Nacholapithecus

Nacholapithecus Temporal range:
Nacholapithecus kerioi at the Kyoto University Museum
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Mammalia
Order:	Primates
Suborder:	Haplorhini
Infraorder:	Simiiformes
Family:	†Proconsulidae
Genus:	†Nacholapithecus Ishida, Kunimatsu, Nakatsukasa & Nakano, 1999
Species
†Nacholapithecus kerioi

Nacholapithecus kerioi was an ape that lived 14-15 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 with Anoiapithecus.

Taxonomy

Nacholapithecus was initially classified as belonging in Kenyapithecus, then attributed to Equatorius (with Equatorius perhaps grouped into a sub-family Equatorinae, instead of both species in Afropithecini), finally recognised by Ishida et al. (1999) as a separate genus. Classified perhaps as a member of the family Proconsulidae.

Fossil finds

Nacholapithecus kerioi is known from the lowest part of the Aka Aiteputh Formation, one of five formations in the Neogene System in Nachola, Samburu District, northern Kenya. The formation is largely part of the north-western rift flank overlying the Nachola Formation.

References

• Cameron, David W. (2004). Hominid Adaptations and Extinctions. UNSW Press. ISBN 9780868407166.
• Henke, Winfried; Hardt, Thorolf (29 May 2007). Handbook of paleoanthropology. Springer. ISBN 978-3-540-32474-4.
• Ishida, H.; Kunimatsu, Y.; Nakatsukasa, M.; Nakano, Y. (1999). "New hominoid genus from the Middle Miocene of Nachola, Kenya". Anthropological Science. 107: 189–191. doi:10.1537/ase.107.189.
• Ishida, H.; Kunimatsu, Y.; Takano, T.; Nakano, Y.; Nakatsukasa, M. (January 2004). "Nacholapithecus skeleton from the Middle Miocene of Kenya". J Hum Evol. 46 (1): 69–103. doi:10.1016/j.jhevol.2003.10.001. PMID 14698685.
• Ishida, Hidemi; Tuttle, Russell; Pickford, Martin; Ogihara, Naomichi; Nakatsukasa, Masato (2006). Ishida, Hidemi; Tuttle, Russell; Pickford, Martin; Ogihara, Naomichi; Nakatsukasa, Masato (eds.). Human Origins and Environmental Backgrounds. Developments in Primatology: Progress and Prospects. Springer. ISBN 9780387296388.
• Moyà-Solà, Salvador; Alba, David M; Almécija, Sergio; Casanovas-Vilar, Isaac; Köhler, Meike; de Esteban-Trivigno, Soledad; Robles, Josep M; Galindo, Jordi; Fortuny, Josep (2009). "A unique Middle Miocene European hominoid and the origins of the great ape and human clade". PNAS. 106 (24): 9601–06. Bibcode:2009PNAS..106.9601M. doi:10.1073/pnas.0811730106. PMC 2701031. PMID 19487676.
• Nakatsukasa, Masato; Kunimatsu, Yutaka (May–June 2009). "Nacholapithecus and its importance for understanding hominoid evolution". Evolutionary Anthropology. 18 (3): 103–119. doi:10.1002/evan.20208. S2CID 84530387.
• Russon, Anne E.; Begun, David R. (2004). Russon, Anne E.; Begun, David R. (eds.). The Evolution of Thought: Evolutionary Origins of Great Ape Intelligence. Cambridge University Press. ISBN 9780521783354.
• Sawada, Yoshihiro; Saneyoshi, Mototaka; Nakayama, Katsuhiro; Sakai, Tetsuya; Itaya, Tetsumaru; Hyodo, Masayuki; Mukokya, Yogolelo; Pickford, Martin; Senut, Brigitte; Tanaka, Satoshi (2006). "The Ages and Geological Backgrounds of Miocene Hominoids Nacholapithecus, Samburupithecus, and Orrorin from Kenya". Human Origins and Environmental Backgrounds. Developments in Primatology: Progress and Prospects. Springer. pp. 71–96. doi:10.1007/0-387-29798-7_6. ISBN 978-0-387-29638-8.