The family Pliopithecidae is an extinct family of fossil

catarrhines The parvorder Catarrhini , catarrhine monkeys, Old World anthropoids, or Old World monkeys, consisting of the Cercopithecoidea and apes (Hominoidea). In 1812, Geoffroy grouped those two groups together and established the name Catarrhini, "Old W ...

and members of the

Pliopithecoidea Pliopithecoidea is an extinct superfamily of catarrhine primates that inhabited Asia and Europe during the Miocene. Although they were once a widespread and diverse group of primates, the pliopithecoids have no living descendants. History of d ...

superfamily. Their anatomy combined primitive features such as a small braincase, a long snout, and a tail. At the same time, they possessed more advanced features such as

stereoscopic vision Stereopsis () is the component of depth perception retrieved through binocular vision. Stereopsis is not the only contributor to depth perception, but it is a major one. Binocular vision happens because each eye receives a different image becaus ...

and ape-like teeth and jaws, clearly distinguishing them from

monkey Monkey is a common name that may refer to most mammals of the infraorder Simiiformes, also known as the simians. Traditionally, all animals in the group now known as simians are counted as monkeys except the apes, which constitutes an incomple ...

s. Begun and Harrison divide the Pliopithecidae into subfamilies Pliopithecinae and Crouzeliinae.Alt URL
/ref> Dionysopithecinae are sometimes placed here as a subfamily, but Begun & Harrison place them in their own family, the Dionysopithecidae.

References

* The Illustrated Encyclopedia of the Prehistoric World page 434. Miocene primates Pliocene primates Miocene extinctions Prehistoric apes †Pliopithecidae Prehistoric mammal families {{paleo-primate-stub