Amphipithecidae

{{Short description|Extinct family of primates}}

{{Automatic taxobox

| fossil_range = {{fossilrange|38|28.4}}Late Eocene to Early Oligocene

| display_parents = 2

| taxon = Amphipithecidae

| authority = {{smallcaps|Godinot, 1994}}

}}

The Amphipithecidae were simian primates that lived in Late Eocene and Early Oligocene. Fossils have been found in Myanmar, Thailand, and Pakistan.{{cite journal| title = A new primate from the Eocene Pondaung Formation of Myanmar and the monophyly of Burmese amphipithecids| first1=K. Christopher | last1=Beard | first2=Laurent | last2=Marivaux | journal = Proceedings of the Royal Society B| date = July 2009 | volume = 276| issue=1671 | pages = 3285–3294 | doi=10.1098/rspb.2009.0836| pmid=19570790 | pmc=2817178 }} The limited fossil evidence is consistent with, but not exclusive to, arboreal quadrupedalism. In other words, the species may have moved about in trees on four legs, but not with regular leaping as seen in later simians.{{cite journal| title = The paleobiology of Amphipithecidae, South Asian late Eocene primates| first1=RF | last1=Kay | first2=D | last2=Schmitt | journal = Journal of Human Evolution| pmid = 14698683| date = January 2004 | volume = 46 | issue = 1| pages = 3–25 | doi=10.1016/j.jhevol.2003.09.009}}

What little is known suggests that they are neither adapiform nor omomyid primates, two of the earliest primate groups to appear in the fossil record. Deep mandibles and mandibular molars with low, broad crowns suggest they are simians, a group that includes monkeys, apes, and humans, but are not within the two major extant groups of simians, the Catarrhini and Platyrrhini. Most scholars place them in the simians.{{cite journal |doi=10.1073/pnas.97.8.4102|title=A lower jaw of Pondaungia cotteri from the Late Middle Eocene Pondaung Formation (Myanmar) confirms its anthropoid status|year=2000|last1=Chaimanee|first1=Y.|last2=Thein|first2=T.|last3=Ducrocq|first3=S.|last4=Soe|first4=A. N.|last5=Benammi|first5=M.|last6=Tun|first6=T.|last7=Lwin|first7=T.|last8=Wai|first8=S.|last9=Jaeger|first9=J.-J.|journal=Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences|volume=97|issue=8|pages=4102–4105|pmid=10760279|pmc=18163|bibcode=2000PNAS...97.4102C|doi-access=free}}{{cite journal |doi=10.1073/pnas.2332542100|title=The anthropoid status of a primate from the late middle Eocene Pondaung Formation (Central Myanmar): Tarsal evidence|year=2003|last1=Marivaux|first1=L.|last2=Chaimanee|first2=Y.|last3=Ducrocq|first3=S.|last4=Marandat|first4=B.|last5=Sudre|first5=J.|last6=Soe|first6=A. N.|last7=Tun|first7=S. T.|last8=Htoon|first8=W.|last9=Jaeger|first9=J.-J.|journal=Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences|volume=100|issue=23|pages=13173–13178|pmid=14595009|pmc=263736|bibcode=2003PNAS..10013173M|doi-access=free}}{{cite journal |doi=10.1016/j.crpv.2004.05.003|title=Systematics and paleobiology of the anthropoid primate Pondaungia from the late Middle Eocene of Myanmar|year=2004|last1=Jaeger|first1=Jean-Jacques|last2=Chaimanee|first2=Yaowalak|last3=Tafforeau|first3=Paul|last4=Ducrocq|first4=Stéphane|last5=Soe|first5=Aung Naing|last6=Marivaux|first6=Laurent|last7=Sudre|first7=Jean|last8=Tun|first8=Soe Thura|last9=Htoon|first9=Wanna|last10=Marandat|first10=Bernard|journal=Comptes Rendus Palevol|volume=3|issue=4|pages=243–255}}{{cite journal |doi=10.2992/0145-9058(2007)39[67:NSPFTE]2.0.CO;2|issn=0145-9058|year=2007|volume=39|page=67|title=New sivaladapid primates from the Eocene Pondaung Formation of Myanmar and the anthropoid status of Amphipithecidae|last1=Beard|first1=K. Christopher|last2=Marivaux|first2=Laurent|last3=Tun|first3=Soe Thura|last4=Soe|first4=Aung Naing|last5=Chaimanee|first5=Yaowalak|last6=Htoon|first6=Wanna|last7=Marandat|first7=Bernard|last8=Aung|first8=Htun Htun|last9=Jaeger|first9=Jean-Jacques|journal=Bulletin of Carnegie Museum of Natural History|s2cid=85730138 }}{{cite journal |doi=10.1073/pnas.0804159105|title=The oldest Asian record of Anthropoidea|year=2008|last1=Bajpai|first1=S.|last2=Kay|first2=R. F.|last3=Williams|first3=B. A.|last4=Das|first4=D. P.|last5=Kapur|first5=V. V.|last6=Tiwari|first6=B. N.|journal=Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences|volume=105|issue=32|pages=11093–11098|pmid=18685095|pmc=2516236|bibcode=2008PNAS..10511093B|doi-access=free}}{{cite journal |doi=10.1016/j.jhevol.2009.01.008|title=Early Eocene primates from Gujarat, India|year=2009|last1=Rose|first1=Kenneth D.|last2=Rana|first2=Rajendra S.|last3=Sahni|first3=Ashok|last4=Kumar|first4=Kishor|last5=Missiaen|first5=Pieter|last6=Singh|first6=Lachham|last7=Smith|first7=Thierry|journal=Journal of Human Evolution|volume=56|issue=4|pages=366–404|pmid=19303624}} However, some scholars suggest that their similarities to simians is the result of convergent evolution and that they should instead be considered Adapiformes.

According to Beard et al., Siamopithecus is the most basal form of amphipithecid.

They vary in size from 6–7 kg (Siamopithecus and Pondaungia), to 1–2 kg (Myanmarpithecus), with Bugtipithecus being even smaller.{{cite journal| title = Anthropoid primates from the Oligocene of Pakistan (Bugti Hills): Data on early anthropoid evolution and biogeography| first1=Laurent | last1=Marivaux | first2=Pierre-Olivier | last2=Antoine | first3=Rafiqul Hassan Syed| last3=Baqri| first4=Mouloud | last4=Benammi |

first5=Yaowalak | last5=Chaimaneet | first6=Jean-Yves | last6=Crochet | first7=Dario | last7=de Franceschi| first8=Nayyer | last8=Iqbal | first9=Jean-Jacques | last9=Jaeger | first10=Gregoire | last10=Metais†† | first11=Ghazala | last11=Roohi| first12=Jean-Loup | last12=Welcomme| journal = PNAS| date = June 2005 | volume = 102| pages = 8436–41 | issue = 24| doi = 10.1073/pnas.0503469102| pmc = 1150860| pmid=15937103| bibcode=2005PNAS..102.8436M | doi-access=free }} A number of scholars speculate that the teeth and jaws of the larger Amphipithecidae indicate that they fed on seeds and fruit with hard exteriors, whilst smaller species such as Myanmarpithecus ate soft fruit.{{cite book |last1=Ciochon |first1=R. L. |last2=Gunnell | first2=G. F. |year=2004 |chapter=Eocene large-bodied primates of Myanmar and Thailand: morphological considerations and phylogenetic affinities |title=Anthropoid origins: new visions |editor1-last=Ross |editor1-first=C. F. |editor2-last=Kay |editor2-first=R. F. |pages=249–282 |location=New York, NY |publisher=Kluwer |isbn=9781461347002}}

Pondaungia and Amphipithecus are now considered by scholars to be part of the same genus.