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Pronothodectes gaoi n. sp. from the late Paleocene of Alberta, Canada, and the early evolution of the Plesiadapidae (Mammalia, Primates)

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  14 July 2015

Richard C. Fox
Richard C. Fox*
Affiliation:
Laboratory for Vertebrate Paleontology, Departments of Geology and Zoology, University of Alberta, Edmonton T6G 2E9, Canada
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Abstract

Fossils of a new primitive plesiadapid primate, Pronothodectes gaoi n. sp., from the middle Tiffanian (late Paleocene) Paskapoo Formation of Alberta, Canada, are described. Pronothodectes gaoi, the youngest known species of the genus, has P3–4 and lower molars that are intermediate between those of the early to middle Tiffanian successional species Plesiadapis anceps Simpson and Plesiadapis rex (Gidley) both in size and qualitative characters. Pronothodectes gaoi retains I2 and the lower canine, as do all species of Pronothodectes Gidley but not Plesiadapis Gervais. A possible second species of Pronothodectes, from the earliest Tiffanian Cochrane 2 locality, Alberta, more closely resembles the ancestral Plesiadapis, Plesiadapis praecursor Gingerich, in size and configuration of P4, M1–3, but not in dental formula since the lower canine and perhaps I2 are retained. The stratigraphic occurrences of the fossils described here show that ancestral plesiadapids having I2 and the lower canine did not evolve anagenetically into Plesiadapis at the Torrejonian–Tiffanian boundary, as had been previously believed and that knowledge of the infrequently known anterior lower dentition may be necessary for recognition of some, otherwise indistinguishable, plesiadapid species. These discoveries make both interpretation of early plesiadapid phylogeny and correlation based on the stratigraphic succession of early plesiadapid species uncertain.

Type
Research Article
Information
Journal of Paleontology , Volume 64 , Issue 4 , July 1990 , pp. 637 - 647
Copyright
Copyright © The Paleontological Society 

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