Ouranopithecus turkae

Last updated

Ouranopithecus turkae
Temporal range: Miocene
Scientific classification OOjs UI icon edit-ltr.svg
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Mammalia
Order: Primates
Suborder: Haplorhini
Infraorder: Simiiformes
Family: Hominidae
Genus: Ouranopithecus
Species:
O. turkae
Binomial name
Ouranopithecus turkae
Güleç, Sevim, Pehlevan & Kaya, 2007

Ouranopithecus turkae is a prehistoric species of Ouranopithecus from the Late Miocene of Turkey. [1]

Contents

This is known from the Corakyerler locality, Çankırı Province, central Anatolia. It is known only from three cranial fossils. Dated faunal remains associated with the O. turkae fossils have been attributed to the late Miocene 8.7 – 7.4 million years ago, making O. turkae one of the youngest Eurasian great apes ever known. [1] [2]

Sevim-Erol et al. (2023) described Anadoluvius turkae , a new name, based on the mostly complete male palate preserving LI1-M3 and RC-M2 and a series of paratypes. The holotype is CO-205, and paratypes are CO-300 (right M2), CO-305 (male mandibular fragment), CO-710 (female mandibular fragment), CO-2100 (right I1), and CO-2800 (female partial cranium). The genus name derives from Anadolu, a Turkish denomination that describes something that is Anatolian. [2] [3]

Etymology

Ouranopithecus due to its similarities with its probable sister taxon O. macedoniensis . Turkae after the discovery of the holotype fossils in the Republic of Turkey.

Habitat

Associated faunal remains suggest O. turkae lived in either open woodland or an open savannah type environment. [1]

Morphology

The morphology of O. turkae is difficult to determine due to the complete lack of post-cranial remains. The post-canine dentary is second only to that of Gigantopithecus in size, perhaps suggesting a large body size. [1] It is unknown whether the species was sexually dimorphic as there are no known female fossils. The ape was probably a quadruped but there is no evidence to confirm this.

Diet

Tooth morphology and wear suggest a diet of tough, abrasive food, the kind typically found in the type of environment O. turkae probably lived in. [1]

Behaviour

Again, the lack of post-cranial remains makes it difficult to determine how O. turkae behaved. The fossils were not associated with any females of the species so it could be suggested that the males, at least, were solitary. [1] It may also be assumed that O. turkae climbed trees, possibly to feed or to avoid predation, although their suggested large body size may have made climbing difficult. Some believe O. turkae was probably a terrestrial forager and did not feed in the trees. [1]

Related Research Articles

<i>Orrorin</i> Postulated early hominin discovered in Kenya

Orrorin is an extinct genus of primate within Homininae from the Miocene Lukeino Formation and Pliocene Mabaget Formation, both of Kenya.

<i>Meganthropus</i> Hominin fossil

Meganthropus is an extinct genus of non-hominin hominid ape, known from the Pleistocene of Indonesia. It is known from a series of large jaw and skull fragments found at the Sangiran site near Surakarta in Central Java, Indonesia, alongside several isolated teeth. The genus has a long and convoluted taxonomic history. The original fossils were ascribed to a new species, Meganthropus palaeojavanicus, and for a long time was considered invalid, with the genus name being used as an informal name for the fossils.

<i>Pierolapithecus</i> Extinct species of ape from Miocene Europe

Pierolapithecus catalaunicus is an extinct species of primate which lived around 12.5-13 million years ago during the Miocene in what is now Hostalets de Pierola, Catalonia, Spain. Some researchers believe that it is a candidate for common ancestor to the great ape clade, or is at least closer than any previous fossil discovery. Others suggest it being a pongine, or a dryopith. On 16 October 2023, scientists reported the facial reconstruction of the great ape.

<i>Aegyptopithecus</i> Extinct single-species genus of primate

Aegyptopithecus is an early fossil catarrhine that predates the divergence between hominoids (apes) and cercopithecids. It is known from a single species, Aegyptopithecus zeuxis, which lived around 38-29.5 million years ago in the early part of the Oligocene epoch. It likely resembled modern-day New World monkeys, and was about the same size as a modern howler monkey, which is about 56 to 92 cm long. Aegyptopithecus fossils have been found in the Jebel Qatrani Formation of modern-day Egypt. Aegyptopithecus is believed to be a stem-catarrhine, a crucial link between Eocene and Miocene fossils.

<i>Victoriapithecus</i> Extinct monkey from middle Miocene central Africa

Victoriapithecus macinnesi was a primate from the middle Miocene that lived approximately 15 to 17 million years ago in Northern and Eastern Africa. Through extensive field work on Maboko Island in Lake Victoria, Kenya, over 3,500 specimens have been found, making V. macinnesi one of the best-known fossil primates. It was previously thought that perhaps multiple species of Victoriapithecus were found, however the majority of fossils found indicate there is only one species, V. macinnesi. Victoriapithecus shows similarities to the extant subfamilies Colobinae and Cercopithecinae. However, Victoriapithecus predates the last common ancestor of these two groups and instead is thought to be a sister taxon.

<i>Amphicyon</i> Extinct genus of carnivores

Amphicyon is an extinct genus of large carnivorans belonging to the family Amphicyonidae, subfamily Amphicyoninae, from the Miocene epoch. Members of this family received their vernacular name for possessing bear-like and dog-like features. They ranged over North America, Europe, Asia, and Africa.

<i>Wakaleo</i> Extinct genus of marsupials

Wakaleo is an extinct genus of medium-sized thylacoleonids that lived in Australia in the Late Oligocene and Miocene Epochs. Although much smaller than its close relative, the marsupial lion, Wakaleo would have been a successful hunter. It had teeth specially designed for cutting and stabbing. The genus is from an extinct family of Vombatiformes, so it is distantly related to the herbivorous wombats.

<i>Nakalipithecus</i> Extinct species of ape

Nakalipithecus nakayamai, sometimes referred to as the Nakali ape, is an extinct species of great ape from Nakali, Kenya, from about 9.9–9.8 million years ago during the Late Miocene. It is known from a right jawbone with 3 molars and from 11 isolated teeth. The jawbone specimen is presumed female as the teeth are similar in size to those of female gorillas and orangutans. Compared to other great apes, the canines are short, the enamel is thin, and the molars are flatter. Nakalipithecus seems to have inhabited a sclerophyllous woodland environment.

<i>Lufengpithecus</i> Extinct genus of primates

Lufengpithecus is an extinct genus of ape, known from the Late Miocene of East Asia. It is known from thousands of dental remains and a few skulls and probably weighed about 50 kg (110 lb). It contains three species: L. lufengensis, L. hudienensis and L. keiyuanensis. Lufengpithecus lufengensis is from the Late Miocene found in China, named after the Lufeng site and dated around 6.2 Ma. Lufengopithecus is either thought to be the sister group to Ponginae, or the sister to the clade containing Ponginae and Homininae.

<i>Samburupithecus</i> Extinct genus of primate from Miocene Kenya

Samburupithecus is an extinct primate that lived in Kenya during the middle to late Miocene. The one species in this genus, Samburupithecus kiptalami, is known only from a maxilla fragment dated to 9.5 million years ago discovered in 1982 and formally described by Ishida & Pickford 1997. The type specimen KNM-SH 8531 was discovered by the Joint Japan-Kenya Expedition at the SH22 fossil site in the Samburu District, a locality where several other researchers found no ape fossils.

<i>Agnotherium</i> Extinct genus of carnivores

Agnotherium is a genus of large sized carnivoran mammals, belonging to the Amphicyonidae, which has been found in Western Europe, and possibly China and Northern Africa, and lived during the Late Miocene epoch. Despite only being known from fragmentary remains, the genus notable for hypercarnivorous adaptions, which have been said to represent the "apex" among its family.

<i>Ysengrinia</i> Extinct genus of mammals known as bear dogs

Ysengrinia is an extinct genus of carnivoran in the family Amphicyonidae (beardogs), which lived in Europe, Asia, and North America during the Early Miocene. It was also reported from Egypt and Namibia, but this material has been reassigned to other genera of beardogs.

<i>Graecopithecus</i> Extinct genus of hominids

Graecopithecus is an extinct genus of hominid that lived in southeast Europe during the late Miocene around 7.2 million years ago. Originally identified by a single lower jaw bone bearing a molar tooth found in Pyrgos Vasilissis, Athens, Greece, in 1944, other tooth specimens were discovered from Azmaka quarry in Bulgaria in 2012. With only little and badly preserved materials to reveal its nature, it is considered as "the most poorly known European Miocene hominoids." The creature was popularly nicknamed 'El Graeco' by scientists.

<i>Ouranopithecus macedoniensis</i> Extinct species of mammal

Ouranopithecus macedoniensis is a prehistoric species of Ouranopithecus from the Late Miocene of Greece. See more detail at Ouranopithecus.

<i>Astorgosuchus</i> Extinct genus of reptiles

Astorgosuchus is an extinct monospecific genus of crocodilian, closely related to true crocodiles, that lived in Pakistan during the late Oligocene period. This crocodile may have reached lengths of up to 8 m (26 ft) and is known to have preyed on many of the large mammals found in its environment. Bite marks of a large crocodile have been found on the bones of juvenile Paraceratherium, however if these were left by Astorgosuchus cannot be said with certainty. The genus contains a single species, Astorgosuchus bugtiensis, which was originally named as a species of Crocodylus in 1908 and was moved to its own genus in 2019.

Danuvius guggenmosi was an extinct species of great ape that lived 11.6 million years ago during the Middle–Late Miocene in southern Germany. It is the sole member of the genus Danuvius. The area at this time was probably a woodland with a seasonal climate. A male specimen was estimated to have weighed about 31 kg (68 lb), and two females 17 and 19 kg. Both genus and species were described in November 2019.

Micropithecus is an extinct genus of primates that lived in East Africa about 19 to 15 million years ago, during the early Miocene. The genus and its type species, Micropithecus clarki, were first scientifically described in 1978.

Auroroborealia is a small bodied euichthyosaurian ichthyosaur discovered on the New Siberian Islands in the Russian Arctic. The animal was likely similar in size to Hudsonelpidia, around 1 to 1.5 meters in length. Although the fragmentary nature doesn't allow to determine its exact ontogenetic state, other remains from the area suggest that it was simply a small bodied taxon. It contains a single species, Auroroborealia incognita.

<i>Paedotherium</i> Extinct genus of notoungulates

Paedotherium is an extinct, potentially paraphyletic genus of Notoungulate, belonging to the family Hegetotheriidae, composed of small-sized, rodent or lagomorph-like South American ungulates. Four species are unambiguously recognized, from the Late Miocene to the Pleistocene of Argentina, and from the late Miocene of Bolivia and Chile.

<i>Pachypanthera</i> Genus of prehistoric mammals

Pachypanthera is an extinct genus of pantherine felid that was recovered from the Late Miocene-aged Khorat sand pits in northeastern Thailand. It contains a single species, Pachypanthera piriyai, named and described in 2023.

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Güleç; Sevim; Pehlevan; Kaya (2007). "A new great ape from the late Miocene of Turkey". Anthropological Science. 115 (2): 153–158. doi: 10.1537/ase.070501 .
  2. 1 2 Sevim-Erol, Ayla; Begun, David R.; Yavuz, Alper; Tarhan, Erhan; Sözer, Çilem Sönmez; Mayda, Serdar; van den Hoek Ostende, Lars W.; Martin, Robert M. G.; Alçiçek, M. Cihat (2023-08-23). "A new ape from Türkiye and the radiation of late Miocene hominines". Communications Biology. 6 (1). doi: 10.1038/s42003-023-05210-5 . ISSN   2399-3642. PMC   10447513 . PMID   37612372.
  3. Toronto, University of (25 August 2023). "Discovery of 8.7-Million-Year-Old Fossil Ape Challenges Long-Accepted Ideas of Human Origins". SciTechDaily. Retrieved 20 September 2023.