What R U?

My Exploration into the Classification of Mandrills and Baboons

Where Am I?FAMILY CERCOPITHECIDAE Subfamily Cercopithecinae Tribe Papionini

How I Found It

“It means you're a baboon... and I'm not.” –Rafiki, The Lion King

“Baboons are the largest and among the best known of all cercopthecines.” Fleagle, John G. Primate Adaptation and Evolution. 2nd Edition. Academic Press, San Diego; 1999: p.195

Predisposed

Mandrill DefinitionA large fierce baboon (Papio sphinx syn. Mandrillus sphinx) of western Africa, having a beard, crest, and mane and brilliant blue, purple, and scarlet facial markings in the adult male.-Answers.com

Class- Baboons that went into the forest and developed colors because the forest is dark.

Where We Are Now

Disparities?

Polyphyly

Why the Original

Morphology

I mostly just made this slide to show this awesome image, but I wanted to make sure there was something on the slide that went with the paper…. But not too much to detract from the fiercecosity level.

Seriously that’s it?

Mandrillus was considered to be congenericwith Papio based upon their strong pheneticsimilarity, especially in facial features.Both Have an Elongated Face…

Well, As It turns outElongated faces is now thought to be the primitive

feature of the ancestral papionini!

I think it is relevant to say that: It is easier to lose something than remake it.

So it is much more parsimonious to have the two groups of Mangabeys have convergence in reduction than Mandrillus and Papio to have convergence in elongation.

What is this Journey?

Fleagle and McGraw (Our dear Professor) have based their investigations on the lack of morphological characteristics that allow Cercocebus to Mandrillus to be viewed as sister taxa.

The molecular data has been around for, now, 30 years.

Starting Point

Currently I am attempting to obtain more information on the original classification system that supported the original cladogram, i.e. going through old taxonomic guides and using a comparative approach to why they are wrong.

But let’s face it!

People don’t like to admit their mistakes. They have blamed a German researcher Kuhn.

I would like to figure out, chronologically, the ideas and circumstances that arose to create a new investigation into the classification system.

What I am Aware Of

That Molecularly there is similarities to support the new phylogeny (and when there isn’t it only shows the molecular clocks of gene sequences)

Looking more closely at the morphology and function Scott pulled a ‘Chris Beard’ and said “Oh No You Don’t”

What Do You Want? What is it that You Need?

I will continue combing the libraries and book depositories for old copies of Journals, and then create some structural outline out of the mess that is Papionini phylogeny.

And present overarching findings of the relationships of Mangabeys, Baboons, and Mandrills

I think this shows that I have big dreams and a big heart.

That’s how I see drivers Sometimes