Otavipithecus
Otavipithecus Temporal range:
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Fossil jawbone of Otavipithecus namibiensis at the National Museum of Natural History, France | |
Scientific classification ![]() | |
Kingdom: | Animalia |
Phylum: | Chordata |
Class: | Mammalia |
Order: | Primates |
Suborder: | Haplorhini |
Infraorder: | Simiiformes |
Family: | Hominidae |
Subfamily: | †Dryopithecinae |
Tribe: | † |
Genus: | †Otavipithecus et al 1992 |
Species: | †O. namibiensis
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Binomial name | |
†Otavipithecus namibiensis et al 1992
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Otavipithecus namibiensis is an extinct species of ape from the Miocene of Namibia. The fossils were discovered at the mines in the foothills of the , hence the generic name. The species was described in 1992 by and colleagues, and was at the time the only non-hominin fossil ape known from southern Africa.[1] The fossils consist of part of the lower jawbone with molars, a partial frontal bone, a heavily damaged ulna, one vertebra and a partial finger bone.[2]
Otavipithecus is estimated to have weighed between 14 and 20 kg.[3] The unspecialised teeth have only a thin layer of enamel, implying a diet of soft vegetation such as fruit and young leaves.[3]
The phylogenetic position of Otavipithecus is not clear from the meagre fossils known to date. Alternative proposals have it branching close to the earlier Afropithecus of Kenya,[4] or being close to the common ancestor of modern African apes (humans, chimpanzees, and gorillas).[5][6]
References[]
- ^ Conroy, Glenn C.; Pickford, Martin; Senut, Brigitte; Couvering, John Van; Mein, Pierre (1992). "Otavipithecus namibiensis, first Miocene hominoid from southern Africa". Nature. 356 (6365): 144–148. Bibcode:1992Natur.356..144C. doi:10.1038/356144a0. ISSN 0028-0836. PMID 1545864. S2CID 24829488.
- ^ Harrison, T (2010). "Dendropithecoidea, Proconsuloidea and Hominoidea". In Werdelin, L.; Sanders, W. J (eds.). Cenozoic Mammals of Africa. Berkeley: University of California Press. pp. 429–469.
- ^ a b Conroy, G. C (1997). Reconstructing human origins. New York: W. W. Norton & company.
- ^ Singleton, M (2000). "The phylogenetic affinities of Otavipithecus namibiensis". Journal of Human Evolution. 38 (4): 537–573. doi:10.1006/jhev.1999.0369. PMID 10715196.
- ^ Pickford, M.; Moyà-Solà, S.; Köhler, M (1997). "Phylogenetic implications of the first Middle Miocene hominoid frontal bone from Otavi, Namibia". Comptes Rendus de l'Académie des Sciences. 325: 459–466.
- ^ Cartmill, M.; Smith, F. H (2009). The Human Lineage. New Jersey: Wiley-Blackwell.
- Primate fossils
- Prehistoric apes
- Prehistoric primate genera
- Miocene first appearances
- Miocene extinctions