New specimens of the oldest fossil platyrrhine,Branisella boliviana, from Salla, Bolivia

Abstract

During the 1992 and 1993 field seasons, several new specimens of Branisella boliviana, the oldest fossil platyrrhine, were discovered in the late Oligocene deposits at Salla, northwestern Bolivia. The new materials are two maxillary fragments and seven mandibular fragments, including P3 and P2, neither of which have previously been recovered. All new and previously reported materials, including the holotype and referred specimens, were apparently recovered from the same horizon, called the Branisella zone (MacFadden et al. [1985] J. Geol. 93:223-250; MacFadden [1990] J. Hum. Evol. 19:7-21. The crown morphology of the newly discovered upper and lower premolars suggests that Branisella has a close affinity with callitrichines. A detailed examination of all molar specimens suggests that "Szalatavus attricuspis," which was recovered at Salla in 1981 and described as a new genus by Rosenberger et al. (1991), is a junior synonym of Branisella. The Branisella-like upper molar, in which a small hypocone is preserved on the poorly developed distolingual cingulum, is a shared-derived character with callitrichines and does not correspond to the primitive state for platyrrhine phylogeny. The ancestral upper molar morphotype for platyrrhines should have a moderate to large hypocone and a well developed talon area.

New Insights on the Evolution of the Sweet Taste Receptor of Primates Adapted to Harsh Environments

“…According to our genetic data, the NWM clearly diverged from a common ancestor with OWM and apes roughly 11.70 mya, during the Miocene. Although the direction and nature of primate migration [43,44] and the effect of historic global climate change [45,46] on the NWM remain uncertain, the phylogeny resolves the divergence pattern within the family Cebidae (Callithrix and Saimiri) and from a common ancestor 9.37 mya.…”

Arrival and Diversification of Caviomorph Rodents and Platyrrhine Primates in South America

“…The oldest primate fossils from South America, Branisella and Szalatavus (27 Mya, Bolivia) (Rosenberger et al, 1991), considered as a single genus by Takai and Anaya (1996), are plesiomorph platyrrhines and have no direct relation with living platyrrhines (Fleagle, 1999). The Patagonian primate fossils from the Early and Middle Miocene (21 to 14 Mya) are considered either as sister group of extant platyrrhines or as nested within this clade (Fleagle, 1999).…”

The evolutionary history of platyrrhines: old controversies and new interpretations

“…Dental evidence from these potential ancestors strongly favor the morphology found in the Santacrucian genera Carlocebus and Homunculus and in the living Callicebus as closest to the ancestral morphotype for the infraorder, for several reasons exposed elsewhere (Hartwig, 1993;Tejedor, 1997). Controversy persists because the oldest South American records, Szalatavus and Branisella, came from Bolivia and differ considerably from Callicebus, Homunculus and Carlocebus, being probably ancient representatives of the Callitrichinae (see Takai and Anaya, 1996). On other other hand, the subsequent Chilecebus, from the Chilean Andes (late Deseadan-Colhuehuapian LMA), shows several primitive characters not easily comparable to other fossil forms.…”