The extinct sloth lemurs of Madagascar

@article{Godfrey2003TheES,
  title={The extinct sloth lemurs of Madagascar},
  author={Laurie R. Godfrey and William L. Jungers},
  journal={Evolutionary Anthropology: Issues},
  year={2003},
  volume={12}
}
Paleontological expeditions to Madagascar over the past two decades have yielded large quantities of bones of extinct lemurs. These include abundant postcranial and cranial remains of new species belonging to a group of giant extinct lemurs that we have called sloth lemurs due to their remarkable postcranial convergence with arboreal sloths. New fossils have come from a variety of locations in Madagascar, including caves in the Northwest (Anjohibe) and the Ankarana Massif, located in the… 
View on Wiley
bork.hampshire.edu
122 Citations
Highly Influential Citations
2
Background Citations
34
Methods Citations
1
Results Citations
3

122 Citations

Ancient DNA from giant extinct lemurs confirms single origin of Malagasy primates.

An ancient DNA analysis of subfossil species from the extinct genera Palaeopropithecus and Megaladapis corroborates the monophyly of endemic Malagasy primates and supports the close relationship of sloth lemurs to living indriids as has been hypothesized on morphological grounds.

The Hands of Subfossil Lemurs

Examination of hand morphology both within and among lemur families is examined, comparing the extinct lemurs to their closest extant relatives, and to what degree the differences observed reflect phylogenetic relationships is asked.

DNA from extinct giant lemurs links archaeolemurids to extant indriids

New sequence information provides evidence for the proximity of Archaeolemur and Hadropithecus to extant indriids, in agreement with earlier assessments of their taxonomic status and in contrast to recent suggestions of a closer relationship to the Lemuridae made on the basis of analyses of dental developmental and postcranial characters.

Rock matrix surrounding subfossil lemur skull yields diverse collection of mammalian subfossils: Implications for reconstructing Madagascar's paleoenvironments

Radiocarbon dating shows that non-associated surface finds of small mammals tend to be younger than extinct larger mammals at Anjohibe, underscoring the importance of using other methods to establish temporal associations of small and large mammals.

A refined chronology of prehistoric Madagascar and the demise of the megafauna

Potential evolutionary body size reduction in a Malagasy primate (Propithecus verreauxi) in response to human size-selective hunting pressure

High-resolution 3D scan data is used to conduct comparative morphological analyses of subfossil and modern skeletal remains of one of the larger extant lemurs, Verreaux’s sifakas, to determine whether this is a case of phyletic dwarfism in response to human size-selective harvesting pressures, and the estimated rate of evolutionary change is slightly higher than that previously calculated.

Patterns of Dental Macrowear in Subfossil Lemur catta from Ankilitelo Cave, Madagascar: Indications of Ecology and Habitat Use over Time

Results suggest that this non-gallery forest habitat may be the ‘adaptive home' of L. catta, given the lack of notable tooth wear when compared to populations currently living in tamarind-dominated riverine gallery forests.

Elwyn Simons: Opening windows into Madagascar's past

Despite more than a century of strong paleontological interest in the extinct lemurs of Madagascar, many gaps remained in the authors' knowledge of these remarkable creatures until the early 1980s, when Elwyn L. Simons succeeded in creating a collaborative accord between colleagues at the Universit e d’Antananarivo in Madagascar and the Duke University Primate Center whereby field exploration of Paleontological sites reopened in Madagascar.

The hands and feet of Archaeolemur: metrical affinities and their functional significance.

Locomotion and Posture in Ancestral Hominoids Prior to the Split of Hylobatids

The comparative dataset agrees with recent suggestions that all living apes share a diverse TO-positional repertoire, relative to that of cercopithecoid monkeys, and reevaluate differences in positional behavior of extant cercOPithecoids and hominoids.
...

79 References

Phylogenetic and functional affinities of Babakotia (primates), a fossil lemur from northern Madagascar.

The mosaic nature of the locomotor skeleton of Babakotia further suggests that vertical climbing and hang-feeding rather than ricochetal leaping were primitive for indrids and palaeopropithecids and that the dramatic saltatory adaptations of the living indRids postdate the divergence of these two lineages.

Ecomorphology and Behavior of Giant Extinct Lemurs from Madagascar

This chapter attempts to breathe life back into the osteological remains of recently extinct prosimian primates from the Quaternary of Madagascar.

AMS 14C Dates for Extinct Lemurs from Caves in the Ankarana Massif, Northern Madagascar

Abstract An extensive late Quaternary fauna, including many extinct giant lemurs, has been collected recently in a 110+-km system of caves in the Ankarana Massif of northern Madagascar. AMS 14C dates…

The taxonomic attributions of giant subfossil lemur bones from Ampasambazimba: Archaeoindris and Lemuridotherium

Phalangeal curvature and positional behavior in extinct sloth lemurs (Primates, Palaeopropithecidae).

The curvature of the proximal phalanges of the hands and feet is analyzed and indicates that the sloth lemurs are one of the most suspensory clades of mammals ever to evolve.

Dating of Modified Femora of Extinct Dwarf Hippopotamus from Southern Madagascar : Implications for Constraining Human Colonization and Vertebrate Extinction Events

Dental Ontogeny and Life-History Strategies: The Case of the Giant Extinct Indroids of Madagascar

While investigating ecogeographic size variation in the extant and extinct lemurs of Madagascar, one of us noted the occurrence in the collections of the Academie Malgache of several unusually small demimandibles of Mesopropithecus an extinct “sloth lemur” (or palaeopropheticcid) from southwest Madagascar.

Dental microstructure and life history in subfossil Malagasy lemurs

The results demonstrate that large body size in primates does not preclude exceedingly rapid dental development, and implies a pattern characteristic of Propithecus and other indrids—rapid dental development despite relatively prolonged gestation.

New wrist bones of the Malagasy giant subfossil lemurs.

Comparative analysis of subfossil lemur wrist morphology complements and expands upon prior inferences based on other regions of the postcranial skeleton, and suggests a considerable degree of locomotor and postural heterogeneity among these recently extinct primates.

Ancient DNA in Subfossil Lemurs

The analyses suggest that Palaeopropithecus is sister to the living indrids, as predicted by morphological studies, and Megaladapis appears to belong to an independent lemuriform lineage rather than form a clade with Lepilemur.
...