Functional morphology of the forelimb in Victoriapithecus and its implications for phylogeny within the catarrhini

Victoriapithecus macinnesi represents the earliest best-known Old World monkey. Recovered from sediments on Maboko Island, Kenya dated to ∼15 Ma, Victoriapithecus antedates the split between the two extant Old World monkey subfamilies (von Koenigswald 1969; Leakey 1985; Benefit and Pickford 1986; Benefit 1987, 1993; Harrison 1987, 1989; Benefit and McCrossin 1993). The large sample of forelimb fossils (n = 216) and phalangeal specimens (n = 268) attributed to Victoriapithecus provides the basis for my analysis of the morphology of the forelimb.; Statistical analysis indicates that the Maboko cercopithecoid sample represents a single species, albeit one with significant intraspecific variation. Victoriapithecus macinnesi from Maboko represents a single species of an early cercopithecoid characterized by habitual terrestriality best suited to a woodland environment. Morphological affinities are closest to extant cercopithecines, although some semblance of characters last shared with the common ancestor of both New and Old World monkeys is retained.* (Abstract shortened by UMI.); *This dissertation includes a CD that is multimedia (contains text and other applications not available in printed format). The CD requires the following system application: Internet browser.