Mouloud Benammi

A Middle Miocene hominoid from Thailand and orangutan origins

The origin of orangutans has long been debated. Sivapithecus is considered to be the closest ancestor of orangutans because of its facial–palatal similarities, but its dental characteristics and postcranial skeleton do not confirm this phylogenetic position. Here we report a new Middle Miocene hominoid, cf. Lufengpithecus chiangmuanensis n. sp. from northern Thailand. Its dental morphology relates it to the Pongo clade, which includes Lufengpithecus, Sivapithecus, Gigantopithecus, Ankarapithecus and possibly Griphopithecus. Our new species displays striking dental resemblances with living orangutans and appears as a more likely candidate to represent an ancestor of this ape. In addition, it originates from the geographic area of Pleistocene orangutans. But surprisingly, the associated flora shows strong African affinities, demonstrating the existence of a temporary floral and faunal dispersal corridor between southeast Asia and Africa during the Middle Miocene, which may have played a critical role in hominoid dispersion.

Magnetostratigraphy and paleontology of Aït Kandoula basin (High Atlas, Morocco) and the African-European late Miocene terrestrial fauna exchanges

Abstract A magnetostratigraphic study has been carried out on a middle Miocene to upper Pliocene lacustrine sedimentary deposit in the central part of the Ait Kandoula basin, which contains micromammal faunas and is situated in the southern High Atlas (Morocco). In total, 113 samples were subjected to paleomagnetic analysis: 60 out of the 113 studied samples representing 52 different stratigraphic levels yielded a paleomagnetic direction and at least the polarity could be recognized in 42 specimens. Eleven specimens were submitted to AF demagnetization. The mean direction for normal-polarity samples was D = 349.4, I = 50.7 (N = 36, α95 = 4.5, k = 27) and for reversed polarity samples D = 191.2, I = −53.4 (N = 16, α95 = 12.32, k = 9). These results yielded a polarity sequence which we interpret as spanning from Chron C5n.2n to the beginning of Chron C3n.4n. This interpretation relies on biostratigraphic data previously proposed for a part of the continental fauna found in the basin. This result is in agreement with the 40Ar/39Ar dating previously carried out on a volcanic ash layer, which provided an age of 5.9 ± 0.5 Ma [1] and which is shown here to be reversely magnetized. This layer is correlated here with the reverse polarity zone corresponding to Chron C3r. Biostratigraphic studies on the same section have shown that the micromammal levels extend here only from middle Vallesian to upper Turolian (upper Miocene). Four localities have yielded western European species of micromammals, indicating trans-Mediterranean terrestrial faunal exchanges between these two continents during the late Miocene. The European murid rodent Occitanomys is recorded for the first time in North Africa in level 8 of the Afoud section, an age younger than 5.32 Ma being assigned to this level by the present study. Level 1 of the same section yields the lagomorph Prolagus cf. michauxi, with an age of 6.1 Ma. The magnetostratigraphic data suggest therefore that the beginning of terrestrial faunal exchanges between North Africa and Western Europe took place in subchron C3An.1n, at about 6.1 Ma, some 0.4 Myr before the beginning of the Messinian salinity crisis.

Amber from western Amazonia reveals Neotropical diversity during the middle Miocene

Tertiary insects and arachnids have been virtually unknown from the vast western Amazonian basin. We report here the discovery of amber from this region containing a diverse fossil arthropod fauna (13 hexapod families and 3 arachnid species) and abundant microfossil inclusions (pollen, spores, algae, and cyanophyceae). This unique fossil assemblage, recovered from middle Miocene deposits of northeastern Peru, greatly increases the known diversity of Cenozoic tropical–equatorial arthropods and microorganisms and provides insights into the biogeography and evolutionary history of modern Neotropical biota. It also strengthens evidence for the presence of more modern, high-diversity tropical rainforest ecosystems during the middle Miocene in western Amazonia.

Late middle Eocene epoch of Libya yields earliest known radiation of African anthropoids

Reconstructing the early evolutionary history of anthropoid primates is hindered by a lack of consensus on both the timing and biogeography of anthropoid origins. Some prefer an ancient (Cretaceous) origin for anthropoids in Africa or some other Gondwanan landmass, whereas others advocate a more recent (early Cenozoic) origin for anthropoids in Asia, with subsequent dispersal of one or more early anthropoid taxa to Africa. The oldest undoubted African anthropoid primates described so far are three species of the parapithecid Biretia from the late middle Eocene Bir El Ater locality of Algeria and the late Eocene BQ-2 site in the Fayum region of northern Egypt. Here we report the discovery of the oldest known diverse assemblage of African anthropoids from the late middle Eocene Dur At-Talah escarpment in central Libya. The primate assemblage from Dur At-Talah includes diminutive species pertaining to three higher-level anthropoid clades (Afrotarsiidae, Parapithecidae and Oligopithecidae) as well as a small species of the early strepsirhine primate Karanisia. The high taxonomic diversity of anthropoids at Dur At-Talah indicates either a much longer interval of anthropoid evolution in Africa than is currently documented in the fossil record or the nearly synchronous colonization of Africa by multiple anthropoid clades at some time during the middle Eocene epoch.

Magnetostratigraphy of the Middle Miocene continental sedimentary sequences of the Mae Moh Basin in northern Thailand: evidence for counterclockwise block rotation

Abstract A magnetostratigraphic study has been performed on the Mae Moh basin, well known for its lignite mining in the Lampang province. Paleomagnetic samples were collected from 66 stratigraphic levels. Rock magnetic investigations indicate the presence of low coercivity minerals. Specimens subjected to progressive thermal (or alternating field) demagnetization procedures show that nearly all of them exhibit a low temperature magnetization component, and a high temperature characteristic component (ChRM), with either positive or negative virtual geomagnetic pole latitudes and opposite polarity, considered as the characteristic Miocene magnetization. The overall mean paleomagnetic direction (incl.=22.2°, decl.=358.3°, κ =15, α 95 =4) documents a counterclockwise vertical axis rotation of about 13°±1.32 with respect to the expected Miocene direction derived from the Eurasian polar wander curve (incl.=42°, decl.=11°). Our paleomagnetic results are not consistent with the previously reported paleomagnetic data. The rotation observed in the Mae Moh basin can be the response to local tectonics. A section sampled for magnetostratigraphy reveals a polarity sequence of nine magnetozones that can reliably be correlated to the geomagnetic polarity time scale. According to biochronological constraints, the magnetostratigraphic results from the mammal-bearing succession correlate with chron C5ABn–C5An2n, between 13.5 and 12.1 Ma. According to the mean sedimentation rate of about 17.5 cm/ka, ages of 12.5 and 12.8 Ma are proposed for the fossiliferous levels (J5 and K1, K2 lignite zones) were the mammal remains were found.

Morphological evolution of the murine rodent Paraethomys in response to climatic variations (Mio-Pleistocene of North Africa)

The North African murine rodent Paraethomys evolved as an anagenetic lineage from the late Miocene until its extinction in the late-middle Pleistocene. A Fourier analysis of the outlines of the first upper and lower molars of this rodent was used to quantify the evolutionary patterns of this lineage and to compare evolutionary patterns to the climatic record. Morphological evolu- tion and long-term environmental variations are strongly correlated. A change in molar shape, which may be related to the development of a more grass-eating diet, corresponds to the global cooling beginning around 3 Ma and the subsequent increase in aridity in North Africa. Concur- rently, size increased, which may be related to increased masticatory efficiency or to metabolic ad- aptation to the cooler environmental conditions according to Bergmanns rule. This adaptive re- sponse to changing environmental conditions corresponds to an acceleration of evolutionary rates in the lineage. The modalities of the evolutionary response in size and shape are probably con- trolled by intrinsic factors such as different genetic determinisms for both characters.

First Magnetostratigraphic Study of the Pondaung Formation: Implications for the Age of the Middle Eocene Anthropoids of Myanmar

We report the results of a magnetostratigraphic investigation to improve the stratigraphical and chronological resolution of the Pondaung Formation of central Myanmar. A total of 98 samples were collected from 45 sites through a 319‐m‐thick section at the fossiliferous locality of Yashe Kyitchaung or the Primate Resort (yielding primate species Bahinia pondaungensis, Amphipithecus mogaungensis, and Myanmarpithecus yarshensis) near the Bahin village. Thermal and alternating field demagnetization allowed separation of two remanence components. The high‐temperature component is interpreted as the characteristic magnetization. Rock magnetic experiments show that the remanence magnetization is mainly carried by magnetite. This investigation documents normal polarity remanent magnetization, with a mean direction \documentclass{aastex} \usepackage{amsbsy} \usepackage{amsfonts} \usepackage{amssymb} \usepackage{bm} \usepackage{mathrsfs} \usepackage{pifont} \usepackage{stmaryrd} \usepackage{textcomp} \usepackage{portland,xspace} \usepackage{amsmath,amsxtra} \usepackage[OT2,OT1]{fontenc} \newcommand\cyr{ \renewcommand\rmdefault{wncyr} \renewcommand\sfdefault{wncyss} \renewcommand\encodingdefault{OT2} \normalfont \selectfont} \DeclareTextFontCommand{\textcyr}{\cyr} \pagestyle{empty} \DeclareMathSizes{10}{9}{7}{6} \begin{document} \landscape

A complete magnetic-polarity stratigraphy of the Miocene continental deposits of Mae Moh Basin, northern Thailand, and a reassessment of the age of hominoid-bearing localities in northern Thailand

D=336.7^{\circ }