Origins and Evolution of Hominoids in East Asia.

在中国南部云南省晚中新世、缅甸中部本当地区晚始新世、泰国北部班那赛地区中至晚中新世、中国东北辽宁省复兴地区早新生代四个东亚地区进行了古生物调查。结果，在缅甸的Pondaung和泰国的Ban Na Sai发现了一些灵长类动物化石。这些化石现在正在描述过程中。本当地区收集了本当亚目和Amphipithecus的新上颌和牙齿标本，这两种动物都是本世纪初发现的，被认为是最早的类人猿。特别值得一提的是，这两个类群的上颌碎片均为首次发现。此外，还发现了两种新的小型灵长类动物：Bahinia和未命名的物种。这两个分类群也被认为是类人猿灵长类动物。在巴那赛地区，在中新世中期的沉积物中发现了一颗疑似古人类的孤立牙齿。该标本是一颗独立的右上臼齿，可能是东亚最古老的类人猿化石。对这颗牙齿的详细分析将为研究东亚古人类的进化提供新的贡献。这些东南亚灵长类动物新化石的发现，将为东亚第三灵长类动物的进化研究提供线索。

The paleontological investigations have been carried out at four localities in several East Asian countries : the late Miocene of Yunnan Province in southern China, the lete middle Eocene of Pondaung area in central Myanmar, the middle to late Miocene of Ban Na Sai area in Northern Thailand, the early Cenozoic of Fuxing area of Liaoning Province in northeast China. As a result, several primate fossils were discovered in the Pondaung, Myanmar, and Ban Na Sai, Thailand. These fossils are now in the process of description.In Pondaung area newmaxillary and dental specimens of Pondaungia and Amphipithecus, both ofwhich have been discovered at the beginning of this century and considered possible earliest anthropoids, were collected. Especially, the maxillary fragments of both taxa were discovered for the first time. Moreover, two new small primates were discovered : Bahinia and unnamed species. Both taxon are also regarded as anthropoid primates.In Ba Na Sai area a possible hominoid isolated tooth was discovered from the middle Miocene sediment. The specimen is an isolated right upper molar, and might be an oldest hominoid fossil in East Asia. The detailed analysis of this tooth will provide new contribution to the study of hominoid evolution in East Asia.The discoveries of these new primate fossils in Southeast Asia will throw light on the study of evolution of Tertiary primates in East Asia.