Biology:Ouranopithecus

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Short description: Genus of extinct Eurasian great ape from the Miocene

Ouranopithecus
Temporal range: Miocene, 9.6–7.4 Ma
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"Ouranopithecus macedoniensis" skull in the French National Museum of Natural History, Paris
Ouranopithecus macedoniensis skull in the French National Museum of Natural History, Paris
Scientific classification e
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Mammalia
Order: Primates
Suborder: Haplorhini
Infraorder: Simiiformes
Family: Hominidae
Tribe: †Graecopithecini
Genus: †Ouranopithecus
Bonis & Melentis, 1977
Species

Ouranopithecus is a genus of extinct Eurasian great ape represented by two species, Ouranopithecus macedoniensis, a late Miocene (9.6–8.7 mya) hominoid from Greece[1] and Ouranopithecus turkae, also from the late Miocene (8.7–7.4 mya) of Turkey.[2]

The first specimen O. macedoniensis was discovered by French palaeontologists Louis de Bonis and Jean Melentis in 1977,[3] and O. turkae by Turkish team led by Erksin Savaş Güleç in 2007.[2] For a long time it was considered as similar (synonymous) to Graecopithecus and member of the genus Sivapithecus,[4] which more discoveries proved otherwise.

Description and systematics

Based on O. macedoniensis' dental and facial anatomy, it has been suggested that Ouranopithecus was actually a dryopithecine. However, it is probably more closely related to the Ponginae.[5][6] Some researchers consider O. macedoniensis to be the last common ancestor of humans (hominins) and the other apes,[7] and a forerunner to australopithecines and humans,[8] although this is very controversial and not widely accepted. It is true that O. macedoniensis shares derived features with some early hominins (such as the frontal sinus, a cavity in the forehead), but they are almost certainly not closely related species.[9]

In 1984, British palaeontologists Peter Andrews and Lawrence B. Martin classified Graecopithecus and Ouranopithecus as synonyms (same taxon) and treated them as members of the genus Sivapithecus.[10][11] However, comparative analysis showed that there is not enough data to support the synonymy.[12]

When more O. macedoniensis fossils were discovered[13] including part of the skull in the 1990s,[14] it became apparent that O. macedoniensis and G. freybergi are distinct species. In the light of new data, in 1997, Australian palaeontologist David W. Cameron treated Graecopithecus as a valid genus based on taxonomic priority and renamed O. macedoniensis as Graecopithecus macedoniensis.[15][16] However, better O. macedoniensis specimens were found[17] including a new species Ouranopithecus turkae from Turkey[18] that warranted separation of the genus.

In addition, a meticulous re-description of Graecopithecus specimens in 2017 further evidenced that Graecopithecus is more related to humans than to apes,[19] while Ouranopithecus specimens have strict ape-like characters. Separate genus are therefore continued to be generally adopted.[20][21][22]

See also


References

  1. ↑ de Bonis, Louis; Melentis, J (1977). "Les primates hominoides du Vallésien de Macédoine (Grèce). Étude de la machoire inférieure". Geobios 10 (6): 849–855. doi:10.1016/s0016-6995(77)80081-8. Bibcode: 1977Geobi..10..849D. 
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 Gulec, Erksin S. (2007). "A new great ape from the lower Miocene of Turkey". Anthropological Science 115 (2): 153–158. doi:10.1537/ase.070501. 
  3. ↑ de Bonis, Louis; Melentis, Jean (1977). "Les primates hominoides du Vallésien de Macédoine (Grèce). Étude de la machoire inférieure". Geobios 10 (6): 849–885. doi:10.1016/S0016-6995(77)80081-8. Bibcode: 1977Geobi..10..849D. 
  4. ↑ Martin, L.B.; Andrews, P. (1984). "The phyletic position of Graecopithecus freybergi Koenigswald". Courier Forschungsinstitut Senckenberg 69: 25–40. https://ci.nii.ac.jp/naid/10016064903/. 
  5. ↑ Alba, D.M. et al. (2010). "Enamel thickness in the middle Miocene great apes Anoiapithecus, Picrolapithecus and Dryopithecus". Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences 277 (1691): 2237–2245. doi:10.1098/rspb.2010.0218. PMID 20335211. 
  6. ↑ Begun, David R. (2005). "Relations among great apes and humans: New interpretations based on the fossil great ape Dryopithecus". American Journal of Physical Anthropology 37: 11–63. doi:10.1002/ajpa.1330370604. 
  7. ↑ de Bonis, Louis (1990). "New hominoid skull material from the late Miocene of Macedonia in Northern Greece". Nature 345 (6277): 712–4. doi:10.1038/345712a0. PMID 2193230. Bibcode: 1990Natur.345..712D. 
  8. ↑ de Bonis, Louis; Koufos, George D. (2004). "Ouranopithecus and dating the splitting of extant hominoids". Comptes Rendus Palevol 3 (4): 257–264. doi:10.1016/j.crpv.2004.04.002. 
  9. ↑ de Bonis, Louis (1981). "Dental metric variation in early Hominids comparison between Australopithecus afarensis and Ouranopithecus macedoniensis". Comptes Rendus des Séances de l'Académie des Sciences. Serie III Sciences de la Vie 292: 263–266. 
  10. ↑ Martin, L.B.; Andrews, P. (1984). "The phyletic position of Graecopithecus freybergi Koenigswald". Courier Forschungsinstitut Senckenberg 69: 25–40. https://ci.nii.ac.jp/naid/10016064903/. 
  11. ↑ Andrews, Martin L. (1984). "The phylogenetic position of Graeceopithecus freybergi Koenigswald". Courier Forschungsinstitut Senckenberg 69: 25–40. 
  12. ↑ Koufos, George D.; de Bonis, Louis (2005). "The late Miocene Hominoids Ouranopithecus and Graeceopithecus. Implications about their relationships and taxonomy". Annales de Paléontologie 91 (3): 227–240. doi:10.1016/j.annpal.2005.05.001. Bibcode: 2005AnPal..91..227K. 
  13. ↑ Koufos, G. D. (1993). "Mandible of Ouranopithecus macedoniensis (Hominidae, Primates) from a new late miocene locality of Macedonia (Greece)". American Journal of Physical Anthropology 91 (2): 225–234. doi:10.1002/ajpa.1330910208. PMID 8317563. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/8317563. 
  14. ↑ de Bonis, L.; Bouvrain, G.; Geraads, D.; Koufos, G. (1990). "New hominid skull material from the late Miocene of Macedonia in northern Greece". Nature 345 (6277): 712–714. doi:10.1038/345712a0. PMID 2193230. Bibcode: 1990Natur.345..712D. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/2193230. 
  15. ↑ Cameron, David W. (1997). "The taxonomic status of Graecopithecus" (in en). Primates 38 (3): 293–302. doi:10.1007/BF02381616. https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02381616. 
  16. ↑ Cameron, D. W. (1997). "A revised systematic scheme for the Eurasian Miocene fossil Hominidae". Journal of Human Evolution 33 (4): 449–477. doi:10.1006/jhev.1997.0145. PMID 9361253. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/9361253. 
  17. ↑ Ioannidou, Melania; Koufos, George D.; de Bonis, Louis; Harvati, Katerina (2019). "A new three-dimensional geometric morphometrics analysis of the Ouranopithecus macedoniensis cranium (Late Miocene, Central Macedonia, Greece)". American Journal of Physical Anthropology 170 (2): 295–307. doi:10.1002/ajpa.23900. PMID 31339568. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/31339568/. 
  18. ↑ Güleç, Erksin Savas; Sevim, Ayla; Pehlevan, Cesur; Kaya, Ferhat (2007). "A new great ape from the late Miocene of Turkey" (in en). Anthropological Science 115 (2): 153–158. doi:10.1537/ase.070501. ISSN 0918-7960. http://www.jstage.jst.go.jp/article/ase/115/2/115_070501/_article. 
  19. ↑ Fuss, Jochen; Spassov, Nikolai; Begun, David R.; Böhme, Madelaine (2017). "Potential hominin affinities of Graecopithecus from the Late Miocene of Europe". PLOS ONE 12 (5): e0177127. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0177127. PMID 28531170. Bibcode: 2017PLoSO..1277127F. 
  20. ↑ Andrews, Peter (2020). "Last Common Ancestor of Apes and Humans: Morphology and Environment" (in english). Folia Primatologica 91 (2): 122–148. doi:10.1159/000501557. PMID 31533109. https://www.karger.com/Article/FullText/501557. 
  21. ↑ Gilbert, Christopher C.; Pugh, Kelsey D.; Fleagle, John G. (2020), Prasad, Guntupalli V.R.; Patnaik, Rajeev, eds., "Dispersal of Miocene Hominoids (and Pliopithecoids) from Africa to Eurasia in Light of Changing Tectonics and Climate" (in en), Biological Consequences of Plate Tectonics: New Perspectives on Post-Gondwana Break-up–A Tribute to Ashok Sahni, Vertebrate Paleobiology and Paleoanthropology (Cham: Springer International Publishing): pp. 393–412, doi:10.1007/978-3-030-49753-8_17, ISBN 978-3-030-49753-8, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-49753-8_17, retrieved 2021-11-16 
  22. ↑ Almécija, Sergio; Hammond, Ashley S.; Thompson, Nathan E.; Pugh, Kelsey D.; Moyà-Solà, Salvador; Alba, David M. (2021). "Fossil apes and human evolution". Science 372 (6542): eabb4363. doi:10.1126/science.abb4363. PMID 33958446. https://ddd.uab.cat/record/240044. 

External links

Wikidata ☰ Q14516253 entry



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