''Ouranopithecus'' is a genus of extinct Eurasian great ape represented by two species, ''
Ouranopithecus macedoniensis'', a late
Miocene
The Miocene ( ) is the first epoch (geology), geological epoch of the Neogene Period and extends from about (Ma). The Miocene was named by Scottish geologist Charles Lyell; the name comes from the Greek words (', "less") and (', "new") and mea ...
(9.6–8.7 mya)
hominoid from
Greece
Greece, officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. Located on the southern tip of the Balkan peninsula, it shares land borders with Albania to the northwest, North Macedonia and Bulgaria to the north, and Turkey to th ...
and ''
Ouranopithecus turkae'', also from the late Miocene (8.7–7.4 mya) of Turkey.
The first specimen ''O. macedoniensis'' was discovered by French palaeontologists Louis de Bonis and Jean Melentis in 1977,
and ''O. turkae'' by Turkish team led by Erksin Savaş Güleç in 2007.
For a long time it was considered as similar (
synonymous
A synonym is a word, morpheme, or phrase that means precisely or nearly the same as another word, morpheme, or phrase in a given language. For example, in the English language, the words ''begin'', ''start'', ''commence'', and ''initiate'' are a ...
) to ''
Graecopithecus
''Graecopithecus'' is an extinct genus of hominid that lived in southeast Europe during the late Miocene around 7.2 million years ago. Originally identified by a single lower jawbone bearing teeth found in Pyrgos Vasilissis, Athens, Greece, in ...
'' and member of the genus ''
Sivapithecus,''
which more discoveries proved otherwise.
Description and systematics
Based on ''O. macedoniensis dental and facial
anatomy
Anatomy () is the branch of morphology concerned with the study of the internal structure of organisms and their parts. Anatomy is a branch of natural science that deals with the structural organization of living things. It is an old scien ...
, it has been suggested that ''Ouranopithecus'' was actually a
dryopithecine. However, it is probably more closely related to the
Ponginae
Ponginae , also known as the Asian hominids, is a subfamily in the family (biology), family Hominidae. Once a diverse lineage of Eurasian apes, the subfamily has only one Neontology, extant genus, ''Pongo (genus), Pongo'' (orangutans), which con ...
.
Some researchers consider ''O. macedoniensis'' to be the last common ancestor of humans (hominins) and the other apes,
and a forerunner to
australopithecines
The australopithecines (), formally Australopithecina or Hominina, are generally any species in the related genera of ''Australopithecus'' and ''Paranthropus''. It may also include members of '' Kenyanthropus'', '' Ardipithecus'', and '' Praean ...
and humans,
although this is very controversial and not widely accepted. It is true that ''O. macedoniensis'' shares derived features with some early
hominins
The Hominini (hominins) form a taxonomic tribe of the subfamily Homininae (hominines). They comprise two extant genera: ''Homo'' (humans) and '' Pan'' (chimpanzees and bonobos), and in standard usage exclude the genus ''Gorilla'' (gorillas), ...
(such as the frontal sinus, a cavity in the forehead), but they are almost certainly not closely related species.
In 1984, British palaeontologists Peter Andrews and Lawrence B. Martin classified ''Graecopithecus'' and ''Ouranopithecus'' as synonyms (same taxon) and treated them as members of the genus ''
Sivapithecus.''
However, comparative analysis showed that there is not enough data to support the synonymy.
When more ''O. macedoniensis'' fossils were discovered including part of the skull in the 1990s, it became apparent that ''O. macedoniensis'' and ''G. freybergi'' are distinct species. In the light of new data, in 1997, Australian palaeontologist David W. Cameron treated ''Graecopithecus'' as a valid genus based on taxonomic
priority and renamed ''O. macedoniensis'' as ''Graecopithecus macedoniensis.''
However, better ''O. macedoniensis'' specimens were found including a new species ''
Ouranopithecus turkae'' from Turkey that warranted separation of the genus.
In addition, a meticulous re-description of ''Graecopithecus'' specimens in 2017 further evidenced that ''Graecopithecus'' is more related to humans than to apes,
while ''Ouranopithecus'' specimens have strict ape-like characters. Separate genus are therefore continued to be generally adopted.
See also
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References
External links
Human Timeline (Interactive)–
Smithsonian,
National Museum of Natural History
The National Museum of Natural History (NMNH) is a natural history museum administered by the Smithsonian Institution, located on the National Mall in Washington, D.C., United States. It has free admission and is open 364 days a year. With 4.4 ...
(August 2016).
{{Taxonbar , from = Q14516253
Hominidae
Fossil taxa described in 1977
Miocene primates of Asia
Miocene primates of Europe
Prehistoric apes
Prehistoric primate genera
Prehistoric Greece