The oldest Eurasian hominoid

Engelswies is an early Miocene vertebrate locality in southern Germany with a rich assemblage of terrestrial mammals, invertebrates and fossil plants. It is dated to 16(.)5-17(.)0 Ma based on magnetostratigraphy, biostratigra phy and lithostratigraphy, and includes among the faunal remains a hominoid upper molar fragment, the oldest hominoid so far identified from Europe. T he evidence from Engelswies suggests that hominoids arrived in Eurasia abou t 17 Ma, roughly contemporaneously with pliopithecoids and Deinotherium, an d before the last marine transgression to isolate Eurasia from Africa. Thic k enamel and low dentine penetrance may have been key adaptations that cont ributed to the success of hominoids of dentally modem aspect in western Eur asia and ultimately to their ability to spread to eastern Eurasia and Afric a in the middle and late Miocene. (C) 2001 Academic Press.