Community responses to COVID-19 pandemic first wave containment measures: a multinational study.

INTRODUCTION: National strategies to control COVID-19 pandemic consisted mostly of social distancing measures such as lockdowns, curfews, and stay-home guidelines, personal protection such as hand hygiene and mask wearing, as well as contact tracing, isolation and quarantine. Whilst policy interventions were broadly similar across the globe, there were some differences in individual and community responses. This study explored community responses to COVID-19 containment measures in different countries and synthesized a model. This exaplains the community response to pandemic containment measures in the local context, so as to be suitably prepared for future interventions and research. METHODOLOGY: A mutlinational study was conducted from April-June 2020 involving researchers from 12 countries (Japan, Austria, U.S., Taiwan, India, Sudan, Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines, Myanmar, Vietnam and Thailand). Steps in this research consisted of carrying out open-ended questionnaires, qualitative analyses in NVivo, and a multinational meeting to reflect, exchange, and validate results. Lastly, a commuinty response model was synthesized from multinational experiences. RESULTS: Effective communication is key in promoting collective action for preventing virus transmission. Health literacy, habits and social norms in different populations are core components of public health interventions. To enable people to stay home while sustaining livelihoods, economic and social support are essential. Countries could benefit from previous pandemic experience in their community response. Whilst contact tracing and isolation are crucial intervention components, issues of privacy and human rights need to be considered. CONCLUSIONS: Understanding community responses to containment policies will help in ending current and future pandemics in the world.

C/Can City Engagement Process: An Implementation Framework for Strengthening Cancer Care in Cities in Low- and Middle-Income Countries.

The effective implementation of locally adapted cancer care solutions in low- and middle-income countries continues to be a challenge in the face of fragmented and inadequately resourced health systems. Consequently, the translation of global cancer care targets to local action for patients has been severely constrained. City Cancer Challenge (C/Can) is leveraging the unique value of cities as enablers in a health systems response to cancer that prioritizes the needs of end users (patients, their caregivers and families, and health care providers). C/Can's City Engagement Process is an implementation framework whereby local stakeholders lead a staged city-wide process over a 2- to 3-year period to assess, plan, and execute locally adapted cancer care solutions. Herein, the development and implementation of the City Engagement Process Framework (CEPF) is presented, specifying the activities, outputs, processes, and indicators across the process life cycle. Lessons learned on the application of the framework in the first so-called Key Learning cities are shared, focusing on the early outputs from Cali, Colombia, the first city to join C/Can in 2017. Creating lasting change requires the creation of a high-trust environment to engage the right stakeholders as well as adapting to local context, leveraging local expertise, and fostering a sustainability mindset from the outset. In the short term, these early learnings inform the refinement of the approach in new cities. Over time, the implementation of this framework is expected to validate the proof-of-concept and contribute to a global evidence base for effective complex interventions to improve cancer care in low- and middle-income countries.

Strengthening Pathology Capacity to Deliver Quality Cancer Care in Cities in LMICs.

Diagnostic pathology services for oncology health systems are essential; yet, surveys, observations, and hard data from across low- and middle-income countries have revealed that these services are almost always lacking adequate quality and often missing completely. The City Cancer Challenge Foundation (C/Can), the American Society for Clinical Pathology, and C/Can partner cities undertook intense analysis of their existing pathology services as part of a year-long assessment process including the specific formation of a pathology-focused team. Internal and external expert assessments identified sustainable solutions adapted to the local context and level of resources and created specific local implementation projects. Through local leadership, capacity development, and collaboration, services were improved city-wide in three cities: Cali, Colombia; Asunción, Paraguay; and Yangon, Myanmar. Common problems identified across cities included deficiencies in personnel training, equipment, reagents, processes, quality, and coordination. Specific solutions included quality training, standard process development and regulation, implementation of new services, and public-private collaboration. As the first cities joining the C/Can initiative, Cali, Asunción, and Yangon demonstrate the success of the approach and the value of local expertise in identifying problems and solutions. The additional value of international partners' expertise created opportunities for growth through mentorship and technical support. Importantly, the power of healthcare programs with strong political support is emphasized.

The Impact of COVID-19 on Cancer Care in the Post Pandemic World: Five Major Lessons Learnt from Challenges and Countermeasures of Major Asian Cancer Centres.

OBJECTIVE: The COVID-19 pandemic has dramatically affected healthcare services around Asia. The Asian National Cancer Centres Alliance and the Asia-Pacific Organisation for Cancer Prevention collaborated to assess the mid- and long- term impact of COVID-19 to cancer care in Asia. METHODS: The two entities organised a combined symposium and post-meeting interactions among representatives of major cancer centres from seventeen Asian countries to outlining major challenges and countermeasures. RESULTS: Participating stakeholders distilled five big questions. 1) "Will there be an explosion of late-stage cancers after the pandemic?" To address and recover from perceived delayed prevention, screening, treatment and care challenges, collaboration of key stakeholders in the region and alignment in cancer care management, policy intervention and cancer registry initiatives would be of essential value. 2) "Operations and Finance" The pandemic has resulted in significant material and financial casualties. Flagged acute challenges (shortages of supplies, imposition of lockdown) as well as longer-standing reduction of financial revenue, manpower, international collaboration, and training should also be addressed. 3) "Will telemedicine and technological innovations revolutionize cancer care?" Deploying and implementing telemedicine such as teleconsultation and virtual tumour boards were considered invaluable. These innovations could become a new regular practice, leading to expansion of tele-collaboration through collaboration of institutions in the region. 4) "Will virtual conferences continue after the pandemic?" Virtual conferences during the pandemic have opened new doors for knowledge sharing, especially for representatives of low- and middle-income countries in the region, while saving time and costs of travel. 5) "How do we prepare for the next pandemic or international emergency?" Roadmaps for action to improve access to appropriate patient care and research were identified and scrutinised. CONCLUSION: Through addressing these five big questions, focused collaboration among members and with international organisations such as City Cancer Challenge will allow enhanced preparedness for future international emergencies.
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First discovery of colobine fossils from the Late Miocene/Early Pliocene in central Myanmar.

Here we report two kinds of colobine fossils discovered from the latest Miocene/Early Pliocene Irrawaddy sediments of the Chaingzauk area, central Myanmar. A left mandibular corpus fragment preserving M1-3 is named as a new genus and species, Myanmarcolobus yawensis. Isolated upper (M(1)?) and lower (M2) molars are tentatively identified as Colobinae gen. et sp. indet. Although both forms are medium-sized colobines, they are quite different from each other in M2 morphology. The isolated teeth of the latter show typical colobine-type features, so it is difficult to identify their taxonomic position, whereas lower molars of Myanmarcolobus have unique features, such as a trapezoid-shaped long median lingual notch, a deeply concave median buccal cleft, a strongly developed mesiobuccal notch, and rather obliquely running transverse lophids. Compared with fossil and living Eurasian colobine genera, Myanmarcolobus is most similar in lower molar morphology to the Pliocene Dolichopithecus of Europe rather than to any Asian forms. In Dolichopithecus, however, the tooth size is much larger and the median lingual notch is mesiodistally much shorter than that of Myanmarcolobus. The discovery of Myanmarcolobus in central Myanmar is the oldest fossil record in Southeast Asia not only of colobine but also of cercopithecid monkeys and raises many questions regarding the evolutionary history of Asian colobine monkeys.

A new late Eocene Bicornucythere species (Ostracoda, Crustacea) from Myanmar, and its significance for the evolutionary history of the genus.

The ostracode genus Bicornucythere (Ostracoda, Crustacea) is abundant in modern-day eutrophic marine bays, and is widely distributed in estuaries and inner bays throughout East Asia, including in China, Korea, Japan, and the Russian Far East. The evolutionary history of Bicornucythere is poorly understood. Here, we report on a new species of Bicornucythere (Bicornucythere concentrica sp. nov.) from the upper Eocene Yaw Formation in the Central Myanmar Basin. The oldest previously known Bicornucythere taxon, Bicornucythere secedens, was reported from lower Miocene strata in India, although a molecular phylogeny suggests that the genus first appeared in the Late Cretaceous. Bicornucythere concentrica sp. nov. is at least 10.9 million years older than the earliest known B. secedens. The new species occurs with Ammonia subgranulosa, a benthic foraminifer, an association that is representative of brackish water conditions in modern Asian bays. Our findings indicate that extant genera have inhabited Asian bays since the late Eocene. The paleobiogeography of Bicornucythere indicates that the taxon was dispersed onto Indian coasts during the collision between the Indian and Eurasian plates.

Asian monsoons in a late Eocene greenhouse world.

The strong present-day Asian monsoons are thought to have originated between 25 and 22 million years (Myr) ago, driven by Tibetan-Himalayan uplift. However, the existence of older Asian monsoons and their response to enhanced greenhouse conditions such as those in the Eocene period (55-34 Myr ago) are unknown because of the paucity of well-dated records. Here we show late Eocene climate records revealing marked monsoon-like patterns in rainfall and wind south and north of the Tibetan-Himalayan orogen. This is indicated by low oxygen isotope values with strong seasonality in gastropod shells and mammal teeth from Myanmar, and by aeolian dust deposition in northwest China. Our climate simulations support modern-like Eocene monsoonal rainfall and show that a reinforced hydrological cycle responding to enhanced greenhouse conditions counterbalanced the negative effect of lower Tibetan relief on precipitation. These strong monsoons later weakened with the global shift to icehouse conditions 34 Myr ago.

Uniquely derived upper molar morphology of Eocene Amphipithecidae (Primates: Anthropoidea): homology and phylogeny.

The extinct Southeast Asian primate family Amphipithecidae is regularly cited in discussions of anthropoid origins, but its phylogenetic position remains controversial. In part, the lack of consensus regarding amphipithecid relationships can be attributed to uncertainty regarding the homology of upper molar structures in this group. Here, we describe a virtually pristine upper molar of Pondaungia cotteri from the late middle Eocene Pondaung Formation of Myanmar, which is the first example of a relatively unworn and well-preserved amphipithecid upper molar ever recovered. The distolingual upper molar cusp in this new specimen of Pondaungia appears to be a lingually displaced and enlarged metaconule, rather than a hypocone or pseudohypocone as previous workers have thought. Reassessment of the upper molar morphology of other amphipithecids and putative amphipithecids reveals a very similar pattern in Siamopithecus, Myanmarpithecus and Ganlea, all of which are interpreted as having upper molars showing many of the same derived features apparent in Pondaungia. In contrast, the upper molar morphology of Bugtipithecus diverges radically from that of undoubted amphipithecids, and the latter taxon is excluded from Amphipithecidae on this basis. Phylogenetic analyses of several character-taxon matrices culled from the recent literature and updated to reflect the new information on amphipithecid upper molar morphology yield similar results. Consensus tree topologies derived from these analyses support amphipithecid monophyly and stable relationships within Amphipithecidae. Amphipithecids appear to be stem members of the anthropoid clade.

Late Middle Eocene primate from Myanmar and the initial anthropoid colonization of Africa.

Reconstructing the origin and early evolutionary history of anthropoid primates (monkeys, apes, and humans) is a current focus of paleoprimatology. Although earlier hypotheses frequently supported an African origin for anthropoids, recent discoveries of older and phylogenetically more basal fossils in China and Myanmar indicate that the group originated in Asia. Given the Oligocene-Recent history of African anthropoids, the colonization of Africa by early anthropoids hailing from Asia was a decisive event in primate evolution. However, the fossil record has so far failed to constrain the nature and timing of this pivotal event. Here we describe a fossil primate from the late middle Eocene Pondaung Formation of Myanmar, Afrasia djijidae gen. et sp. nov., that is remarkably similar to, yet dentally more primitive than, the roughly contemporaneous North African anthropoid Afrotarsius. Phylogenetic analysis suggests that Afrasia and Afrotarsius are sister taxa within a basal anthropoid clade designated as the infraorder Eosimiiformes. Current knowledge of eosimiiform relationships and their distribution through space and time suggests that members of this clade dispersed from Asia to Africa sometime during the middle Eocene, shortly before their first appearance in the African fossil record. Crown anthropoids and their nearest fossil relatives do not appear to be specially related to Afrotarsius, suggesting one or more additional episodes of dispersal from Asia to Africa. Hystricognathous rodents, anthracotheres, and possibly other Asian mammal groups seem to have colonized Africa at roughly the same time or shortly after anthropoids gained their first toehold there.

First hominoid from the Late Miocene of the Irrawaddy Formation (Myanmar).

For over a century, a Neogene fossil mammal fauna has been known in the Irrawaddy Formation in central Myanmar. Unfortunately, the lack of accurately located fossiliferous sites and the absence of hominoid fossils have impeded paleontological studies. Here we describe the first hominoid found in Myanmar together with a Hipparion (s.l.) associated mammal fauna from Irrawaddy Formation deposits dated between 10.4 and 8.8 Ma by biochronology and magnetostratigraphy. This hominoid documents a new species of Khoratpithecus, increasing thereby the Miocene diversity of southern Asian hominoids. The composition of the associated fauna as well as stable isotope data on Hipparion (s.l.) indicate that it inhabited an evergreen forest in a C3-plant environment. Our results enlighten that late Miocene hominoids were more regionally diversified than other large mammals, pointing towards regionally-bounded evolution of the representatives of this group in Southeast Asia. The Irrawaddy Formation, with its extensive outcrops and long temporal range, has a great potential for improving our knowledge of hominoid evolution in Asia.

Talar morphology, phylogenetic affinities, and locomotor adaptation of a large-bodied amphipithecid primate from the late middle eocene of Myanmar.

A well-preserved fossil talus [National Museum of Myanmar Primates (NMMP) 82] of a large-bodied primate is described from the late middle Eocene Pondaung Formation of central Myanmar. The specimen was collected at Thandaung Kyitchaung, a well-known amphipithecid primate-bearing locality near the village of Mogaung. NMMP 82 adds to a meager but growing sample of postcranial remains documenting the large-bodied primates of the Pondaung Formation. This new talus exhibits a suite of features that resemble conditions found in living and fossil haplorhine primates, notably anthropoids. As such, the phylogenetic signal deriving from the morphology of NMMP 82 conflicts with that provided by NMMP 20, a partial skeleton (including a fragmentary calcaneus) of a second large-bodied Pondaung primate showing undoubted adapiform affinities. Analysis subtalar joint compatibility in a hypothetical NMMP 82/NMMP 20 combination (talus/calcaneus) reveals a substantial degree of functional mismatch between these two tarsal bones. The functional incongruence in subtalar joint morphology between NMMP 20 and NMMP 82 is consistent with the seemingly divergent phylogenetic affinities of these specimens, indicating that two higher level taxa of relatively large-bodied primates are documented in the Pondaung Formation. On the basis of its size and morphology, we refer the NMMP 82 talus to the large-bodied amphipithecid Pondaungia. The occurrence of anthropoid-like tali in the Pondaung Formation obviates the need to invoke homoplasy to explain the shared, derived dental characters that are common to amphipithecids and undoubted anthropoids. Functionally, the NMMP 82 talus appears to have pertained to a primate that is engaged in active quadrupedalism in an arboreal environment along broad and subhorizontal branches. The primate taxon represented by NMMP 82 was capable of climbing and leaping, although it was not particularly specialized for either of these activities.

The phylogenetic affinities of the Pondaung tali.

The phylogenetic affinities of the primates of the late middle Eocene Pondaung Formation of Myanmar have long been disputed. The discovery of the NMMP 39 talus (Marivaux et al.: Proc Natl Acad Sci USA 100 (2003) 13173-13178) provided the first clear evidence from the postcranium that a relatively large-bodied haplorhine primate is represented in the Pondaung fauna. Another talus (NMMP 82; Marivaux et al., 2010). Talar morphology, phylogenetic affinities and locomotor adaptation of a large-bodied amphipithecid primate from the late middle Eocene of Myanmar, Am J Phys Anthropol DOI: 10.1002/ajpa.21307) has been recently recovered which also pertains to Haplorhini. The metric and nonmetric features supporting the hypothesis of anthropoid affinities for NMMP 39 have been criticized by Gunnell and Ciochon (Gunnell GF, Ciochon RL. 2008. Revisiting primate postcrania from the Pondaung Formation of Myanmar. In: Fleagle JG, Gilbert CC, editors. Elwyn Simons: a search for origins. New York: Springer. p 211-228). Their analysis, however, was based on a very limited choice of variables, taxa, and individuals. Based on an extended sample, we are able to produce both principal components and discriminant functions that yield a rather clear separation of extant haplorhine and strepsirhine tali. Both principal components and discriminant function scores of the Pondaung tali fall with those of haplorhine primates. In addition, the Pondaung tali lack all the derived nonmetric features characteristic of strepsirhine primates, but exhibit all the features characteristic of haplorhine primates. We dispute the features Gunnell and Ciochon (2008) claim are uniquely shared by the Pondaung tali and adapiforms. Their rejection of the phylogenetic significance of the features shared by these tali and haplorhines is unwarranted by the evidence. Based on both metric and nonmetric features, the Pondaung tali are structurally most similar to the tali of haplorhines, particularly anthropoids.

A new primate from the Eocene Pondaung Formation of Myanmar and the monophyly of Burmese amphipithecids.

The family Amphipithecidae is one of the two fossil primate taxa from Asia that appear to be early members of the anthropoid clade. Ganlea megacanina, gen. et sp. nov., is a new amphipithecid from the late middle Eocene Pondaung Formation of central Myanmar. The holotype of Ganlea is distinctive in having a relatively enormous lower canine showing heavy apical wear, indicating an important functional role of the lower canine in food preparation and ingestion. A phylogenetic analysis of amphipithecid relationships suggests that Ganlea is the sister taxon of Myanmarpithecus, a relatively small-bodied taxon that has often, but not always, been included in Amphipithecidae. Pondaungia is the sister taxon of the Ganlea + Myanmarpithecus clade. All three Pondaung amphipithecid genera are monophyletic with respect to Siamopithecus, which is the most basal amphipithecid currently known. The inclusion of Myanmarpithecus in Amphipithecidae diminishes the likelihood that amphipithecids are specially related to adapiform primates. Extremely heavy apical wear has been documented on the lower canines of all three genera of Burmese amphipithecids. This distinctive wear pattern suggests that Burmese amphipithecids were an endemic radiation of hard object feeders that may have been ecological analogues of living New World pitheciin monkeys.

Proximal femoral anatomy of a sivaladapid primate from the late middle Eocene Pondaung formation (central Myanmar).

The postcranial anatomy of the Asian sivaladapid adapiforms is still virtually undocumented, whereas dental remains of these primates have been known for several decades. Little is known about their positional behavior as a result. In this article, we describe a partial left femur of a medium-sized primate preserving its entire proximal portion and a significant length of its shaft. This fossil was recently recovered from the fossiliferous locality of Thamingyauk in the late middle Eocene Pondaung Formation (central Myanmar). This femur is considered to pertain to the same individual as two tarsal elements (fragmentary talus and calcaneus) from the same locality (same location), and attributed to a medium-sized sivaladapid adapiform primate (Kyitchaungia takaii). This new postcranial element provides the first documentation of femoral anatomy among Sivaladapidae from Asia. The mechanical implications deriving from the musculoskeletal interpretation of this bone indicate an animal that probably engaged in a kind of active arboreal quadrupedalism with some degree of proficiency in leaping. Even though many musculoskeletal aspects suggest that branch walking and running were important parts of its locomotor repertoire, in other details it appears that relatively complex movements at the hip joint were actually possible and probably associated with climbing or some hindlimb suspensory activities.

Anatomy of the bony pelvis of a relatively large-bodied strepsirrhine primate from the late middle Eocene Pondaung Formation (central Myanmar).

Recent survey of the fossiliferous variegated mudstones of the PK1 locality (Sabapondaung) in the late middle Eocene Pondaung Formation (central Myanmar) has led to the recovery of a partial right innominate of a relatively large-bodied primate. Given its size and provenance, this bone probably belongs to the same individual represented by the NMMP 20 primate partial skeleton described previously from the same locality. The new fossil, which preserves the region around the acetabulum and the adjacent part of the ilium, clearly exhibits strepsirrhine rather than anthropoid affinities. This addition to our knowledge of the NMMP 20 partial skeleton allows us to reassess the different locomotor interpretations that have been proposed for this specimen. Aspects of pelvic morphology suggest that the NMMP 20 partial skeleton documents a primate that probably engaged in active arboreal quadrupedalism similar to that practiced by medium-sized Malagasy lemurids rather than lorislike slow moving and climbing. Given the conflicting phylogenetic signals provided by NMMP 39 (a talus showing anthropoid affinities) and NMMP 20 (a partial skeleton bearing adapiform affinities), it appears that two higher-level taxonomic groups of relatively large-bodied primates are documented in the Pondaung Formation. The recent discovery of two taxa of sivaladapid adapiforms from the Pondaung Formation indicates that the assumption that the NMMP 20 partial skeleton belongs to an amphipithecid can no longer be sustained. Instead, this specimen apparently documents a third large-bodied sivaladapid species in the Pondaung Formation.

Artiodactyls from the Pondaung Formation (Myanmar): new data and reevaluation of the South Asian Faunal Province during the Middle Eocene.

Although Asia is thought to have played a critical role in the radiation of artiodactyls, the fossil record of stem selenodonts ("dichobunoids") remains dramatically poor in tropical Asian regions. In this study, we report a new dichobunid genus and species Cadutherium kyaukmagyii and a new basal ruminant genus and species Irrawadymeryx pondaungi, from the late Middle Eocene Pondaung Formation, Central Myanmar. Although the scarcity of the present material prevents any attempts to investigate the phylogenetic relationships of Cadutherium with contemporaneous forms from other Holarctic landmasses, this new form shed new light on the diversity of these small rabbit-like ungulates during a key period of their evolutionary history. Reexamination of the small-bodied artiodactyls from Pondaung leads us to propose new identifications of certain published specimens and, in turn, to investigate the temporal and geographic distribution of taxa recognized in the Pondaung Formation. Although fragmentary, these potential new taxa reveal an unsuspected diversity of small forms among artiodactyls of Pondaung. This addition to the Eocene record of dichobunoids and early ruminants provides further insight in the diversity of dental patterns among small artiodactyls from the Pondaung Formation and attests to the antiquity of these groups in Southeast Asia.

Taxonomic status of purported primate frontal bones from the Eocene Pondaung Formation of Myanmar.

Two isolated cranial fragments from the late middle Eocene Pondaung Formation of central Myanmar have previously been interpreted as frontal bones of the amphipithecid primate Amphipithecus mogaungensis. Aside from a few maxillary fragments, these specimens provide the only potential source of information currently available regarding the cranial anatomy of Amphipithecidae. Were this taxonomic attribution correct, these specimens would indicate that amphipithecids retained numerous primitive skull features, including the absence of a postorbital septum, the retention of a voluminous olfactory chamber, and strong separation between the forebrain and the orbital fossa. However, several anatomical details observable on these specimens are incompatible with their attribution to any primate and strongly suggest that they cannot be ascribed to Mammalia. Particularly problematic in this regard are the extreme thickness of the dermal bone, the odd structure of the alleged "frontal trigon," and the mediolateral orientation and uniquely robust construction of the descending process of the frontal bone (which partially segregates the orbital and temporal fossae). Because these isolated elements can no longer be attributed to Amphipithecus, the anatomical, phylogenetic, and behavioral inferences regarding amphipithecid paleobiology that have been drawn from these specimens can no longer be sustained.

The anthropoid status of a primate from the late middle Eocene Pondaung Formation (Central Myanmar): tarsal evidence.

Primate dental and postcranial remains from the Eocene Pondaung Formation (Myanmar) have been the subject of considerable confusion since their initial discoveries, and their anthropoid status has been widely debated. We report here a well preserved primate talus discovered in the Segyauk locality near Mogaung that displays derived anatomical features typical of haplorhines, notably anthropoids, and lacks strepsirhine synapomorphies. Linear discriminant and parsimony analyses indicate that the talus from Myanmar is more similar structurally to those of living and extinct anthropoids than to those of adapiforms, and its overall osteological characteristics further point to arboreal quadrupedalism. Regressions of talar dimensions versus body mass in living primates indicate that this foot bone might have belonged to Amphipithecus. This evidence supports hypotheses favoring anthropoid affinities for the large-bodied primates from Pondaung and runs contrary to the hypothesis that Pondaungia and Amphipithecus are strepsirhine adapiforms.

The upper dentition and face of Pondaungia cotteri from central Myanmar.

A specimen of Pondaungia from the late middle Eocene Pondaung Formation in central Myanmar includes maxillary fragments and parts of the dentition, some hitherto undocumented, including the upper central incisor, canine, premolars and molars. Pondaungia has a large spatulate I1 closely resembling that of crown anthropoids. It possesses a stout projecting upper canine (like anthropoids) but differs from that tooth of crown anthropoids in lacking a strong mesial groove. There are three upper premolars of which P2 is distinctly smaller than P3 or P4. P3 has a buccolingually oriented mesial profile and an inflated distal profile resembling that of parapithecids and crown anthropoids. The distolingual molar cusp is a hypocone and is not homologus with the "pseudohypocone" of notharctines because the cusp is neither twinned with the protocone nor attached to a Nannopithex-fold. Pondaungia has a stout zygomatic root with a strongly demarcated muscle scar for the superficial masseter situated well above the occlusal plane. The inferior orbital margin is not preserved but the inflated suborbital region allows for the inference that the orbit was small. This specimen is not sufficiently well preserved to identify if there was postorbital closure. However, a specimen of the frontal bone of Amphipithecus shows that its orbital septum was absent or poorly developed. If, as commonly supposed, Pondaungia andAmphipithecus are sister taxa, postorbital closure was probably absent in Pondaungia. The large incisors, molars with poorly developed crests and thick enamel, together with the stoutly developed and strong dorsal component of the force vector of the superficial masseter muscle suggest that Pondaungia had a diet low in fiber, but that included hard food objects like nuts or seeds. The present material adds to the structural similarities between Pondaungia and anthropoids, but whether these similarities are due to shared descent or functional and adaptive convergence remains unresolved.