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Orangutan–human Last Common Ancestor
The phylogenetic split of Hominidae into the subfamilies Homininae and Ponginae is dated to the middle Miocene, roughly 18 to 14 million years ago. This split is also referenced as the "orangutan–human last common ancestor" by Jeffrey H. Schwartz, professor of anthropology at the University of Pittsburgh School of Arts and Sciences, and John Grehan, director of science at the Buffalo Museum. Phylogeny Hominoidea (commonly known as apes) are thought to have evolved in Africa by about 18 million years ago. Among the genera thought to be in the ape lineage leading up to the emergence of the great apes (Hominidae) about 13 million years ago are ''Proconsul'', '' Rangwapithecus'', '' Dendropithecus'', '' Nacholapithecus'', '' Equatorius'', '' Afropithecus'' and ''Kenyapithecus,'' all from East Africa. During the early Miocene, Europe and Africa were connected by land bridges over the Tethys Sea. Apes showed up in Europe in the fossil record beginning 17 million years ago. Gre ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Hominidae
The Hominidae (), whose members are known as the great apes or hominids (), are a taxonomic Family (biology), family of primates that includes eight Neontology#Extant taxa versus extinct taxa, extant species in four Genus, genera: ''Orangutan, Pongo'' (the Bornean orangutan, Bornean, Sumatran orangutan, Sumatran and Tapanuli orangutan); ''Gorilla'' (the Eastern gorilla, eastern and western gorilla); ''Pan (genus), Pan'' (the chimpanzee and the bonobo); and ''Homo'', of which only Human, modern humans (''Homo sapiens'') remain. Numerous revisions in classifying the great apes have caused the use of the term ''hominid'' to change over time. The original meaning of "hominid" referred only to humans (''Homo'') and their closest extinct relatives. However, by the 1990s humans and other apes were considered to be "hominids". The earlier restrictive meaning has now been largely assumed by the term ''Hominini, hominin'', which comprises all members of the human clade after the split ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Pan (genus)
The genus ''Pan'' consists of two extant species: the chimpanzee and the bonobo. Taxonomically, these two ape species are collectively termed panins; however, both species are more commonly referred to collectively using the generalized term chimpanzees, or chimps. Together with humans, gorillas, and orangutans, they are part of the family Hominidae (the great apes, or ''hominids''). Native to sub-Saharan Africa, chimpanzees and bonobos are currently both found in the Congo jungle, while only the chimpanzee is also found further north in West Africa. Both species are listed as endangered species, endangered on the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species, and in 2017 the Convention on Migratory Species selected the chimpanzee for special protection. Chimpanzee and bonobo: comparison The chimpanzee (''P. troglodytes''), which lives north of the Congo River, and the bonobo (''P. paniscus''), which lives south of it, were once considered to be the same species, but since 1928 they h ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Afropithecus
''Afropithecus'' is a genus of Miocene hominoid with the sole species ''Afropithecus turkanensis'', it was excavated from a small site near Lake Turkana called Kalodirr in northern Kenya in 1986 and named by Richard Leakey and Meave Leakey. The estimated age of ''Afropithecus'' is between 16 and 18 million years old, which was determined with radiometric dating techniques and the geological studies conducted by Broschetto and Brown from the University of Utah. In total there are 46 recovered specimens from Kalodirr relating to ''Afropithecus'' consisting of cranial, mandible, dentition and post-cranial remains. The type specimen of ''Afropithecus turkanensis'' is KNM-WK 16999. Morphology Richard Leakey and Meave Leakey first described ''Afropithecus turkanensis'' to be a large hominoid which appeared to have relatively thick enamel. Leakey suggested that ''A. turkanensis'' shared postcranial features with the species '' Proconsul nyanzae'', which is the best known Miocene gen ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Equatorius
''Equatorius'' is an extinct genus of kenyapithecine primate found in central Kenya at the Tugen Hills. Thirty-eight large teeth belonging to this middle Miocene hominid in addition to a mandibular and partially complete skeleton dated 15.58 Ma and 15.36 Ma. were later found. Analysis The anatomical structures in part was seen to be similar to '' Afropithecus'' and ''Proconsul A proconsul was an official of ancient Rome who acted on behalf of a Roman consul, consul. A proconsul was typically a former consul. The term is also used in recent history for officials with delegated authority. In the Roman Republic, military ...''. Nevertheless, anatomy and morphology suggested the genus had an increased terrestrial habitat. Taxonomy , using their previous published study of ''K.africanus'', based the separate definition on comparisons of gnathic and dental anatomy. The classification's validity was subsequently challenged.See McCrossin & Benefit's comment in Notes Referenc ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Nacholapithecus
''Nacholapithecus kerioi'' was an ape that lived 15-14 million years ago during the Middle Miocene. Fossils have been found in the Nachola formation in northern Kenya. The only member of the genus ''Nacholapithecus'', it is thought to be a key genus in early hominid evolution. Similar in body plan to ''Proconsul'', it had a long vertebral column with six lumbar vertebrae, no tail, a narrow torso, large upper limbs with mobile shoulder joints, and long feet. Together with other Kenyapithecinae such as '' Equatorius'', '' Kenyapithecus'', and '' Griphopithecus'', ''Nacholapithecus'' displayed synapomorphies In phylogenetics, an apomorphy (or derived trait) is a novel character or character state that has evolved from its ancestral form (or plesiomorphy). A synapomorphy is an apomorphy shared by two or more taxa and is therefore hypothesized to ... with '' Anoiapithecus''. Taxonomy ''Nacholapithecus'' was initially classified as belonging in '' Kenyapithecus'', then attri ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Dendropithecus
''Dendropithecus'' is an extinct genus of apes native to East Africa between 20 and 15 million years ago. ''Dendropithecus'' was originally suggested to be related to modern gibbons, based primarily on similarities in size, dentition, and skeletal adaptations. However, further studies have shown that ''Dendropithecus'' lacks derived hominoid traits. Instead, the traits shared between this taxon and modern primates are primitive for all catarrhines. ''Dendropithecus'' is now considered to be a stem catarrhine, too primitive to be closely related to any modern primates. Description ''Dendropithecus'' was a slender ape, about in body length. The structure of its arms suggest that it would have been able to brachiate, swinging between trees by its arms, but that it would not have been as efficient at this form of movement as modern gibbons. However, its teeth suggest a very gibbon-like diet, likely consisting of fruit, soft leaves and flowers. Dental microwear of ''Dendropithecus'' ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Rangwapithecus
''Rangwapithecus'' is an extinct genus of ape from the Early Miocene of Kenya. Late Miocene phalanges from Hungary have also been assigned to this genus, but were later reclassified as ''Dryopithecus''. Description ''Rangwapithecus'' weighed approximately and the size and shape of the ape's teeth indicate that it was a folivore. An arboreal ape from the earliest Miocene adapted to life in the rainforest, it is associated particularly with Mfangano Island although the species previously inhabited a woodland-bushland environment. Taxonomy ''Rangwapithecus'' was sympatric with ''Proconsul'', and may be synonymous with both ''Proconsul gordoni'' and ''Proconsul vancouveringi''. It is also similar to another species found in Africa. ''Rangwapithecus gordoni'' and ''P. africanus'' are similarly sized though they differ morphologically, and both are restricted to Koru and Songhur. Palaeoecology ''Rangwapithecus'' was a generalised frugivore that was also able to engage in folivory ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Proconsul (mammal)
''Proconsul'' is an extinct genus of primates that existed from 21 to 17 million years ago during the Miocene epoch. Fossil remains are present in Eastern Africa, including Kenya and Uganda. Four species have been classified to date: Proconsul africanus, ''P. africanus'', ''P. gitongai'', ''Proconsul major, P. major'' and ''P. meswae''. The four species differ mainly in body size. Environmental reconstructions for the Early Miocene ''Proconsul'' sites are still tentative and range from forested environments to more open, arid grasslands. The gibbon and great apes, including humans, are held in evolutionary biology to share a common ancestral lineage, which may have included ''Proconsul''. Its name, meaning "before Consul" (Consul being a certain chimpanzee that, at the time of the genus's discovery, was on display in London), implies that it is ancestral to the Common chimpanzee, chimpanzee. It might also be ancestral to the rest of the apes. Description The genus had a mixture ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Hominoidea
Apes (collectively Hominoidea ) are a Family (biology), superfamily of Old World simians native to sub-Saharan Africa and Southeast Asia (though they were more widespread in Africa, most of Asia, and Europe in prehistory, and counting humans are found globally). Apes are more closely related to Old World monkeys (family Cercopithecidae) than to the New World monkeys (Platyrrhini) with both Old World monkeys and apes placed in the clade Catarrhini. Apes do not have tails due to a mutation of the T-box transcription factor T, TBXT gene. In traditional and non-scientific use, the term ''ape'' can include tailless primates taxonomically considered Cercopithecidae (such as the Barbary ape and Celebes crested macaque, black ape), and is thus not equivalent to the scientific taxon Hominoidea. There are two Neontology#Extant taxa versus extinct taxa, extant branches of the superfamily Hominoidea: the gibbons, or lesser apes; and the hominids, or great apes. * The family Hylobatidae, t ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Samburupithecus
''Samburupithecus'' is an extinct primate that lived in Kenya during the middle to late Miocene. The one species in this genus, ''Samburupithecus kiptalami'', is known only from a maxilla fragment dated to 9.5 million years ago discovered in 1982 and formally described by . The type specimen KNM-SH 8531 was discovered by the Joint Japan-Kenya Expedition at the SH22 fossil site in the Samburu District, a locality where several other researchers found no ape fossils. ''Samburupithecus'' lived during the so-called "African ape gap" , a period from which very few hominoid fossils have been found in Africa until relatively recently. This apparent gap, however, is now populated by a diversity of apes such as ''Nakalipithecus'', ''Chororapithecus abyssinicus'', ''Otavipithecus'', and ''Nacholapithecus''. Characteristics ''Samburupithecus'' was approximately and was most likely a frugivorous Terrestrial locomotion, terrestrial quadruped. Paleoenvironmental reconstructions indicat ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Nakalipithecus
''Nakalipithecus nakayamai'', sometimes referred to as the Nakali ape, is an extinct species of great ape from Nakali, Kenya from about 9.9–9.8 million years ago during the Late Miocene. It is known from a right jawbone with 3 molars and from 11 isolated teeth. The jawbone specimen is presumed female as the teeth are similar in size to those of female gorillas and orangutans. Compared to other great apes, the canines are short, the enamel is thin, and the molars are flatter. ''Nakalipithecus'' seems to have inhabited a sclerophyllous woodland environment. Taxonomy ''Nakalipithecus'' was first described from a right jawbone, the holotype KNM-NA46400, and eleven isolated teeth excavated in 2005 by a team of Japanese and Kenyan researchers in mud flow deposits in the Nakali area of northern Kenya's former Rift Valley Province, hence the genus name ''Nakalipithecus'' ("Nakali ape"). The species name is in honour of the late Japanese geologist Katsuhiro Nakayama who worked ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Chororapithecus
''Chororapithecus'' is an extinct great ape from the Afar region of Ethiopia roughly 8 million years ago during the Late Miocene, comprising one species, ''C. abyssinicus''. It is known from 9 isolated teeth discovered in a 2005–2007 survey of the Chorora Formation. The teeth are indistinguishable from those of gorillas in terms of absolute size and relative proportions, and it has been proposed to be an early member of Gorillini. However, this is controversial given the paucity of remains, and notable anatomical differences between ''Chororapithecus'' and gorilla teeth. The Kenyan ape ''Nakalipithecus'' has been proposed to be an ancestor of ''Chororapithecus'' or at least closely related. If correct, they would be the only identified fossil members of any modern non-human great ape lineage, and would push the gorilla–human last common ancestor from 8 million years ago (identified by molecular analysis) to 10 million years ago. The teeth are adapted for processing tough plant ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
