''Parapapio'' ("beside baboon" from Ancient Greek παρά (pará), “beside" + Modern Latin papio, “baboon") is a genus of

prehistoric Prehistory, also known as pre-literary history, is the period of human history between the use of the first stone tools by hominins 3.3 million years ago and the beginning of recorded history with the invention of writing systems. The use of ...

baboons closely resembling the forest dwelling mangabeys. ''Parapapio'' is distinguished from other ''

Papio 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 ba ...

'' by the lack of an anteorbital drop, thin browridges, absence of maxillary fossae or a

sagittal crest A sagittal crest is a ridge of bone running lengthwise along the midline of the top of the skull (at the sagittal suture) of many mammalian and reptilian skulls, among others. The presence of this ridge of bone indicates that there are exceptiona ...

and only slight sexual dimorphism. There are four recognized species, ''Pp. jonesi'', ''Pp. whitei'', ''Pp. broomi'', and ''Pp. lothagamensis'', but these

taxonomic Taxonomy is the practice and science of categorization or classification. A taxonomy (or taxonomical classification) is a scheme of classification, especially a hierarchical classification, in which things are organized into groups or types. ...

designations have generated some controversy. Traditionally, these species have been distinguished based on molar size with ''Pp. jonesi'' being the smallest and ''Pp. whitei'' the largest. However, variation in molar size in ''Pp. broomi'' overlaps the other two. ''Pp. jonesi'' is distinguished as having a more squarish muzzle than ''Pp. whitei'' but more rounded than ''Pp. broomi''; however these distinctions are subtle and better diagnostic criteria are needed. Some authors argue for a confused taxonomy in ''Parapapio'' but disagree with the reclassification. Since there may be no significant difference between mean tooth sizes or isotopic signatures in ''Pp. broomi'' and ''Pp. jonesi'', these may represent a single sexually dimorphic species. However, the ranges of variation in ''Pp. broomi'' and ''Pp. whitei'' overlap and show no statistical differences based on an ANOVA run on the eleven interlandmark distances used in their analysis, and propose that the two are merely a single variable species. The sample of ''Pp. jonesi'' (STS 565) differs enough in facial characteristics that it remains distinctive from other ''Parapapio'' species.

References

External links

Mikko's Phylogeny ArchiveProctor, Darby. Taxon, Site and Temporal Differentiation Using Dental Microwear in the Southern African Papionins. M.A. Thesis. Georgia State University, 2007.
{{Taxonbar, from=Q7135620 Pleistocene primates Prehistoric monkeys Papionini Pleistocene mammals of Africa Prehistoric primate genera Fossil taxa described in 1937