法国国家科研中心8日发表公报说，该机构与其他国家研究人员合作研究推测，在缅甸发现的类人猿化石可能说明这一物种起源于亚洲，而不是人们此前认为的非洲。
公报说，早在20年前，法国国家科研中心的古生物学家洛朗·马里沃就与多国考古学家合作，在中国、泰国、巴基斯坦和缅甸进行挖掘。2005年和2008年，他们在缅甸挖掘出土了多件近4000万年前的灵长目动物化石，其中一块下颌骨牙齿十分尖利，同时磨损也非常严重，说明这种动物习惯用牙咬开坚硬的果壳，吸取其中营养，而这种饮食习惯只在类人猿身上发现过，如南美洲的僧面猴。
在哺乳纲最高等的灵长目动物中，存在两大分支，其一是原猴亚目，如狐猴；其二就是类人猿亚目，包括人类和猴子等。此前科学家们一直认为，类人猿起源于非洲大陆，不过随着类人猿化石在缅甸的发现，上述理论受到质疑。（生物谷Bioon.com）
生物谷推荐原始出处：
Proc. R. Soc. B July 1, 2009, doi: 10.1098/rspb.2009.0836
A new primate from the Eocene Pondaung Formation of Myanmar and the monophyly of Burmese amphipithecids
K. Christopher Beard1,*, Laurent Marivaux2, Yaowalak Chaimanee3, Jean-Jacques Jaeger4, Bernard Marandat2, Paul Tafforeau5, Aung Naing Soe6, Soe Thura Tun7 and Aung Aung Kyaw8
1Section of Vertebrate Paleontology, Carnegie Museum of Natural History, 4400 Forbes Avenue, Pittsburgh, PA 15213, USA
2Laboratoire de Paléontologie, Institut des Sciences de l’évolution, Université Montpellier 2, Place Eugène Bataillon, 34095 Montpellier, France
3Paleontology Division, Bureau of Paleontology and Museum, Department of Mineral Resources, Rama VI Road, Bangkok 10400, Thailand
4Institut International de Paléoprimatologie, Paléontologie Humaine, Evolution et Paléoenvironnements, Université de Poitiers, 40, Avenue du Recteur Pineau, 86022 Poitiers, France
5European Synchrotron Radiation Facility, 38043 Grenoble, France
6Department of Geology, Hpa-an University, Hpa-an, Myanmar
7Myanmar Geosciences Society, MES Building, Hlaing University, Yangon, Myanmar
8Department of Archaeology, National Museum and Historical Research (Upper Myanmar), Ministry of Culture, Mandalay, Myanmar
The family Amphipithecidae is one of the two fossil primate taxa from Asia that appear to be early members of the anthropoid clade. Ganlea megacanina, gen. et sp. nov., is a new amphipithecid from the late middle Eocene Pondaung Formation of central Myanmar. The holotype of Ganlea is distinctive in having a relatively enormous lower canine showing heavy apical wear, indicating an important functional role of the lower canine in food preparation and ingestion. A phylogenetic analysis of amphipithecid relationships suggests that Ganlea is the sister taxon of Myanmarpithecus, a relatively small-bodied taxon that has often, but not always, been included in Amphipithecidae. Pondaungia is the sister taxon of the Ganlea + Myanmarpithecus clade. All three Pondaung amphipithecid genera are monophyletic with respect to Siamopithecus, which is the most basal amphipithecid currently known. The inclusion of Myanmarpithecus in Amphipithecidae diminishes the likelihood that amphipithecids are specially related to adapiform primates. Extremely heavy apical wear has been documented on the lower canines of all three genera of Burmese amphipithecids. This distinctive wear pattern suggests that Burmese amphipithecids were an endemic radiation of hard object feeders that may have been ecological analogues of living New World pitheciin monkeys.
