Yuanmoupithecus
| Yuanmoupithecus Temporal range: Late Miocene,
| |
|---|---|
Scientific classification 
| |
| Domain: | Eukaryota |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Mammalia |
| Order: | Primates |
| Suborder: | Haplorhini |
| Infraorder: | Simiiformes |
| Family: | Hylobatidae |
| Genus: | †Yuanmoupithecus Pan, 2006 |
| Species: | †Y. xiaoyuan
|
| Binomial name | |
| †Yuanmoupithecus xiaoyuan Pan, 2006
| |
Yuanmoupithecus is an extinct genus of gibbons that lived 8.2 to 7.1 million years ago during the late Miocene.[1] It is currently the oldest gibbon known. It was discovered in Yuanmou, Yunnan Province, China.[1] The type species is Y. xiaoyuan.[1]
Discovery
Yuanmoupithecus fossils were discovered from the Late Miocene Xiaohe Formation in the Yuanmou Basin, Yunnan Province in southwest China. The first specimens were the first right molar and the second left molar found during an excavation between 1986 and 1990 at Fangbeiliangzi, a low hill near Xiaohe village, by a joint expedition of the Yunnan Provincial Museum, Chuxiong Prefectural Museum and the Yuanmou Man Museum. Five more teeth fragments were recovered in 1999 from Leilao village. In 2006, Yuerong Pan at the Institute of Vertebrate Paleontology and Paleoanthropology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, gave the formal description and the scientific name.[2] Several additional teeth were collected from the surrounding areas between 2006 and 2022, including the lower face of a juvenile individual and a second left molar, which became the holotype specimen.[1] Most of the teeth were worn and incomplete. However, two complete teeth collected at Leilao in 2006. Presenting the analysis of the two teeth at the American Association of Physical Anthropologists, Terry Harrison of New York University confirmed that the specimens are closely related to modern gibbons, remarking the species as "an early gibbon ancestor" in 2008.[3] A detailed description and evolutionary implications were published in 2022.[1]
References
- ^ a b c d e Ji, Xueping; Harrison, Terry; Zhang, Yingqi; Wu, Yun; Zhang, Chunxia; Hu, Jinming; Wu, Dongdong; Hou, Yemao; Li, Song; Wang, Guofu; Wang, Zhenzhen (2022). "The earliest hylobatid from the Late Miocene of China". Journal of Human Evolution. 171: 103251. doi:10.1016/j.jhevol.2022.103251. ISSN 0047-2484. PMID 36113226. S2CID 252243877.
- ^ Pan, Y. (2006). "Primates". In Qi, G.; Dong, W. (eds.). Lufengpithecus hudienensis Site. Beijing: Science Press. pp. 131–148.
- ^ Bower, Bruce (2008-04-24). "China was an ancient-ape paradise". ScienceNews. Retrieved 2024-04-25.
 | This prehistoric primate-related article is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it. |