Samburupithecus
| Samburupithecus Temporal range: late Miocene
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| Samburupithecus kiptalami fossil, Muséum national d'histoire naturelle, Paris | |
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| Genus: | †Samburupithecus |
| Species: | †S. kiptalami
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| Binomial name | |
| †Samburupithecus kiptalami Ishida & Pickford 1997
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Samburupithecus is an extinct primate that lived in Kenya during the middle to late Miocene. The one species in this genus, Samburupithecus kiptalami, is known only from a maxilla fragment dated to 9.5 million years ago discovered in the early 1980 and formally described by Ishida & Pickford 1997.[1]
The enigmatic[1] Samburupithecus lived during the so called "African ape gap" 14 to 7 Ma, a period from which very few hominoid fossils have been found in Africa until relatively recently.[2] This apparent gap, however, is now populated by a diversity of apes such as Nakalipithecus, Chororapithecus abyssinicus,[2] Otavipithecus,[3] and Nacholapithecus. The type specimen KNM-SH 8531 was discovered by a Japanese research team in the Samburu District, a locality where several other researchers found no ape fossils.[2]
Characteristics
Samburupithecus was approximately 60 kilograms (130 lb)[4] and was most likely a frugivorous terrestrial quadruped. Paleoenvironmental reconstructions indicate that Samburupithecus most likely lived in a wooded habitat surrounded by savannah.[5]
Defining cranial traits of this genus include low, broad zygomatics, straight alveolar process and large maxillary sinus. Defining dental traits include three-rooted premolars, thick enamel and bunodont cusps.[6] Unlike many other Miocene hominoids, Samburupithecus has teeth that are elongated from front to back. This feature links the taxon to gorillas, chimpanzees and hominins, but its relationships within this clade are presently unknown.[7]
See also
- List of fossil sites (with link directory)
- List of hominina (hominid) fossils (with images)
Notes
- ^ a b Ward & Duren 2002, p. 395
- ^ a b c Bernor 2007
- ^ Ward & Duren 2002, p. 386
- ^ Fleagle 1999, p. 456
- ^ Tsujikawa 2005, Abstract
- ^ Ward & Duren 2002, p. 393
- ^ Fleagle 1999, p. 464
References
- Bernor, Raymond L. (2007). "New apes fill the gap" (PDF). PNAS. 104 (50): 19661–2. doi:10.1073/pnas.0710109105. PMC 2148351.
{{cite journal}}: Invalid|ref=harv(help); Unknown parameter|month=ignored (help) - Fleagle, J.F. (1999). Primate Adaptation and Evolution. Elsevier Academic Press. ISBN 978-0-12-260341-9.
{{cite book}}: Invalid|ref=harv(help) - Ishida, Hidemi; Pickford, Martin (1997). "A new Late Miocene hominoid from Kenya: Samburupithecus kiptalami gen. et sp. nov". Comptes Rendus de l'Académie des Sciences — Series IIA — Earth and Planetary Science. 325 (10): 823–29. doi:10.1016/S1251-8050(97)82762-0.
{{cite journal}}: Invalid|ref=harv(help) - Tsujikawa, Hiroshi (2005). "Palaeoenvironment of Samburupithecus Based on its Associated Fauna" (PDF). African Study Monographs. Suppl. (32): 51–62.
{{cite journal}}: Invalid|ref=harv(help) - Ward, Steven C.; Duren, Dana L. (2002). "Middle and late Miocene African hominoids". In Hartwig, Walter Carl (ed.). The Primate Fossil Record. Cambridge University Press. ISBN 978-0-521-66315-1.
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