International Journal of Primatology

, Volume 30, Issue 5, pp 643–662 | Cite as

Reappraisal of Macaca speciosa subfossilis from the Late Pleistocene of Northern Vietnam Based on the Analysis of Cranial Anatomy

  • Tsuyoshi Ito
  • Takeshi D. Nishimura
  • Brigitte Senut
  • Thomas Koppe
  • Jacque Treil
  • Masanaru Takai
Article
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Accepted:

Abstract

Jouffroy (Bulletin du Muséum National d'Histoire Naturelle. Série 2 31:209–216, 1959) described Macaca speciosa subfossilis on the basis of her study of the external anatomy of a nearly complete cranium (PV F1; Muséum national d’Histoire naturelle, Paris) found in the Late Pleistocene cave deposits, Thung-Lang, northern Vietnam. Whereas Jouffroy (Bulletin du Muséum National d'Histoire Naturelle. Série 2 31:209–216, 1959) considered it to belong to an ancestor of Macaca arctoides or M. thibetana, Fooden (Journal of Human Evolution 19:607–686, 1990) reexamined the facial anatomy and assigned it to the extant species M. arctoides. We used computed tomography images to reevaluate the phylogenetic position of Macaca speciosa subfossilis by comparing the external and internal features of PV F1 with those of the crania of the extant macaque species. PV F1 shows a lower degree of preorbital concavity than Macaca arctoides, M. assamensis, and M. thibetana, but shares an anteriorly directed malar as seen in the crania of the two former species. The size of the molars of PV F1 falls within a range such that the cranium may be assigned to any of the five species of Macaca arctoides, M. assamensis, M. thibetana, M. mulatta, and M. nemestrina. An analysis of the internal structure of the cranium reveals that only PV F1 and the cranium of Macaca arctoides have a pear-shaped nasal cavity expanding laterally at both the anterior and posterior regions. Such a feature is probably a derived condition in the macaque lineage, suggesting a close relationship between Macaca speciosa subfossilis and M. arctoides. This finding supports the paleobiological scenario that the members of the lineage of Macaca arctoides diverged from the other members of Asian macaques and became distributed in northern Vietnam as early as the Late Pleistocene.

Keywords

computed tomography macaque maxillary sinus nasal cavity 
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Notes

Acknowledgments

We thank the Muséum national d’Histoire naturelle (Paris), the Japan Monkey Centre (JMC), Okayama University Hospital, and Laboratory of Physical Anthropology (KAS) and the Primate Research Institute (PRI) of the Kyoto University for offering us the opportunities to scan the specimens. We thank Todd C. Rae of the University of Roehampton; Daisuke Shimizu of JMC; José Braga in the Université Paul Sabatier; Arnaud Beck in the Institut de Médecine et de Physiologie Spatiales; Sylvie Charreau and Albeal Mvoto of the Clinique Pasteur, Toulouse; Masato Nakatsukasa, Naomichi Ogihara, and Wataru Yano of KAS; Zin Maung Maung Thein of PRI; and Taung Htike of Shwebo Degree College for their help for CT scanning. We thank Naoko Egi of PRI for her supportive advice on phyletic analysis, and Elizabeth Nakajima for checking the English text. We also greatly appreciate Joanna Setchell and 2 anonymous reviewers for improving the quality of this paper. This research was financially supported in part by a Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research from the Japan Society for the Promotion of Science Grant 21770263 to T. D. Nishimura; Grant 20405015 to M. Takai), by the Ito Foundation, Tokyo (to T. D. Nishimura), by GDRI CNRS, France (to B. Senut), and by the Global Center of Excellence Program Formation of a Strategic Base for Biodiversity and Evolutionary Research: from Genome to Ecosystem of the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology, Japan (Grant A06 to Kyoto University).

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Copyright information

© Springer Science+Business Media, LLC 2009

Authors and Affiliations

  • Tsuyoshi Ito
    • 1
  • Takeshi D. Nishimura
    • 1
  • Brigitte Senut
    • 2
  • Thomas Koppe
    • 3
  • Jacque Treil
    • 4
  • Masanaru Takai
    • 1
  1. 1.Primate Research InstituteKyoto UniversityInuyamaJapan
  2. 2.Département Histoire de la TerreMuséum National d’Histoire Naturelle, USM 203-UMR 5143 CNRSParis Cedex 05France
  3. 3.Department of Anatomy and Cell BiologyErnst-Moritz-Arndt University GreifswaldGreifswaldGermany
  4. 4.UMR 8555 CNRS et Service de Radiologie, Clinique PasteurToulouseFrance

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