Nacholapithecus

Nacholapithecus Temporal range: 15–14 Million years ago
Nacholapithecus kerioi at the Kyoto University Museum
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Mammalia
Order:	Primates
Suborder:	Haplorhini
Infraorder:	Simiiformes
Family:	† Proconsulidae
Genus:	† Nacholapithecus Ishida, Kunimatsu, Nakatsukasa & Nakano, 1999
Species
†Nacholapithecus kerioiIshida et al., 1999

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

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

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

Morphological evidence suggests arboreal quadrupedalism was for N. kerioi the primary method of locomotion. ^[15]

Notes

1. Sawada et al. 2006
2. Henke & Hardt 2007 , p. 1020
3. Moyà-Solà et al. 2009
4. Ishida et al. 1984
5. Ward et al. 1999
6. Cameron 2004
7. Cameron 2004 , p. 101
8. Ishida et al. 1999
9. Russon & Begun 2004 , p. 305
10. Ishida et al. 2004 , Abstract
11. Zalmout et al. 2010
12. Nakatsukasa & Kunimatsu 2009 , Abstract
13. Sawada et al. 2006
14. Ishida et al. 2006 , p. 74
15. Tomizawa, Yuma; Pina, Marta; Kikuchi, Yasuhiro; Morimoto, Naoki; Nakatsukasa, Masato (January 2025). "Femoral neck cortical bone distribution in Nacholapithecus from the Middle Miocene of Kenya". Journal of Human Evolution . 198: 103617. doi:10.1016/j.jhevol.2024.103617 . Retrieved 28 June 2025– via Elsevier Science Direct.

References

• Cameron, D. W. (2004). Hominid Adaptations and Extinctions. UNSW Press. ISBN   9780868407166.
• Henke, W.; Hardt, T. (2007). Handbook of paleoanthropology. Springer. ISBN   978-3-540-32474-4.
• Ishida, H.; Pichford, M.; Nakaya, H.; Nakano, Y. (1984). "Fossil anthropoids from Nachola and Samburu Hills, Samburu District, Kenya". African Study Monographs. Supplementary Issue. 2 (2): 73–85. doi:10.14989/68314.
• Ishida, H.; Kunimatsu, Y.; Nakatsukasa, M.; Nakano, Y. (1999). "New hominoid genus from the Middle Miocene of Nachola, Kenya". Anthropological Science. 107 (2): 189–191. doi: 10.1537/ase.107.189 .
• Ishida, H.; Kunimatsu, Y.; Takano, T.; Nakano, Y.; Nakatsukasa, M. (2004). "Nacholapithecus skeleton from the Middle Miocene of Kenya". Journal of Human Evolution. 46 (1): 69–103. Bibcode:2004JHumE..46...69I. doi:10.1016/j.jhevol.2003.10.001. PMID   14698685.
• Ishida, H.; Tuttle, R.; Pickford, M.; Ogihara, N.; Nakatsukasa, M. (2006). Ishida, H.; Tuttle, R.; Pickford, M.; Ogihara, N.; Nakatsukasa, M. (eds.). Human Origins and Environmental Backgrounds. Developments in Primatology: Progress and Prospects. Springer. ISBN   9780387296388.
• Moyà-Solà, S.; Alba, D. M.; Almécija, S.; Casanovas-Vilar, I.; Köhler, M.; de Esteban-Trivigno, S.; Robles, J. M.; Galindo, J.; Fortuny, J. (2009). "A unique Middle Miocene European hominoid and the origins of the great ape and human clade". PNAS. 106 (24): 9601–06. Bibcode:2009PNAS..106.9601M. doi: 10.1073/pnas.0811730106 . PMC   2701031 . PMID   19487676.
• Nakatsukasa, M.; Kunimatsu, Y. (May–June 2009). "Nacholapithecus and its importance for understanding hominoid evolution". Evolutionary Anthropology. 18 (3): 103–119. doi:10.1002/evan.20208. S2CID   84530387.
• Russon, A. E.; Begun, D. R. (2004). Russon, A. E.; Begun, D. R. (eds.). The Evolution of Thought: Evolutionary Origins of Great Ape Intelligence. Cambridge University Press. ISBN   9780521783354.
• Sawada, Y.; Saneyoshi, M.; Nakayama, K.; Sakai, T.; Itaya, T.; Hyodo, M.; Mukokya, Y.; Pickford, M.; Senut, B.; Tanaka, S. (2006). "The Ages and Geological Backgrounds of Miocene Hominoids Nacholapithecus, Samburupithecus, and Orrorin from Kenya". Human Origins and Environmental Backgrounds. Developments in Primatology: Progress and Prospects. Springer. pp. 71–96. doi:10.1007/0-387-29798-7_6. ISBN   978-0-387-29638-8.
• Ward, S.; Brown, B.; Hill, A.; Kelley, J.; Downs, W. (1999). "Equatorius: A new hominoid genus from the middle Miocene of Kenya". Science. 285 (5432): 1382–1386. doi:10.1126/science.285.5432.1382. PMID   10464093.
• Zalmout, I. S.; Sanders, W. J.; MacLatchy, L. M.; Gunnell, G. F.; Al-Mufarreh, Y. A.; Ali, M. A.; Nasser, A.-A. H.; Al-Masari, A. M.; Al-Sobhi, S. A.; Nadhra, A. O.; Matari, A. H.; Wilson, J. A.; Gingerich, P. D. (2010). "New Oligocene primate from Saudi Arabia and the divergence of apes and Old World monkeys". Nature. 466 (7304): 360–364. Bibcode:2010Natur.466..360Z. doi:10.1038/nature09094. PMID   20631798. S2CID   205220837.