''Theropithecus brumpti'' was a large

terrestrial Terrestrial refers to things related to land or the planet Earth. Terrestrial may also refer to: * Terrestrial animal, an animal that lives on land opposed to living in water, or sometimes an animal that lives on or near the ground, as opposed to ...

monkey that lived in the mid to late

Pliocene The Pliocene ( ; also Pleiocene) is the epoch in the geologic time scale that extends from 5.333 million to 2.58papionin. This

fossil A fossil (from Classical Latin , ) is any preserved remains, impression, or trace of any once-living thing from a past geological age. Examples include bones, shells, exoskeletons, stone imprints of animals or microbes, objects preserved ...

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 including ...

is mostly known from skulls and mandibles found in Pliocene deposits excavated in the

Shungura Formation The Shungura Formation is a stratigraphic formation located in the Omo river basin in Ethiopia. It dates to the Late Pliocene to Early Pleistocene. Oldowan tools have been found in the formation, suggesting early use of stone tools by hominins. A ...

, at the

Omo River The Omo River (also called Omo-Bottego) in southern Ethiopia is the largest Ethiopian river outside the Nile, Nile Basin. Its course is entirely contained within the boundaries of Ethiopia, and it empties into Lake Turkana on the border with Keny ...

Ethiopia Ethiopia, , om, Itiyoophiyaa, so, Itoobiya, ti, ኢትዮጵያ, Ítiyop'iya, aa, Itiyoppiya officially the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia, is a landlocked country in the Horn of Africa. It shares borders with Eritrea to the ...

. Both ''T. brumpti'', and its cousin, the extant

gelada The gelada (''Theropithecus gelada'', am, ጭላዳ, translit=č̣əlada), sometimes called the bleeding-heart monkey or the gelada baboon, is a species of Old World monkey found only in the Ethiopian Highlands, living at elevations of above se ...

(''T. gelada''), were related to the

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 ...

Description

Similar to most other such animals, ''T. brumpti'' was

quadrupedal Quadrupedalism is a form of locomotion where four limbs are used to bear weight and move around. An animal or machine that usually maintains a four-legged posture and moves using all four limbs is said to be a quadruped (from Latin ''quattuor ...

with highly dexterous, manipulative hands. Males grew very large, as evidenced by a specimen found at

Lomekwi Lomekwi 3 is the name of an archaeological site in Kenya where ancient stone tools have been discovered dating to 3.3 million years ago, which make them the oldest ever found. Discovery In July 2011, a team of archeologists led by Sonia Harma ...

Kenya ) , national_anthem = " Ee Mungu Nguvu Yetu"() , image_map = , map_caption = , image_map2 = , capital = Nairobi , coordinates = , largest_city = Nairobi ...

, which was estimated to have weighed approximately 43.8 kilograms. (In comparison, the male gelada averages around 20 kilograms ). In addition, the male was most likely very colorful, with the female smaller and less colorful; the species displayed a high degree of sexual dimorphism. Like most papionins, the male possessed large canine teeth, primarily for display.

Diet

''Theropithecus brumpti'' was most likely a

folivore In zoology, a folivore is a herbivore that specializes in eating leaves. Mature leaves contain a high proportion of hard-to-digest cellulose, less energy than other types of foods, and often toxic compounds.Jones, S., Martin, R., & Pilbeam, D. (1 ...

. Large muscles in the long muzzle suggest ''T. brumpti'' ate tough vegetation, and was capable of breaking and eating large nuts.

Habitat

This species was largely terrestrial, with the size of adult males making any significant

arboreal Arboreal locomotion is the locomotion of animals in trees. In habitats in which trees are present, animals have evolved to move in them. Some animals may scale trees only occasionally, but others are exclusively arboreal. The habitats pose nu ...

lifestyle unlikely. From the locations of ''T. brumpti'' finds, the species lived in riverine forest habitats.

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q7783300 Pliocene primates Prehistoric monkeys Papionini Pliocene mammals of Africa Fossil taxa described in 1947