Mainland versus Island Adaptation: Paleobiogeography of Sunda Shelf Primates Revisited

Southeast Asian primates appear to be one of the most successful mammals in the dynamic paleoclimatic changes since at least 1 mya. Human and non-human primates reflect the complex history of a wide range of ecological and geographic variation, which presents to be the source of different systematics and biogeographic models. The past combinative effects of geographic factors (latitude, bathymetric barrier, and duration of island isolation), periodic sea level changes, and the contribution of human and/or non-human primate interaction are crucial subjects in studying the north-to-south, which is from continental to archipelago of Sunda Shelf, dispersal events and phylogeographic analysis of human and non-human primates. Cranial size and shape difference between Homo erectus in mainland and island displays peculiarity on the effect of insularity. Data analyses on cranial landmarks of three non-human primate genera provide more clear resolution to reconstruct the complete scenario, whereby insular primates are dispersed and adapted to their present biogeographical distribution.