Biomedical subjects

M Godinot

Publications and source records attributed to M Godinot.

5 recordsLinked to original sources

PubMed1998

[Morphological functional analysis of the femora and tibiae of Quercy "Adapis": recognition of five morphological types].

The study of 13 partial femora and 3 tibiae from late Eocene Quercy localities (France) confirms the distinction of the two adapinine genera Adapis and Palaeolemur. The femora come from both new (Rosières 2 and Escamps) and old collections (of uncertain provenance). They allow the distinction of 5 morphological groups, whose morphological characteristics are functionally explained. Adapis and Palaeolemur show strong similarities to some small living platyrrhines (Saimiri, Cebus, Aotus) and much less to lorisines. Type 1 and type 2 were probably branch walking and running forms, using climbing less frequently. Types 4 and 5 were probably less specialized for running and used climbing more frequently. These relatively close 4 types are interpreted as 4 species of Adapis. Type 3 is associated with the only species known from Escamps, Palaeolemur betillei. This last species appears to have been predominantly a climber, however, without the morphological specializations of the posterior limb associated with slow climbing in lorisines.

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PubMed1992

Earliest known simian primate found in Algeria.

The record of early fossil Simiiformes (Anthropoidea) from the Late Eocene and Early Oligocene of Africa and the Arabian Peninsula has increased dramatically in recent years. We report here the discovery of a new, diminutive and much older (Early or Middle Eocene) simian from an Algerian locality, Glib Zegdou. This species is smaller than any other living or fossil African simiiform. Derived similarities shared with Aegyptopithecus suggest that the new genus is more closely related to propliopithecines than to oligopithecines, implying that these two subfamilies differentiated during the Early Eocene. The new discovery confirms predictions about the great antiquity of Simiiformes and emphasizes a long and endemic African history for higher primates.

Algeria↗

PubMed1992

Oldest known Nannopithex (Primates, Omomyiformes) from the early Eocene of France.

Numerous dental remains of Nannopithex zuccolae, n. sp., from the terminal early Eocene locality of Prémontré (Aisne), France, show the lower anterior dentition to be similar to that of other Nannopithex. Similarities include enlarged I1, reduced I2, reduced lower canine, loss of P2, small P3 and large P4. Upper molars, P3 and P4 all present primitive characters, making this species the most primitive as well as the oldest known microchoerid.

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PubMed1991

Toward the locomotion of two contemporaneous Adapis species.

The morphological differences between the limb bones of two Adapis species from two localities in Southern France are analyzed for their functional significance. The study focuses on the distal humerus, proximal femur, astragalus and calcaneum. The Escamps species Adapis aff. betillei shows more extreme flexion at the elbow, lateral mobility at the hip, and more rotation at the calcaneocuboid joint than in the other species. The species from Rosières 2 A. cf. parisiensis shows increased emphasis on parasagittal movements, restrictions of lateral mobility in the hindlimb, enhanced capacity for rapid flexion and powerful extension of the thigh, and powerful rapid foot extension. The Rosières species probably engaged in more frequent branch walking and running, and the Escamps species probably included more climbing in its locomotor repertoire. In the general Adapis genus morphology, the large tuber calcanei, short astragalus, and the presence of a calcaneal "pressure facet" are similarities shared with living cercopithecids. Along with other characters, these suggest that horizontal running was possibly an important means of locomotion in the Adapis and adapine morphotypes, and may even indicate a degree of terrestraility. Contrary to the most common view, the euprimate morphotype was probably not a specialized leaper.

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PubMed1988

Interrelationships among primate higher taxa.

One of the most controversial issues in primate palaeontology concerns the phylogenetic position of the extinct primate infraorder Adapiformes. During the Eocene, this group of primates of modern aspect possessed a holarctic distribution, and may have been present in the poorly known Palaeogene of Africa. Mainly on the basis of craniodental morphology, at least four hypotheses have been proposed concerning the phylogenetic interrelationships among adapiforms and other primate higher taxa: (1) that adapiforms are ancestral to both lemuriforms (including Lorisoidea) and anthropoids; (2) that adapiforms cannot be shown to possess a special phylogenetic relationship with either lemuriforms or anthropoids; (3) that adapiforms are the sister taxon of lemuriforms; and (4) that Adapiformes is not a natural, monophyletic group, but rather consists of nested clades within the radiation of lemuriforms. Here, we describe features of the ankle and wrist joints of several adapiform taxa that provide an independent test of the preceding hypotheses. These traits suggest that lemuriforms are monophyletic with respect to known adapiforms, but that adapiforms nevertheless are their stem lineage (sensu Ax).

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