Pliopithecus

Pliopithecus Temporal range: Late Miocene - Pliocene
Mandible fragment of Pliopithecus antiquus from Sansan, France; cast from Museum national d'histoire naturelle, Paris
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Mammalia
Order:	Primates
Suborder:	Haplorrhini
Infraorder:	Simiiformes
Parvorder:	Catarrhini
Superfamily:	†Pliopithecoidea
Family:	†Pliopithecidae
Subfamily:	†Pliopithecinae
Genus:	†Pliopithecus Gervais, 1849
Paleospecies
†Pliopithecus antiquus †Pliopithecus canmatensis †Pliopithecus platyodon †Pliopithecus zhanxiangi †Pliopithecus piveteaui

Pliopithecus antiquus jaw seen from above

Pliopithecus is a genus of extinct primates of the Miocene and Pliocene. It was discovered in 1837 by Édouard Lartet (1801–1871) in France, with fossils subsequently discovered in Switzerland and Spain.

Pliopithecus' had a similar size and form to modern gibbons, to which it may be related, although it is probably not a direct ancestor. It had long limbs, hands, and feet, and may have been able to brachiate, swinging between trees using its arms. Unlike gibbons, it had a short tail, and only partial stereoscopic vision.

Anapithecus is a close relative and was initially considered a subgenus of Pliopithecus.

External links

• Mikko's Phylogeny Archive

When researching the evolution of primates,‭ Pliopithecus is one of the most common names you will come across.‭ Much of this comes from early ideas about how Pliopithecus might be an ancestor to gibbons today,‭ but the likelihood of this is now in doubt.‭ While Pliopithecus was certainly gibbon like,‭ these similarities are now treated by most researchers to be a case of convergent evolution where Pliopithecus evolved these features to cope with a similar habitat and lifestyle as gibbons today.‭ In addition this also means that Pliopithecus probably predates the split of the apes from the monkeys and is itself not a true ape like gibbons are.

       For over the first hundred years that this primate was known in science,‭ Pliopithecus was only ever known from teeth and jaws.‭ It was not until the‭ 1960‭’‬s that more remains were discovered to allow for a more complete picture.‭ As mentioned above,‭ Pliopithecus was gibbon-like but was not a true gibbon.‭ One area of difference is the short tail of Pliopithecus which is completely lacking in gibbons.‭ The arms are proportionately shorter than those of gibbons which have led to questions as to whether Pliopithecus was able to swing through the tree canopy from branch to branch‭ (a form of motion called brachiation‭).‭
      Another factor that counts against this ability are the orbits‭ (the sockets in the skull that hold the eyes‭) which are slightly angled away from each other instead of directly forward.‭ This arrangement would have cost Pliopithecus in terms of stereoscopic vision‭ (depth perception‭),‭ but would have given it a wider field of view,‭ increasing the chance of spotting predators.‭ This might however explain the success of later gibbons since their increased depth perception from their eye arrangements would have given them a survival advantage in moving through their environment over older forms like Pliopithecus.
       Because Pliopithecus is thought to have shared similar behaviour‭ to gibbons and lived in the arboreal habitat of the tree canopy,‭ it is also thought to have fed by browsing upon the softer leaves of this area.‭ This kind of diet is supported by study of the teeth which seem to be best suited to this kind of vegetation.