*Amphipithecus* primates fossilized

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Subject: *Amphipithecus* primates fossilized  remains discovered 

     *Amphipithecus* primate?s fossilized  remains discovered 
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     *Amphipithecus* primate?s fossilized  remains discovered from 
     40-million-year-old Pondaung Formation Analyses reveal newest 
     finds belong to higher primate 
     
     The team exploring the remains of primates with the co-sponsorship of
     the Office of Strategic Studies of the Ministry of Defence and the
     Ministry of Education, has discovered more remains of *Amphipithecus*
     primate helpful in tracing the origin of Anthropoids. 
     
     Barnum Brown of the United States Museum of Natural History was the
     first to discover the fossilized remain of *Amphipithecus* primate
     near Mogaung Village in Pale Township in 1923; American
     Anthropologist Edwin Colbert named them *Amphipithecus*
     *mogaungensis* in 1937 and examined in detail and described the
     classification of genotype, crucial analysis of the primate, and its
     evolution process. The find was a fragment of the primate?s left
     mandible ( lower jaw-bone ) containing Molar No 1, Premolar No 4 and
     No 3, the root of Premolar No 2 and the root of canine; Molar No 1
     bears five occlusal cusps including paraconid. Fossilized remain of
     the same type of primate was again discovered by Lecturer U Ba Maw of
     Mandalay University and his team of field geologists near Mogaung
     Village in April 1978. The find was a fragment of the primate is left
     mandible bearing Molar No 1 and No 2. 
 
     The team led by Col Than Tun, Head of Department, Office of Strategic
     Studies, and Associate Professor and Vertebrate Paleontologist Dr Tin
     Thein of Mawlamyine University setting out on a mission to explore
     fossilized remains of primates in Pondaung-Ponnya region excavated
     another specimen of *Amphipithecus mogaungensis* near Mogaung Village
     in Pale Township on 18 March 1997. The remain is a fragment of the
     right mandible of the primate with Molar No 1 and No 2. 
     
     Continuing its exploration work, the team was rewarded with discovery
     of a pair of left and right mandibles of *Amphipithecus* primate at a
     point two miles northwest of Bahin Village on 13 April 1997. The left
     mandible contains Molar No 3, Molar No 2, Molar No 1, Premolar No 4,
     Premolar No 3, the root of Premolar No 2 and the root of canine
     whilst the right mandible bears Molar No 3, Molar No 2, Molar No 1
     Premolar No 4 the root of Premolar No 3, the root of Premolar No 2
     and the root of canine. 
  
     Analyses reveal that the latest find also belongs to the genus of the
     formerly discovered remains of *Amphipithecus* primate with three
     premolars but its Molar No 1 does not contain paraconid but four
     cusps. Probably, the new find can be classified as a new species, and
     it is named *Amphipithecus bahinensis* by the fossilised remains
     exploration team to Pondaung region accounting for the fact that it
     was discovered from a site near Bahin Village, Myaing Township. 
     
     Characteristics of the latest find *Amphipithecus bahinensis* with
     both left and right mandibles show that the primate had
     fully-developed jawbones, molars and premolars of a primate of higher
     genus and might be assumed as the Catarrhine primate, the earliest
     one that provides important clues to trace the origin of Anthropoids.
     
     All those primate fossils were recovered from the 40-million-year-old
     Pondaung formation which is exposed in the northwestern part of
     Myanmar. 
     
     MNA 
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     English -  http://www.myanmar.com/arts/amphi.htm
     German - http://www.myanmar.com/arts/gamphi.htm