''Propliopithecus'' is an

extinct Extinction is the termination of an organism by the death of its Endling, last member. A taxon may become Functional extinction, functionally extinct before the death of its last member if it loses the capacity to Reproduction, reproduce and ...

genus Genus (; : genera ) is a taxonomic rank above species and below family (taxonomy), family as used in the biological classification of extant taxon, living and fossil organisms as well as Virus classification#ICTV classification, viruses. In bino ...

primate Primates is an order (biology), order of mammals, which is further divided into the Strepsirrhini, strepsirrhines, which include lemurs, galagos, and Lorisidae, lorisids; and the Haplorhini, haplorhines, which include Tarsiiformes, tarsiers a ...

. The 40 cm (1 ft 4 in) long creature resembled today's

gibbon Gibbons () are apes in the family Hylobatidae (). The family historically contained one genus, but now is split into four extant genera and 20 species. Gibbons live in subtropical and tropical forests from eastern Bangladesh and Northeast Indi ...

s. Its

eye An eye is a sensory organ that allows an organism to perceive visual information. It detects light and converts it into electro-chemical impulses in neurons (neurones). It is part of an organism's visual system. In higher organisms, the ey ...

s faced forwards, giving it stereoscopical vision. ''Propliopithecus'' was most likely an

omnivore An omnivore () is an animal that regularly consumes significant quantities of both plant and animal matter. Obtaining energy and nutrients from plant and animal matter, omnivores digest carbohydrates, protein, fat, and fiber, and metabolize t ...

. It is possible that ''Propliopithecus'' is the same creature as ''

Aegyptopithecus ''Aegyptopithecus'' ("Egyptian ape", from Greek ''Αίγυπτος'' "Egypt" and ''πίθηκος'' "ape") is an early fossil Catarrhini, catarrhine that predates the divergence between hominoids (apes) and Cercopithecidae, cercopithecids (Old Wo ...

''. If that would be the case the name ''Propliopithecus'' would take precedence over ''Aegyptopithecus'' according to

ICZN The International Code of Zoological Nomenclature (ICZN) is a widely accepted convention in zoology that rules the formal scientific naming of organisms treated as animals. It is also informally known as the ICZN Code, for its formal author, t ...

rules, because it was coined earlier.

Human-like dental features

''Propliopithecus'' had small canine teeth, lacked spaces to fit the canine teeth of the other jaw into, and had molars very similar to those of ''

Australopithecus ''Australopithecus'' (, ; or (, ) is a genus of early hominins that existed in Africa during the Pliocene and Early Pleistocene. The genera ''Homo'' (which includes modern humans), ''Paranthropus'', and ''Kenyanthropus'' evolved from some ''Aus ...

''. These features set ''Propliopithecus'' apart from ''

'', which had big canine teeth along with other more normal simian dental features.Bjorn Kurten: The age of mammals

References

Propliopithecoidea Oligocene primates Prehistoric apes Fossil taxa described in 1910 Prehistoric primate genera Oligocene mammals of Africa {{paleo-primate-stub