''Pierolapithecus catalaunicus'' is an extinct species of
primate which lived about 13 million years ago during the
Miocene in what is now
Hostalets de Pierola
Els Hostalets de Pierola is a Spanish municipality situated in the Autonomous Community of Catalonia, province of Barcelona, Spain.
The municipality includes the villages of Els Hostalets de Pierola, els Boscos de Can Martí, Can Fontimarc, Can F ...
,
Catalonia,
Spain, giving it its scientific name. It is believed by some to be a
common ancestor of both modern
humans and the other
great apes, or at least a species that is closer to a common ancestor than any previous fossil discovery.
The species was described by a team of Spanish
paleoanthropologist
Paleoanthropology or paleo-anthropology is a branch of paleontology and anthropology which seeks to understand the early development of anatomically modern humans, a process known as hominization, through the reconstruction of evolutionary kinship ...
s led by
Salvador Moyà-Solà
Salvador Moyà-Solà (born 1955) is a Spanish paleontologist. He works in the Institut Català de Paleontología Miquel Crusafont in Sabadell, Catalonia. From 1983 to 2006, he was affiliated with the Diputación Provincial de Barcelona. In 2006 ...
on the basis of a
fossil specimen discovered in December 2002. The finding was first reported in the
journal Science on November 19, 2004.
As do humans and other great
apes, ''Pierolapithecus'' had specialized adaptations for tree climbing: a wide, flat ribcage, a stiff lower spine, flexible wrists, and shoulder blades that lay along its back. It also has
plesiomorphic
In phylogenetics, a plesiomorphy ("near form") and symplesiomorphy are synonyms for an ancestral character shared by all members of a clade, which does not distinguish the clade from other clades.
Plesiomorphy, symplesiomorphy, apomorphy, and ...
monkey-like features such as a sloped face and short fingers and toes.
(
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 rainforest from eastern Bangladesh to Northeast India ...
s and
Old World monkeys show more generalized characteristics.)
That ''Pierolapithecus'' would be ancestral to modern great apes is debated largely because this great ape was found in the
Iberian Peninsula, while most of the fossil evidence of the evolution of
hominid
The Hominidae (), whose members are known as the great apes or hominids (), are a taxonomic family of primates that includes eight extant species in four genera: '' Pongo'' (the Bornean, Sumatran and Tapanuli orangutan); ''Gorilla'' (the east ...
s and
hominins has been located in
East Africa
East Africa, Eastern Africa, or East of Africa, is the eastern subregion of the African continent. In the United Nations Statistics Division scheme of geographic regions, 10-11-(16*) territories make up Eastern Africa:
Due to the historical ...
and
Southeast Asia. Because, however, the
Mediterranean Sea contracted several times in the past, permitting migration of terrestrial fauna between Africa and Europe,
it is possible that ''Pierolapithecus'', or its descendants, could have lived on both continents.
Rather than a full common ancestor, it has been suggested that the species may be ancestral to humans,
chimpanzee
The chimpanzee (''Pan troglodytes''), also known as simply the chimp, is a species of great ape native to the forest and savannah of tropical Africa. It has four confirmed subspecies and a fifth proposed subspecies. When its close relative th ...
s and
gorillas but not
orangutans, given certain characteristics of the face.
See also
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References
External links
BBC news: 'Original' great ape discoveredResearch article and comments
{{Taxonbar, from1=Q132728, from2=Q21446402
Prehistoric mammals of Europe
Prehistoric apes
Miocene primates of Europe
Transitional fossils
Fossil taxa described in 2004
Prehistoric primate genera
_a_l'Institut_Català_de_Paleontologia_Miquel_Crusafont.JPG.html){kind=link}