Ouranopithecus

Ouranopithecus macedoniensis Temporal range: Miocene
Ouranopithecus macedoniensis skull, Muséum national d'histoire naturelle, Paris
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Mammalia
Order:	Primates
Family:	Hominidae
Genus:	Ouranopithecus
Species:	O. macedoniensis
Binomial name
Ouranopithecus macedoniensis    Bonis & Melentis, 1977

Ouranopithecus macedoniensis, sometimes called Graecopithecus freybergi, is a prehistoric hominid species found in Greece and dated to the late Miocene.^[1] Based on O. macedoniensis's dental and facial anatomy, it is possible that O. macedoniensis was a dryopithecine. However, O. macedoniensis seems to be more closely related to orangutans in subfamily Ponginae while the most of Dryopithecinae are more closely related to the other great apes in Homininae and a few are considered to be outside of the ape clade altogether. One distinctive trait that Ouranopithecus shares with the humans and other modern African apes is the frontal sinus, a cavity in the forehead. Some investigators consider it possible that O. macedoniensis was the last common ancestor of the great apes and the humans.^[2]

Morphology

O. macedoniensis had a large, broad face with a prominent supraorbital torus. It also had square-shaped orbits. O. macedoniensis may have had a relative large body size. O. macedoniensis's molar enamel cover was fairly thick and had low cusps. Sexual dimorphism is evident by the teeth. The male O. macedoniensis had large canine teeth with shearing lower premolars.

Diet

Based on the heavily pitted surface of the second molar of Ouranopithecus macedoniensis, it is assumed that its diet consisted of harder foods such as nuts or tubers.^[3]

References

1. ^ Smith, T.; Martin, L.; Reid, D.; De Bonis, L.; Koufos, G. (2004). "An examination of dental development in Graecopithecus freybergi (=Ouranopithecus macedoniensis)". Journal of Human Evolution 46 (5): 551. doi:10.1016/j.jhevol.2004.01.006. PMID 15120265. http://www.eva.mpg.de/evolution/pdf/Smith_et_al2004.pdf.  edit
2. ^ De Bonis, L.; Bouvrain, G.; Geraads, D.; Koufost, G. (1990). "New hominid skull material from the late Miocene of Macedonia in Northern Greece". Nature 345 (6277): 712. Bibcode 1990Natur.345..712D. doi:10.1038/345712a0. PMID 2193230.  edit
3. ^ Ungar, Peter S.. "Sample Microwear Texture Images". University of Arkansas. http://comp.uark.edu/~pungar/images.htm. Retrieved december 2010.  (See Ouranopithecus microwear image.)

See also

• Chororapithecus
• Anoiapithecus
• Samburupithecus
• Pierolapithecus
• Nakalipithecus

External links

• http://members.tripod.com/cacajao/taxonomy_primata.html
• Mikko's Phylogeny archive

Paleontology portal