Proconsul major

Taxobox
name = "Proconsul major"
fossil_range = Miocene
regnum = Animalia
phylum = Chordata
classis = Mammalia
ordo = Primates
superfamilia = Hominoidea
familia = Proconsulidae (extinct)
subfamilia = Proconsulinae (extinct)
genus = "Proconsul" (extinct)
species = "P. major"
binomial = "Proconsul major"
binomial_authority = Le Gros Clark & Leakey, 1950

"Proconsul major", an extinct primate of the genus "Proconsul", was possibly the ancestor of "Afropithecus" and showed hominid characteristics. It occurred during the early Miocene and was roughly, the size of a gorilla.

"Proconsul major" lived on the continent of Africa. Based upon dental morphology, "Proconsul major" was a frugivorous species.

Morphology

"Proconsul major" had a dental formula of 2:1:2:3 on both the upper and lower jaw. The canines are sexually dimorphic. The inferior transverse torus is absent and the superior transverse torus is well-developed in "Proconsul major". This species had an average body mass of around 50.0 kilograms.

External links

*http://members.tripod.com/cacajao/proconsul_major.html
*http://www.mc.maricopa.edu/~reffland/anthropology/anthro2003/origins/primates/primate_evol/miocene.html
* [http://www.fmnh.helsinki.fi/users/haaramo/Metazoa/Deuterostoma/Chordata/Synapsida/Eutheria/Primates/Hominoidea/Proconsulidae.htm Mikko's Phylogeny archives]