Malagasy Primate Origins: Phylogenies, Fossils, and Biogeographic Reconstructions

Stevens, Nancy J.; Heesy, Christopher P.

doi:10.1159/000095389

Cited by 52 publications

(6 citation statements)

References 79 publications

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“…Lemurs arrived first (50–54 Ma), followed by tenrecs (25–42 Ma), carnivorans (19–26 Ma), and then nesomyine rodents (20–24 Ma) [108]–[112]. African affinities currently seem to be clear for all four clades, but have been debated for lemuroids and carnivorans [113]; but see critique by [114].…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Imperfect Isolation: Factors and Filters Shaping Madagascar’s Extant Vertebrate Fauna

et al. 2013

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Analyses of phylogenetic topology and estimates of divergence timing have facilitated a reconstruction of Madagascar’s colonization events by vertebrate animals, but that information alone does not reveal the major factors shaping the island’s biogeographic history. Here, we examine profiles of Malagasy vertebrate clades through time within the context of the island’s paleogeographical evolution to determine how particular events influenced the arrival of the island’s extant groups. First we compare vertebrate profiles on Madagascar before and after selected events; then we compare tetrapod profiles on Madagascar to contemporary tetrapod compositions globally. We show that changes from the Mesozoic to the Cenozoic in the proportions of Madagascar’s tetrapod clades (particularly its increase in the representation of birds and mammals) are tied to changes in their relative proportions elsewhere on the globe. Differences in the representation of vertebrate classes from the Mesozoic to the Cenozoic reflect the effects of extinction (i.e., the non-random susceptibility of the different vertebrate clades to purported catastrophic global events 65 million years ago), and new evolutionary opportunities for a subset of vertebrates with the relatively high potential for transoceanic dispersal potential. In comparison, changes in vertebrate class representation during the Cenozoic are minor. Despite the fact that the island’s isolation has resulted in high vertebrate endemism and a unique and taxonomically imbalanced extant vertebrate assemblage (both hailed as testimony to its long isolation), that isolation was never complete. Indeed, Madagascar’s extant tetrapod fauna owes more to colonization during the Cenozoic than to earlier arrivals. Madagascar’s unusual vertebrate assemblage needs to be understood with reference to the basal character of clades originating prior to the K-T extinction, as well as to the differential transoceanic dispersal advantage of other, more recently arriving clades. Thus, the composition of Madagascar’s endemic vertebrate assemblage itself provides evidence of the island's paleogeographic history.

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Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Imperfect Isolation: Factors and Filters Shaping Madagascar’s Extant Vertebrate Fauna

et al. 2013

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“…The likely origin of the primates of Madagascar is from a single colonisation by an ancestral strepsirrhine from mainland Africa (Stevens and Heesy 2006), although there is some evidence for an Asian origin (Marivaux et al 2001). This dispersal event is estimated to have occurred 55 to 60 million years ago, shortly after the first primates evolved and significantly earlier than the proposed origins of Madagascar's other terrestrial mammals.…”

Section: Box 11 Lemurs Of Madagascarmentioning

confidence: 99%

Species Conservation

2018

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“…The results of optimisation of areas of origins over phylogenies can vary substantially depending on dataset, phylogeny, and method of analysis (Heesy et al. ; Stevens & Heesy, ). Inclusion of Plagiomenidae as stem Dermoptera and of plesiadapiforms as paraphyletic stem primates, and coding of groups based on the location of their oldest known record, returns Asia as the most parsimonious area of origin of Euarchontoglires, with subsequent dispersal and initial divergence of plesiadapiforms and primates in North America (Bloch et al.…”

Section: Contextualising Primate Originsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Contextualising primate origins – an ecomorphological framework

Soligo

Smaers

2016

Journal of Anatomy

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Ecomorphology -the characterisation of the adaptive relationship between an organism's morphology and its ecological role -has long been central to theories of the origin and early evolution of the primate order. This is exemplified by two of the most influential theories of primate origins: Matt Cartmill's Visual Predation Hypothesis, and Bob Sussman's Angiosperm Co-Evolution Hypothesis. However, the study of primate origins is constrained by the absence of data directly documenting the events under investigation, and has to rely instead on a fragmentary fossil record and the methodological assumptions inherent in phylogenetic comparative analyses of extant species. These constraints introduce particular challenges for inferring the ecomorphology of primate origins, as morphology and environmental context must first be inferred before the relationship between the two can be considered. Fossils can be integrated in comparative analyses and observations of extant model species and laboratory experiments of form-function relationships are critical for the functional interpretation of the morphology of extinct species. Recent developments have led to important advancements, including phylogenetic comparative methods based on more realistic models of evolution, and improved methods for the inference of clade divergence times, as well as an improved fossil record. This contribution will review current perspectives on the origin and early evolution of primates, paying particular attention to their phylogenetic (including cladistic relationships and character evolution) and environmental (including chronology, geography, and physical environments) contextualisation, before attempting an up-todate ecomorphological synthesis of primate origins.

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Malagasy Primate Origins: Phylogenies, Fossils, and Biogeographic Reconstructions

Cited by 52 publications

References 79 publications

Imperfect Isolation: Factors and Filters Shaping Madagascar’s Extant Vertebrate Fauna

Imperfect Isolation: Factors and Filters Shaping Madagascar’s Extant Vertebrate Fauna

Species Conservation

Contextualising primate origins – an ecomorphological framework

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