Propliopithecoidea

Propliopithecoidea is a superfamily of catarrhine primates that inhabited Africa and Arabia during the Early Oligocene about 32 to 29 million years ago. Fossils have been found in Egypt, Oman and Angola. They are one of the earliest known families of catarrhines.[1][2]

Propliopithecoidea
Temporal range: Early Oligocene
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Mammalia
Order: Primates
Suborder: Haplorhini
Infraorder: Simiiformes
Parvorder: Catarrhini
Superfamily: †Propliopithecoidea

They have a number of features in common with extant catarrhines, but also a number of features that are primitive and not found in later catarrhine families.[1]

There are five species, which are close enough that they can be viewed as a single genus. They have a body mass of 4–6 kg (6–8 kg for zeuxis), similar in size to modern Howler monkeys.[1]

Species

Propliopithecus ankelae
Propliopithecus chirobates
Propliopithecus haeckeli
Propliopithecus markgrafi aka Moeripithecus markgrafi
Taqah Propliopithecid
Propliopithecus zeuxis aka Aegyptopithecus zeuxis

Classification controversy

Szalay & Delson (1979), Andrews (1985), Harrison (1987) and Begun (2012) argue that the high degree of similarity means they should be placed in a single genus.[1] Herbert Thomas (1991), following examination of new material in Oman, argues for Moeripithecus markgrafi, citing 'striking differences in morphology' compared to Propliopithecus haeckeli.[3] (Seiffert (2006) suggests that the fossils examined by Thomas might be better classified as "Propliopithecus ankeli").[4] Seiffert et al. (2010) argue for three genera - Aegyptopithecus, Moeripithecus and Propliopithecus[1] The Taqah Propliopithecid appears more basal, and as such not be part of a Propliopithecus sensu stricto clade.[5]

References
  1. Harrison, Terry (2012). "Chapter 20 Catarrhine Origins". In Begun, David (ed.). A Companion To Paleoanthropology. Wiley Blackwell. ISBN 978-1-118-33237-5. Archived from the original on 2013.
  2. Muchemi, Francis; Macharwas, Mathew; Kyongo, Benson; Jacobs, Bonnie F.; Gierlowski-Kordesch, Elizabeth; Tabor, Neil J.; Spell, Terry L.; Rossie, James B.; Reynoso, Dawn (2019-03-06). "Primitive Old World monkey from the earliest Miocene of Kenya and the evolution of cercopithecoid bilophodonty". Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. 116 (13): 6051–6056. doi:10.1073/pnas.1815423116. ISSN 0027-8424. PMC 6442627. PMID 30858323.
  3. Thomas, Herbert (1991). "The discovery of Moeripithecus markgrafi Schlosser (Propliopithecidae, Anthropoidea, Primates), in the Ashawq Formation (Early Oligocene of Dhofar Province, Sultanate of Oman)". Journal of Human Evolution. Journal of Human Evolution January 1991. 20: 33–49. doi:10.1016/0047-2484(91)90044-V.
  4. Seiffert Erik R. (Jan 2006). "Revised age estimates for the later Paleogene mammal faunas of Egypt and Oman". Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America. 103 (13): 5000–5005. Bibcode:2006PNAS..103.5000S. doi:10.1073/pnas.0600689103. PMC 1458784. PMID 16549773.
  5. Seiffert, Erik R.; Boyer, Doug M.; Fleagle, John G.; Gunnell, Gregg F.; Heesy, Christopher P.; Perry, Jonathan M. G.; Sallam, Hesham M. (2018-02-17). "New adapiform primate fossils from the late Eocene of Egypt". Historical Biology. 30 (1–2): 204–226. doi:10.1080/08912963.2017.1306522. ISSN 0891-2963.


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