Der Canalis Sachaus Als Indikator Für Die Länge Der Caudalregion Der Primaten

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Abstract
The lumen of the canalis sacralis of living primates changes from its cranial to its caudal end (== Sacralkanal-index) in proportion to the number of the following caudal vertebrae. No other sacral structures can offer any unequivocal information about the length of the adjoining caudal region. The Sacralkanalindex, calculated for 18 genera of living primates, amounts to 20 in tail less, between 20 and 50 in short tailed, between 50 and 80 in longtailed species. Only primates with a really prehensil tail have an index above 80 (Alouatta, Ateles, Lagothrix). Even a single sacrum gives a reliable index-value for the length of the caudal region. The index, therefore, is of special interest in the examination of fossil primate sacra,, For instance, this index justifies the conclusion that Pliopithecus, a member of the Hylobatidae from the middle miocene, must have had a long tail with at least 10 to 15 caudal vertebrae. So it is shown that Pliopithecus in the region of the vertebral column[long dash]as in that of the extremities [long dash] is not as specialized as the recent genera Hylobates and Symphalan-gus.

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