Steven C. Ward

The earliest occurrence ofSivapithecus from the middle Miocene Chinji Formation of Pakistan

Abstract The magnetostratigraphy of the Chinji Formation (Siwalik Group, Pakistan) provides age estimates for the earliest occurrence of hominoids attributable toSivapithecus. This report documents a new earliest occurrence for the genus and provides age estimates for other Chinji Formation specimens described previously. These middle Miocene primates have figured prominently in discussions of the course and timing of hominoid evolution.Sivapithecus shares with the living orang-utan (Pongo) a number of derived craniofacial features indicating that they are sister taxa. The newly discovered specimens from the Chinji Formation therefore provide a minimum estimate for the time of the initial divergence between the Asian and African large hominoid clades. Large-bodied hominoids first appear in the Siwaliks at 12·5 m.y.a., with specimens preserving the derived craniofacial features dated at ∼ 12 m.y.a. This age estimate can be used to calibrate branching times of extant hominoids as determined from comparative molecular data.

The Paleobiology of South Asian Miocene Hominoids

Our knowledge of hominoid paleobiology has expanded dramatically in the past 10 years. Many new hominoid fossils have been recovered, principally from middle and late Miocene deposits in Europe and Asia. They are between 17 and 5 million years old. Comparative molecular studies on living hominoids have established a clear pattern of similarities and differences that almost certainly reflects a branching sequence. Broader “historical geological” research in many areas has enriched our knowledge of paleogeography, paleoclimates, and past faunas and floras considerably.

First cousins: A new assessment of robust Australopithecines in hominid phylogeny reconstruction

Rak, Yoel. The Australopithecine Face. New York: Academic Press, 1983. xv + 169 pp. including 46 figures, 36 plates, bibliography, and index.

Morphology of the Pliocene partial hominid skeleton (A.L. 288‐1) from the Hadar formation, Ethiopia

45.00 cloth.