Evolutionary Ecology of fossil anthropoid primates in Southeast Asia
Final Report Abstract
Fossil formations of Southeast Asia document a highly dynamic period in mammalian evolution during the Cenozoic. Many clades of modern mammals originated from this biogeographic region or experienced diversification there including early anthropoid primates and pongines. In our project, we characterized the ecological and environmental contexts in which these developments took place, specifically in regard to palaeoseasonality, vegetation structure, diet and niche partitioning. We focused on two fossil mammal faunas from the Central Basin of Myanmar representing two key time periods in the evolutionary history of primates. The middle Eocene Pondaung Fm. (40 Ma) offers a rare opportunity to explore ecosystem dynamics in a greenhouse world not unlike the one predicted as a scenario for our future following the trends of global warming. In this habitat, we find a large number of different early anthropoid primates as well as a diverse herbivorous mammal fauna and a well-diversified guild of creodont carnivores. With our data, we could further proof the existence of a monsoon-like climate even though the orogenesis of the Himalayas was not yet complete and the paleolatitude of the Pondaung Fm. was much closer to the equator than it is today. Although the Pondaung Fm. paleoenvironments are interpreted as deltaic with numerous paleoriver channels, we could not find evidence that any of the herbivorous mammals had an aquatic or a semi-aquatic lifestyle. We could demonstrate that the different localities belonging to the Pondaung Fm. represent two different microhabitats, differentiated by humidity and forest density. At least one genus of early anthropoid, Pondaungia, was found at localities from both microhabitats, hinting towards some degree of ecological flexibility in these primates. With the second mammal assemblage from the late Miocene Irrawaddy Fm. (ca. 9.5 Ma), we addressed open questions regarding the evolutionary ecology of Ponginae in Southeast Asia. Today, there only is one genus, Pongo (the orangutans), whose geographical distribution is highly restricted to the islands of Borneo and Sumatra. From the Miocene to the Pleistocene however, species diversity and geographic range were much more extensive. The Irrawaddy Fm. is an example for the habitat of the sister-group of extant orangutans, Khoratpithecus, represented here by the species Khoratpithecus ayeyarwadyensis. With the stable isotope analysis, we characterized the habitat of this fossil pongine by reconstructing its paleoseasonality, vegetation structure and niche partitioning. We also integrated dental microwear texture analysis to reconstruct paleodietary diversity in the clade. We could show that the dependence on forested habitats in Ponginae was already present in the Miocene. However, Khoratpithecus possibly foraged higher up in the canopy of the forest than orangutans today and likely had a higher diversity of dietary ecologies. Our work on the Miocene representatives of the pongines as well as on a data set of orangutans from the 1890s bridges the gap between palaeontology and conservation ecology and biology working on extant primate faunas and orangutans especially.
Publications
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Isotopic tracking of the paleoecology of Late Miocene Ponginae Khoratpithecus, Sivapithecus. Proceedings of the European Society for the study of Human Evolution, Liège, September 2019, 8: 22.
Bocherens, H.; Chaimanee, Y.; Jaeger, J.-J.; Soe, A.N.; Sein, C. & Chavasseau, O.
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Amphipithecine primates are stem anthropoids: cranial and postcranial evidence. Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences, 287, 20202129.
Jaeger, J.-J.; Sein, C.; Gebo, D. L.; Chaimanee, Y.; Nyein, M. T.; Oo, T. Z.; Aung, M. M.; Suraprasit, K.; Rugbumrung, M.; Lazzari, V.; Soe, A. N. & Chavasseau, O.
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Evolutionary ecology of fossil primates in southeast Asia. Results of two pilot studies. 2nd Palaeontological Virtual Congress, May 1st-15th, 2020, Book of Abstracts, p. 172
Habinger, S.; Chavasseau, O.; Chaimanee, Y.; Jaeger, J.-J.; Naing Soe, A.; Sein, C.; Stern, S. & Bocherens, H.
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First report of the lower dentition of Siamotherium pondaungensis (Cetartiodactyla, Hippopotamoidea) from the late middle Eocene Pondaung Formation, Myanmar. Neues Jahrbuch Für Geologie Und Paläontologie - Abhandlungen, 301(2), 217–228.
Ducrocq, Stéphane; Chaimanee, Yaowalak; Naing Soe, Aung; Sein, Chit; Jaeger, Jean-Jacques & Chavasseau, Olivier
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Importance of multiproxy analysis in paleoecological reconstructions. Covid Interlude 11.5 – Applications of stable isotopes techniques to Ecological Studies. Virtual Meeting. IsoEcol 2021, p. 109.
Habinger, S.G.; Chavasseau, O. & Bocherens, H.
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New fossil remains from Bang Mark locality, Krabi Basin, southern Thailand. Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology, 41(4).
Ducrocq, Stéphane; Chaimanee, Yaowalak; Jaeger, Jean-Jacques; Yamee, Chotima; Rugbumrung, Mana; Grohé, Camille & Chavasseau, Olivier
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Paleoecology of Khoratpithecusayeyarwadyensis. Ecological niche modelling using stable isotopes Palaeovertebrata, special volume1-2021 (18th Conference of the EAVP, Benevento), pp. 90.
Habinger, S.G.; Chavasseau, O. & Bocherens, H.
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Evolutionary ecology of Miocene hominoid primates in Southeast Asia. IPC6 Thailand, From Gondwana to Laurasia, the 6th International Palaeontological Congress, Abstract book, p233.
Habinger, S.G.; Chavasseau, O.; Chaimanee, Y.; Jaeger, J.-J.; Soe, A.N.; Sein, C. & Bocherens, H.
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Evolutionary ecology of Miocene hominoid primates in Southeast Asia. Scientific Reports, 12(1).
Habinger, S. G.; Chavasseau, O.; Jaeger, J.-J.; Chaimanee, Y.; Soe, A. N.; Sein, C. & Bocherens, H.
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Neochorlakkia myaingensis n. gen., n. sp., a new Dichobunidae (Mammalia, Cetartiodactyla) from the middle Eocene Pondaung Formation, Myanmar. Comptes Rendus Palevol, 4.
DUCROCQ, Stéphane; SOE, Aung Naing; SEIN, Chit; CHAIMANEE, Yaowalak; CHAVASSEAU, Olivier & JAEGER, Jean-Jacques
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Palaeoecology and isotopic niche modelling of the late Middle Eocene mammal fauna from the Pondaung Fm. (Myanmar). IPC6 Thailand, From Gondwana to Laurasia, the 6th International Palaeontological Congress, Abstract book, p435.
Habinger, S.G.; Chavasseau, O.; Ducrocq, S.; Chaimanee, Y.; Jaeger, J.-J.; Soe, A.N.; Sein, C. & Bocherens, H.
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A new large pantherine and a sabre-toothed cat (Mammalia, Carnivora, Felidae) from the late Miocene hominoid-bearing Khorat sand pits, Nakhon Ratchasima Province, northeastern Thailand. The Science of Nature, 110(5).
de Bonis, L.; Chaimanee, Y.; Grohé, C.; Chavasseau, O.; Mazurier, A.; Suraprasit, K. & Jaeger, J.J.
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Isotopic niche modelling of an Eocene mammal fauna from Southeast Asia. 12th InternationalConference on the Application of Stable Isotope Techniques to Ecological Studies, Gaming, Austria, June 6-10, 2022. Scientific Program, Events and Book of Abstracts. p 74.
Habinger, S.G., Chavasseau, O., Chaimanee, Y., Jaeger, J.-J., Soe, A.N., Sein, C. & Bocherens, H.
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Isotopic niche modelling of the Pondaung mammal fauna (middle Eocene, Myanmar) shows microhabitat differences. Insights into paleoecology and early anthropoid primate habitats. Frontiers in Ecology and Evolution, 11.
Habinger, Sophie G.; Chavasseau, Olivier; Ducrocq, Stéphane; Chaimanee, Yaowalak; Jaeger, Jean-Jacques; Sein, Chit; Soe, Aung Naing; Stern, Samuel & Bocherens, Hervé
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New material of Paukkaungmeryx minutus (Cetartiodactyla, Aracheomerycidae) from the late Middle Eocene Pondaung Formation, Myanmar. Vertebrate PalAsiatica, 61(3): 182-197.
Ducrocq, S., Chaimanee, Y., Chavasseau, O., Soe, A.N., Sein, C. & Jaeger, J.J.
