[Taxacom] Chimps and humans

[Kenneth Kinman]

Dear All,
       At the risk of opening a new can of worms. I wonder why the main
cause of malaria in orangutans (Plasmodium patecki) is related to
Plasmodium species that cause malaria in gibbons (not Plasmodium species
infecting the African ape clade).  Also, below are a couple of other
papers that I ran across.   In particular, emissary canals also show
orangutans showing the plesiomorphic pattern of gibbons and non-ape
primates, while the African ape clade shares a synapomorphic pattern in
this regard.
        -----Ken Kinman
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Folia Primatol (Basel). 1995;65(3):144-153,
Emissary canals in the hominoidea and their phylogenetic significance.
Braga J.
"Two emissary canals of the skull base (the retroarticular and condylar
canals) have been examined in a sample of 1,453 great apes. Our results
imply that emissary vein patterns are distinct for orang-utans and
African apes. In orang-utans the temporal sinus is frequently present
and the retroarticular canal is often present. Orang-utans show a
different external venous system in which the condylar canal is very
rare. In orang-utans the retroarticular canal resembles the more
primitive structure in prosimians and is probably homologous with it. In
the African apes, as in humans, the temporal sinus regresses and the
condylar vein is well developed. The complete absence of a
retroarticular canal can be considered as a synapomorphy supporting the
human-African ape clade and excluding Pongo. The enlargement of the
condylar vein is much more frequent in the common chimpanzee. The
dominance of the condylar vein over the temporal sinus appears to occur
progressively during great ape evolution."

Also:
=Morphometrics and hominoid phylogeny: Support for a chimpanzee-human
clade and differentiation among great ape subspecies. 
Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A.  March 2004.