New cranium of the endemic Caribbean platyrrhine, Antillothrix bernensis, from La Altagracia Province, Dominican Republic.

Recent paleontological collection in submerged caves in the eastern Dominican Republic has yielded new specimens of Antillothrix bernensis. Here we describe a complete cranium of an adult individual (MHD 20) and provide phenetic comparisons to other endemic Caribbean taxa and extant mainland platyrrhines using three-dimensional geometric morphometric methods (3DGM). Qualitative and quantitative comparisons support conclusions based on other recently described fossil material: Antillothrix has a dentition lacking clear dietary specialization, an elongated brain case with strong temporal lines, and a vertically oriented nuchal plane. MHD 20 shares a combination of traits with a previously published subadult specimen (MHD 01) including a deep depression at glabella, dorsoventrally elongated orbits, and a relatively large face. This shared morphology reinforces the taxonomic affinity of the two specimens, with differences between the two likely reflecting the younger ontogenetic age of MHD 01. Comparisons to the extant platyrrhines paint a complicated picture as the results of between-group principal components analyses (bgPCA) indicate that Antillothrix does not share a suite of morphological features exclusively with any one genus. Depending on which bgPC axes are visualized, and which subset of landmarks is included (i.e., only those describing the shape of the face/palate for inclusion of Xenothrix), MHD 20 is most similar in shape to the atelids, Alouatta, Lagothrix, and Brachyteles, or an otherwise "empty" region of shape space. It groups neither with Cebus nor Callicebus, two taxa that Antillothrix has been associated with in previous studies based on much less complete material. The Antillothrix cranium does not exhibit any of the derived characters classically used to diagnose or define any single clade; rather its morphology shares features with multiple platyrrhine groups. This is consistent with the interpretation that Antillothrix preserves a primitive morphology, which accords with the hypothesis positing an early arrival of platyrrhines in the Caribbean.

A closer look at the "Protopithecus" fossil assemblages: new genus and species from Bahia, Brazil.

The recently extinct large-bodied New World monkey Protopithecus brasiliensis Lund 1836 was named based on a distal humerus and proximal femur found in the Lagoa Santa cave system in the southeastern Brazilian state of Minas Gerais. These bones are from an animal about twice the size of the largest extant platyrrhines. One hundred and seventy-five years later, a nearly complete skeleton was discovered in the Toca da Boa Vista caves in the neighboring state of Bahia and was allocated to the same taxon as it was the first platyrrhine fossil of comparable size found since the originals. Our detailed study of the equivalent elements, however, reveals important morphological differences that do not correspond to intraspecific variation as we know it in related platyrrhine taxa. The presence of both an expanded brachioradialis flange on the humerus and gluteal tuberosity on the femur of the Bahian skeleton distinguishes it from the Lagoa Santa fossil as well as from all other platyrrhines. Further cranial and postcranial evidence suggests a closer relationship of the former with the alouattine Alouatta, while the limited Lund material fits more comfortably with the ateline clade. Therefore, we propose to limit P. brasiliensis Lund to the distal humerus and proximal femur from Lagoa Santa and erect a new genus and species for the skeleton from Toca da Boa Vista. Cartelles coimbrafilhoi was a large-bodied frugivore with a relatively small brain and diverse locomotor repertoire including both suspension and climbing that expands the range of platyrrhine biodiversity beyond the dimensions of the living neotropical primates.

Reconstructing the locomotor repertoire of Protopithecus brasiliensis. II. Forelimb morphology.

The majority of previous publications have suggested that the large-bodied subfossil Protopithecus brasiliensis was a suspensory ateline with a locomotor repertoire similar to that of extant Ateles and Brachyteles. This is unexpected, as the cranial morphology of Protopithecus is very similar to Alouatta, a genus usually classified as a deliberate quadrupedal climber. Complicating matters further, as Protopithecus is twice as large as Ateles and Brachyteles, its ability to be as suspensory as those two genera is suspect and a terrestrial component of the locomotor repertoire has also been hypothesized. The forelimbs of Protopithecus, while relatively elongated as would be expected in a suspensory animal, are also quite robust and show several adaptations for climbing. To test these hypotheses about the fossil locomotor repertoire, three-dimensional geometric morphometric techniques were used to quantify the shapes of the fossil distal humerus and proximal ulna and then compare them to a broad sample of extant primates with varying body sizes and locomotor patterns. Results indicate that Protopithecus is similar to Ateles and Brachyteles in terms of its forelimb joint surface morphology; however, the overall locomotor repertoire of the fossil is reconstructed as more flexible to include forelimb suspension, climbing, and potentially some terrestrial ground use. The combination of suspensory locomotion and quadrupedal climbing supported here indicates the beginnings of the evolutionary transition from a more acrobatic style of locomotion in the last common ancestor of alouattins and atelins to the current pattern of howler locomotion.

Reconstructing the locomotor repertoire of Protopithecus brasiliensis. I. Body size.

An accurate body size estimate is essential for reconstructing and interpreting many aspects of the paleobiology of an extinct taxon. With this in mind, the purpose of this study is two-fold: first, to create statistically robust predictive regression equations for body mass, total body length, and head and body length from postcranial elements using a platyrrhine reference sample, data that do not exist elsewhere in the literature; and, second, to apply those regression equations to the "giant" subfossil platyrrhine Protopithecus brasiliensis, a little-studied taxon represented by a nearly complete skeleton. Building on results of previous work with other primate groups, different skeletal elements, subgroups of the reference sample, and regression models lead to different body size estimates with different standard errors and prediction errors. However, relatively tight clusters of estimates around 20 kg, total length of 1,675 mm, and head and body length of 710 mm are obtained, placing the fossil in the size range of a large male baboon. While not quite as large as the original 25 kg body mass estimate for the fossil, this new estimate is still approximately 150% larger than the largest living New World monkey. Confirmation of its place in a large-bodied size class of platyrrhines has a profound effect on reconstructing the locomotor repertoire of Protopithecus and the evolutionary trajectory of the alouattin lineage.