Nacholapithecus
| Nacholapithecus Temporal range:
15–14 Million years ago | |
|---|---|
| "Nacholapithecus kerioi" at the Kyoto University Museum | |
| Nacholapithecus kerioi at the Kyoto University Museum | |
| Scientific classification Edit this classification | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Mammalia |
| Order: | Primates |
| Suborder: | Haplorhini |
| Family: | †Proconsulidae |
| Genus: | †Nacholapithecus Ishida, Kunimatsu, Nakatsukasa & Nakano, 1999 |
| Species | |
| |
Nacholapithecus kerioi was an ape that lived 15-14 million years ago[1] during the Middle Miocene. Fossils have been found in the Nachola formation in northern Kenya. The only member of the genus Nacholapithecus, it is thought to be a key genus in early hominid evolution. Similar in body plan to Proconsul, it had a long vertebral column with six lumbar vertebrae, no tail, a narrow torso, large upper limbs with mobile shoulder joints, and long feet.[2]
Together with other Kenyapithecinae such as Equatorius, Kenyapithecus, and Griphopithecus, Nacholapithecus displayed synapomorphies with Anoiapithecus.[3]
Taxonomy
[edit | edit source]Nacholapithecus was initially classified as belonging in Kenyapithecus,[4] then attributed[5] to Equatorius (with Equatorius perhaps grouped into a subfamily Equatorinae, instead of both species in Afropithecini),[6][7] finally recognised by Ishida et al. (1999) as a separate genus.[8][9][10] Classified perhaps as a member of the family Proconsulidae.[11]
Fossil finds
[edit | edit source]Nacholapithecus kerioi is known from the lowest part of the Aka Aiteputh Formation, one of five formations in the Neogene System in Nachola, Samburu District, northern Kenya.[12][13] The formation is largely part of the north-western rift flank overlying the Nachola Formation.[14]
Palaeobiology
[edit | edit source]Morphological evidence suggests arboreal quadrupedalism was for N. kerioi the primary method of locomotion.[15]
Notes
[edit | edit source]- ^ Sawada et al. 2006
- ^ Henke & Hardt 2007, p. 1020
- ^ Moyà-Solà et al. 2009
- ^ Ishida et al. 1984
- ^ Ward et al. 1999
- ^ Cameron 2004
- ^ Cameron 2004, p. 101
- ^ Ishida et al. 1999
- ^ Russon & Begun 2004, p. 305
- ^ Ishida et al. 2004, Abstract
- ^ Zalmout et al. 2010
- ^ Nakatsukasa & Kunimatsu 2009, Abstract
- ^ Sawada et al. 2006
- ^ Ishida et al. 2006, p. 74
- ^ Lua error in Module:Citation/CS1/Configuration at line 2172: attempt to index field '?' (a nil value).
References
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