- Ouranopithecus macedoniensis
Taxobox
name = "Ouranopithecus macedoniensis"
fossil_range =Miocene
image_width = 250px
image_caption = "Ouranopithecus macedoniensis" skull,Muséum national d'histoire naturelle , Paris
regnum =Animal ia
phylum =Chordata
classis =Mammal ia
ordo =Primate s
familia =Hominidae
genus = "Ouranopithecus "
species = "O. macedoniensis"
binomial = " Ouranopithecus macedoniensis "
binomial_authority = Bonis & Melentis,1977 "Ouranopithecus macedoniensis", sometimes called "Graecopithecus freybergi", is a prehistoric
hominid species found inGreece and dated to the lateMiocene . [PDF|1= [http://www.eva.mpg.de/evolution/pdf/Smith_et_al2004.pdf An examination of dental development in "Graecopithecus freybergi" (="Ouranopithecus macedoniensis")] |2=2.30 MB; by Tanya M. Smith, Lawrence B. Martin, Donald J. Reid, Louis de Bonis, George D. Koufos; "Journal of Human Evolution " 46 (2004) 551–577.] Based on "O. macedoniensis"'s dental and facialanatomy , it is possible that "O. macedoniensis" was adryopithecine . However, "O. macedoniensis" seems to be more closely related toorangutan s in subfamilyPonginae while the most ofDryopithecinae are more closely related to the othergreat apes inHomininae and a few are considered to be outside of theape 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 African great apes and the humans.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 theteeth . Themale "O. macedoniensis" had largecanine teeth with shearing lowerpremolar s.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 . [See microwear image at http://comp.uark.edu/~pungar/images.htm.]References
ee also
* "
Nakalipithecus nakayamai "External links
*http://members.tripod.com/cacajao/taxonomy_primata.html
* [http://www.fmnh.helsinki.fi/users/haaramo/Metazoa/Deuterostoma/Chordata/Synapsida/Eutheria/Primates/Hominoidea/hominoidea.htm Mikko's Phylogeny archive]
Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.