Nanopithecus

Nanopithecus; Temporal range: Early Pliocene PreꞒ Ꞓ O S D C P T J K Pg N ↓
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Mammalia
Order:	Primates
Family:	Cercopithecidae
Subfamily:	Cercopithecinae
Tribe:	Cercopithecini
Genus:	† Nanopithecus ; Plavcan et al., 2019
Species:	†N. browni
Binomial name
	†Nanopithecus browni; Plavcan et al., 2019

Last updated November 21, 2025

Nanopithecus is an extinct genus of monkey that lived in Africa during the Zanclean stage of the Pliocene epoch.^[1]

Evolution

The diminuitive size of Nanopithecus relative to the extant Miopithecus suggests either that dwarfing in the guenon lineage occurred at least twice independently or that it occurred very early on in their evolution.^[2]

References

↑ "PBDB Taxon". paleobiodb.org. Archived from the original on 1 May 2024. Retrieved 18 November 2025.
↑ Plavcan, J. Michael; Ward, Carol V.; Kay, Richard F.; Manthi, Fredrick K. (October 2019). "A diminutive Pliocene guenon from Kanapoi, West Turkana, Kenya". Journal of Human Evolution . 135: 102623. doi:10.1016/j.jhevol.2019.05.011 . Retrieved 18 November 2025– via Elsevier Science Direct.

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[1] "PBDB Taxon". paleobiodb.org. Archived from the original on 1 May 2024. Retrieved 18 November 2025.

[2] Plavcan, J. Michael; Ward, Carol V.; Kay, Richard F.; Manthi, Fredrick K. (October 2019). "A diminutive Pliocene guenon from Kanapoi, West Turkana, Kenya". Journal of Human Evolution . 135: 102623. doi:10.1016/j.jhevol.2019.05.011 . Retrieved 18 November 2025– via Elsevier Science Direct.

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