Propliopithecoidea is a superfamily of
catarrhine primate
Primates are a diverse order of mammals. They are divided into the strepsirrhines, which include the lemurs, galagos, and lorisids, and the haplorhines, which include the tarsiers and the simians ( monkeys and apes, the latter includin ...
s that inhabited Africa and Arabia during the
Early Oligocene about 32 to 29 million years ago. Fossils have been found in
Egypt
Egypt ( ar, مصر , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a List of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country spanning the North Africa, northeast corner of Africa and Western Asia, southwest corner of Asia via a land bridg ...
,
Oman
Oman ( ; ar, عُمَان ' ), officially the Sultanate of Oman ( ar, سلْطنةُ عُمان ), is an Arabian country located in southwestern Asia. It is situated on the southeastern coast of the Arabian Peninsula, and spans the mouth of ...
and
Angola
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. They are one of the earliest known families of catarrhines.
They have a number of features in common with extant catarrhines, but also a number of features that are primitive and not found in later catarrhine families.
There are five species, which are close enough that they can be viewed as a single genus. They have a body mass of 4–6 kg (6–8 kg for zeuxis), similar in size to modern
Howler monkeys.
Species
''
Propliopithecus ankelae''
''
Propliopithecus chirobates''
''
Propliopithecus haeckeli''
''
Propliopithecus markgrafi'' aka ''
Moeripithecus markgrafi''
Taqah Propliopithecid
''Propliopithecus zeuxis'' aka ''Aegyptopithecus zeuxis''
Classification controversy
Szalay & Delson (1979), Andrews (1985), Harrison (1987) and Begun (2012) argue that the high degree of similarity means they should be placed in a single genus.
Herbert Thomas (1991), following examination of new material in Oman, argues for Moeripithecus markgrafi, citing 'striking differences in morphology' compared to Propliopithecus haeckeli.
(Seiffert (2006) suggests that the fossils examined by Thomas might be better classified as "Propliopithecus ankeli").
Seiffert et al. (2010) argue for three genera -
Aegyptopithecus,
Moeripithecus and
Propliopithecus
''Propliopithecus'' is an extinct genus of primate.
The 40 cm (1 ft 4 in) long creature resembled today's gibbons. Its eyes faced forwards, giving it stereoscopical vision. ''Propliopithecus'' was most likely an omnivore. It is possibl ...
The Taqah Propliopithecid appears more basal, and as such not be part of a ''Propliopithecus'' sensu stricto clade''.''
References
Prehistoric primates
Catarrhini
Mammal superfamilies
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