Constructing primate phylogenies: A search for testable hypotheses with maximum empirical content

Abstract

It is argued in this paper that the most plausible hypothesis of primate relationships is one which recognizes the origin of the Strepsirhini from Paromomyiformes, and the derivation of the Haplorhini (sensu Pocock, 1918 ) from the Strepsirhini. A primitive member of the Paromomyiformes (sensu Szalay, 1973 ) gave rise to the ancestor of the strepsirhines, a form which was probably not unlike the ancestral adapid. Sometime in the Paleocene the tarsiiform ancestor evolved from some unknown adapid, whereas the anthropoid common ancestor originated from a tarsiiform primate. The latter probably shared such diagnostic soft anatomical features with Tarsius as a hairy nose, enlarged promontory artery, and the complex of fetal membrane-placental characters recently elucidated by Luckett, 1974a , Luckett, 1974b ). The paper examines a recently proposed hypothesis of primate phylogenetic relationships, which maintains the independent origin of tarsiiform and lemuriform primates from the archaic paromomyiforms and the evolution of the anthropoids from bona fide lemuriforms. In light of some recent advances in theoretical biosystematics and the pertinent evidence from living and fossil species it is suggested that these conclusions are only possible if (1) evidence from the living species, especially developmental patterns, is largely ignored, (2) mixed criteria of phylogenetic inference are employed, and (3) of the fossil record, only the dental evidence is evaluated (and that mistakenly) and the cranial and posteranial morphology are not considered.