Abstract
Hominoid remains from Miocene deposits in India and Pakistan have played a pivotal role in understanding the evolution of great apes and humans since they were first described in the 19th Century. We describe here a hominoid maxillary fragment preserving the canine and cheek teeth collected in 2011 from the Kutch (= Kachchh) basin in the Kutch district, Gujarat state, western India. A basal Late Miocene age is proposed based on the associated faunal assemblage that includes Hipparion and other age-diagnostic mammalian taxa. Miocene Hominoidea are known previously from several areas of the Siwalik Group in the outer western Himalayas of India, Pakistan, and Nepal. This is the first record of a hominoid from the Neogene of the Kutch Basin and represents a significant southern range extension of Miocene hominoids in the Indian peninsula. The specimen is assigned to the Genus Sivapithecus, species unspecified.
Highlights
Recent fieldwork in the Kutch (= Kachchh) district in the state of Gujarat, western India has expanded our knowledge of the Miocene mammalian faunas of the region [1, 2]
Hominoid remains from Miocene deposits in the Siwaliks of India and Pakistan have played a pivotal role in understanding the evolution of great apes and humans since the description of “Paleopithecus” = Sivapithecus sivalensis from the Potwar Plateau of Pakistan [4]
In a Supporting information (S1 Table), we provide the dimensions of the cheek teeth of a sample of extant great ape species Pan and Pongo
Summary
Recent fieldwork in the Kutch (= Kachchh) district in the state of Gujarat, western India has expanded our knowledge of the Miocene mammalian faunas of the region [1, 2]. Sivapithecus and other Miocene hominoid taxa are best known from the Siwalik group of India and Pakistan approximately 10 degrees of latitude and more than 1000 kilometers to the north of Kutch. Prior to these collecting efforts of A. Many hominoid taxa (including “Ramapithecus”, a taxon that was considered a possible human ancestor but is thought to represent small specimens of Sivapithecus [5]), were named by researchers collecting in the Siwaliks. The presence of Sanitherium schlagintweiti provides an upper bound for time-averaging at Tapar, as the last occurrence of this taxon in Chinji deposits is placed at ~14 Ma [34]
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a callDisclaimer: All third-party content on this website/platform is and will remain the property of their respective owners and is provided on "as is" basis without any warranties, express or implied. Use of third-party content does not indicate any affiliation, sponsorship with or endorsement by them. Any references to third-party content is to identify the corresponding services and shall be considered fair use under The CopyrightLaw.
