the Primates, Academic Press, New York.
Szalay, F. S., Rosenberger, A. L., and Dagosto, M. (1987). Diagnosis and differentiation of the order Primates.Yb. phys. Anthrop. 30: 75–105.
Tattersall, I. (1982).The Primates of Madagascar, Columbia University Press, New York.
Wilson, J. A. (1966). A new primate from the earliest Oligocene, west Texas: preliminary report.Folia primatol. 4: 227–248.
Wohrmann-Repenning, A. (1978). Geschmacksknospen and der Papilla palatina vonTupaia glis (Diard 1820), ihr Vorkommen und ihre Beziehung zum Jacobsonschen Organ.Gegenbaurs morph. Jb. 124: 375–384.
Wysocki, C. J. (1979). Neurobehavioral evidence for the involvement of the vomeronasal system in mammalian reproduction.Neurosci.Biobehav. Rev. 3: 301–341.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Beard, K.C. The phylogenetic significance of strepsirhinism in Paleogene primates. Int J Primatol 9, 83–96 (1988). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02735730
Received:
Revised:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02735730