New Myanmar middle Eocene anthropoids. An Asian origin for catarrhines?

In April 1997, several new lower jaw fragments of the primates Amphipithecu s and Pondaungia were discovered in the Eocene Pondaung Formation in Centra l Myanmar by the Pondaung Fossil Expedition headed by the Office of Strateg ic Studies. These new fossils, when compared together and to Siamopithecus from the Late Eocene of Peninsular Thailand, show additional characters tha t testify to their anthropoid status, to their common origin and to their r esemblance to some African relatives. In this paper we describe the new dat a displayed by these new Myanmar fossils, we identify the characters that u nite these Southeast Asian primates as anthropoids and we examine the relat ionships of this Southeast Asian group with its African counterparts. ((C) Academie des sciences / Elsevier, Paris.)