Late Eocene of Burma yields earliest anthropoid primate, Pondaungia cotteri

Abstract

In April 1978, a fragment of a primate lower jaw containing the second and third molar teeth was found in late Eocene exposures of the Pondaung Hills about 1 mile north-west of Mogaung village in northwestern Central Burma. This approximately 40-Myr-old specimen is the first fossil primate found in Burma since the fragmentary remains of the controversial earliest anthropoids Pondaungia cotteri Pilgrim¹ and Ampithecus mogaungensis Colbert² were recovered more than 50 yr ago. The jaw described here is believed to represent further evidence of P. cotteri. Its recovery from undoubted late Eocene exposures coupled with its salient higher primate characters and excellent state of preservation provides the opportunity to substantiate further that the Pondaung primates of Burma are the earliest known record of the Anthropoidea.