''Parapapio'' ("beside baboon" from Ancient Greek παρά (pará), “beside" + Modern Latin papio, “baboon") is a

genus Genus ( plural genera ) is a taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of living and fossil organisms as well as viruses. In the hierarchy of biological classification, genus comes above species and below family. In binomial nom ...

of prehistoric

baboon Baboons are primates comprising the genus ''Papio'', one of the 23 genera of Old World monkeys. There are six species of baboon: the hamadryas baboon, the Guinea baboon, the olive baboon, the yellow baboon, the Kinda baboon and the chacma ...

s closely resembling the forest dwelling

mangabey Mangabeys are West-African Old World monkeys, with species in three of the six genera of tribe Papionini. The more typical representatives of ''Cercocebus'', also known as the white-eyelid mangabeys, are characterized by their bare, upper eye-l ...

s. ''Parapapio'' is distinguished from other '' Papio'' by the lack of an anteorbital drop, thin browridges, absence of

maxilla The maxilla (plural: ''maxillae'' ) in vertebrates is the upper fixed (not fixed in Neopterygii) bone of the jaw formed from the fusion of two maxillary bones. In humans, the upper jaw includes the hard palate in the front of the mouth. T ...

ry fossae or a sagittal crest and only slight

sexual dimorphism Sexual dimorphism is the condition where the sexes of the same animal and/or plant species exhibit different morphological characteristics, particularly characteristics not directly involved in reproduction. The condition occurs in most an ...

. There are four recognized species, ''Pp. jonesi'', ''Pp. whitei'', ''Pp. broomi'', and ''Pp. lothagamensis'', but these taxonomic designations have generated some controversy. Traditionally, these species have been distinguished based on molar size with ''Pp. jonesi'' being the smallest and ''Pp. whitei'' the largest. However, variation in molar size in ''Pp. broomi'' overlaps the other two. ''Pp. jonesi'' is distinguished as having a more squarish muzzle than ''Pp. whitei'' but more rounded than ''Pp. broomi''; however these distinctions are subtle and better diagnostic criteria are needed. Some authors argue for a confused taxonomy in ''Parapapio'' but disagree with the reclassification. Since there may be no significant difference between mean tooth sizes or

isotopic signature An isotopic signature (also isotopic fingerprint) is a ratio of non-radiogenic ' stable isotopes', stable radiogenic isotopes, or unstable radioactive isotopes of particular elements in an investigated material. The ratios of isotopes in a sample ...

s in ''Pp. broomi'' and ''Pp. jonesi'', these may represent a single sexually dimorphic species. However, the ranges of variation in ''Pp. broomi'' and ''Pp. whitei'' overlap and show no statistical differences based on an

ANOVA Analysis of variance (ANOVA) is a collection of statistical models and their associated estimation procedures (such as the "variation" among and between groups) used to analyze the differences among means. ANOVA was developed by the statistician ...

run on the eleven interlandmark distances used in their analysis, and propose that the two are merely a single variable species. The sample of ''Pp. jonesi'' (STS 565) differs enough in facial characteristics that it remains distinctive from other ''Parapapio'' species.

References

External links

Mikko's Phylogeny ArchiveProctor, Darby. Taxon, Site and Temporal Differentiation Using Dental Microwear in the Southern African Papionins. M.A. Thesis. Georgia State University, 2007.
{{Taxonbar, from=Q7135620 Pleistocene primates Prehistoric monkeys Papionini Pleistocene mammals of Africa Prehistoric primate genera Fossil taxa described in 1937