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 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.^[1]

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

References

^ Palmer, D., ed. (1999). The Marshall Illustrated Encyclopedia of Dinosaurs and Prehistoric Animals. London: Marshall Editions. p. 291. ISBN 1-84028-152-9.

External links

Mikko's Phylogeny Archive

This prehistoric primate-related article is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it.

[EoDP-1] Palmer, D., ed. (1999). The Marshall Illustrated Encyclopedia of Dinosaurs and Prehistoric Animals. London: Marshall Editions. p. 291. ISBN 1-84028-152-9.

[1]