Paradolichopithecus
| Paradolichopithecus Temporal range: Pliocene-Early Pleistocene
| |
|---|---|
| |
Scientific classification 
| |
| Domain: | Eukaryota |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Mammalia |
| Order: | Primates |
| Suborder: | Haplorhini |
| Infraorder: | Simiiformes |
| Family: | Cercopithecidae |
| Subfamily: | Cercopithecinae |
| Tribe: | Papionini |
| Genus: | †Paradolichopithecus Necrasov, Samson & Radulesco, 1961 |
| Type species | |
| †Paradolichopithecus arvernensis (Depéret, 1929)
| |
| Species | |
|
†P. gansuensis | |
Paradolichopithecus is an extinct genus of cercopithecine monkey once found throughout Eurasia. The type species, P. arvernensis, was a very large monkey, comparable in size to a mandrill. The genus was most closely related to macaques, sharing a very similar cranial morphology.[1] The fossils attributed to Paradolichopithecus are known from the Early Pliocene to the Early Pleistocene of Europe (France, Spain, Greece, Romania, and possibly Serbia) and Asia (Tadjikistan and China).[2] The East Asian fossil genus Procynocephalus is considered by some to represent a senior synonym of Paradolichopithecus.[3]
Paradolichopithecus was a terrestrial monkey generally believed to have developed a large body size as a response to predator pressure. Despite its close relation to macaques, it also shared a number of postcranial features with baboons. Its ankle joints also show a remarkable similarity with that of the hominid Australopithecus, and it has led to the idea that Paradolichopithecus may frequently have moved in a bipedal stance. The limbs of this genus were robust with prominent areas of muscular attachment, notably found on the humerus which had a length of 22.5cm. The radius of this specimen was longer than the humerus as seen in the mandrill, measuring 25.2cm although it was also broader in structure than current mandrills and baboons.[4]
References
- ^ Nishimura, TD.;(2010). Nasal anatomy of Paradolichopithecus gansuensis (early Pleistocene, Longdan, China) with comments on phyletic relationships among the species of this genus
- ^ Radović, Predrag; Lindal, Joshua; Marković, Zoran; Alaburić, Sanja; Roksandic, Mirjana (December 2019). "First record of a fossil monkey (Primates, Cercopithecidae) from the Late Pliocene of Serbia". Journal of Human Evolution. 137: 102681. doi:10.1016/j.jhevol.2019.102681. PMID 31629290.
- ^ Kostopoulos, Dimitris S.; Guy, Franck; Kynigopoulou, Zoi; Koufos, George D.; Valentin, Xavier; Merceron, Gildas (August 2018). "A 2Ma old baboon-like monkey from Northern Greece and new evidence to support the Paradolichopithecus – Procynocephalus synonymy (Primates: Cercopithecidae)". Journal of Human Evolution. 121: 178–192. doi:10.1016/j.jhevol.2018.02.012. PMID 29779686.
- ^ Van Der Greer, A. A. E.; (2002) The postcranial elements of Paradolichopithecus arvernensis (Primates, Cercopithecidae, Papionini) from Lesvos, Greece
 | This Old World monkey-related article is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it. |