Pliobates

Last updated

Pliobates
Temporal range: Miocene
O
S
D
C
P
T
J
K
Pg
N
Scientific classification OOjs UI icon edit-ltr.svg
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Mammalia
Order: Primates
Suborder: Haplorhini
Infraorder: Simiiformes
Family: Pliopithecidae
Subfamily: Crouzeliinae
Genus: Pliobates
Alba et al. 2015 [1]
Species:
P. cataloniae
Binomial name
Pliobates cataloniae
Alba et al. 2015 [1]

Pliobates cataloniae is a primate from 11.6 million years ago, during the Iberian Miocene. [1] [2] [3] Originally described as a species of stem-ape that was found to be the sister taxon to gibbons and great apes like humans, [1] it was subsequently reinterpreted as a non-ape catarrhine belonging to the group Crouzeliidae within the superfamily Pliopithecoidea on the basis of discovery of new dental remains with crouzeliid synapomorphies. [4] Its anatomy is gibbon-like; prior to this discovery, it was assumed that the ancestral ape bauplan was robust like Proconsul . [5] This species has mosaic characteristics of primitive, monkey-like features and the more derived ape characteristics; however, even when originally described it wasn't interpreted as a direct ancestor of modern apes but rather a side-branch that retained the ancestral morphotype and was thus placed in its own family Pliobatidae. [6] Its subsequent placement within Pliopithecoidea indicates that it was convergent with apes in elbow and wrist morphology. [4]

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>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>Dryopithecus</i> Extinct great ape from Europe

Dryopithecus is a genus of extinct great apes from the middle–late Miocene boundary of Europe 12.5 to 11.1 million years ago (mya). Since its discovery in 1856, the genus has been subject to taxonomic turmoil, with numerous new species being described from single remains based on minute differences amongst each other, and the fragmentary nature of the holotype specimen makes differentiating remains difficult. There is currently only one uncontested species, the type species D. fontani, though there may be more. The genus is placed into the tribe Dryopithecini, which is either an offshoot of orangutans, African apes, or is its own separate branch.

<i>Ouranopithecus</i> Genus of extinct Eurasian great ape from the Miocene

Ouranopithecus is a genus of extinct Eurasian great ape represented by two species, Ouranopithecus macedoniensis, a late Miocene hominoid from Greece and Ouranopithecus turkae, also from the late Miocene of Turkey.

The Serravallian is, in the geologic timescale, an age or a stage in the middle Miocene Epoch/Series, which spans the time between 13.82 Ma and 11.63 Ma. The Serravallian follows the Langhian and is followed by the Tortonian.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Barbourofelidae</span> Extinct family of feliform carnivorans

Barbourofelidae is an extinct family of carnivorans of the suborder Feliformia, sometimes known as false saber-toothed cats, that lived in North America, Eurasia and Africa during the Miocene epoch and existed for about 7.9 million years. Thought to be an independent lineage from the Nimravidae and Machairodontinae, which had all attained elongated canines, recent research argues that it may be a subfamily of the Nimravidae, extending its biochronological range into the Miocene, although this issue is not yet fully resolved.

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

Sansanosmilus is an extinct genus of carnivorous mammal of the family Barbourofelidae endemic to Europe, which lived during the Miocene, 13.65—9.7 mya, existing for approximately 3.95 million years.

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

Albanosmilus is an extinct genus of the family Barbourofelidae. It was previously thought to belong to the false sabre-toothed cat family Nimravidae.

Anoiapithecus is an extinct ape genus thought to be closely related to Dryopithecus. Both genera lived during the Miocene, approximately 12 million years ago. Fossil specimens named by Salvador Moyà-Solà are known from the deposits from Spain.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Dryopithecini</span> Extinct tribe of apes

Dryopithecini is an extinct tribe of Eurasian and African great apes that are believed to be close to the ancestry of gorillas, chimpanzees and humans. Members of this tribe are known as dryopithecines.

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

Saadanius is a genus of fossil primates dating to the Oligocene that is closely related to the common ancestor of the Old World monkeys and apes, collectively known as catarrhines. It is represented by a single species, Saadanius hijazensis, which is known only from a single partial skull tentatively dated between 29 and 28 million years ago. It was discovered in 2009 in western Saudi Arabia near Mecca and was first described in 2010 after comparison with both living and fossil catarrhines.

<i>Nacholapithecus</i> Extinct genus of hominoids

Nacholapithecus kerioi was an ape that lived 14-15 million years ago 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.

<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 teeth found in Pyrgos Vasilissis, Athens, Greece, in 1944, other teeth 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>Hispanopithecus</i> Genus of apes from Miocene Europe

Hispanopithecus is a genus of apes that inhabited Europe during the Miocene epoch. It was first identified in a 1944 paper by J. F. Villalta and M. Crusafont in Notas y Comunicaciones del Instituto Geologico y Minero de España. Anthropologists disagree as to whether Hispanopithecus belongs to the subfamily Ponginae or Homininae.

Griphopithecus suessi is a prehistoric species of kenyapith hominid from the Miocene of Austria and Slovakia, dated to approximately 15 million years ago. G. suessi is based on a single lower molar, with three other isolated teeth and two fragmentary pieces of postcrania referred to it. Austriacopithecus is a synonym.

Maria's worm lizard is an amphisbaenian species in the family Blanidae. The species is endemic to the Iberian Peninsula.

This paleomammalogy list records new fossil mammal taxa that were described during the year 2009, as well as notes other significant paleomammalogy discoveries and events which occurred during that year.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Pliopithecoidea</span> Extinct superfamily of primates

Pliopithecoidea is an extinct superfamily of catarrhine primates that inhabited Asia and Europe during the Miocene. Although they were once a widespread and diverse group of primates, the pliopithecoids have no living descendants.

Crouzeliinae is an extinct subfamily of Pliopithecidae primates that inhabited Europe and China during the Miocene, approximately 8–14.5 million years ago - they appear to have originated in Asia and extended their range into Europe between 17 and 13 million years ago. Crouzeliines can be distinguished from the other Pliopithecoidea subfamilies on the basis of uniquely derived dental traits.

This paleomammalogy list records new fossil mammal taxa that were described during the year 2015, as well as notes other significant paleomammalogy discoveries and events which occurred during that year.

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 Alba, David M.; Almécija, Sergio; DeMiguel, Daniel; Fortuny, Josep; de los Rios, Miriam Pérez; Pina, Marta; Robles, Josep M.; Moyà-Solà, Salvador (30 October 2015). "Miocene small-bodied ape from Eurasia sheds light on hominoid evolution". Science . 350 (6260): aab2625. Bibcode:2015Sci...350.2625A. doi: 10.1126/science.aab2625 . PMID   26516285.
  2. Bouchet, Florian; Urciuoli, Alessandro; Beaudet, Amélie; Pina, Marta; Moyà-Solà, Salvador; Alba, David M. (2021-12-01). "Comparative anatomy of the carotid canal in the Miocene small-bodied catarrhine Pliobates cataloniae". Journal of Human Evolution. 161: 103073. doi:10.1016/j.jhevol.2021.103073. hdl: 2263/82958 . ISSN   0047-2484.
  3. Urciuoli, Alessandro; Zanolli, Clément; Bouchet, Florian; Almécija, Sergio; Moyà-Solà, Salvador; Alba, David M (2022). "Semicircular canal morphology of the Miocene small-bodied catarrhine Pliobates cataloniae: Phylogenetic implications". doi:10.13140/RG.2.2.34937.34409.{{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
  4. 1 2 Bouchet, Florian; Zanolli, Clément; Urciuoli, Alessandro; Almécija, Sergio; Fortuny, Josep; Robles, Josep M.; Beaudet, Amélie; Moyà-Solà, Salvador; Alba, David M. (2024). "The Miocene primate Pliobates is a pliopithecoid". Nature Communications. 15. 2822. doi: 10.1038/s41467-024-47034-9 . PMC   10984959 . PMID   38561329.
  5. Barras, Colin (29 October 2015). "Fossil discovery could be the last common ancestor to all apes". New Scientist .
  6. Kahn, Amina (29 October 2015). "Ancestor of all apes might not be what scientists expected, new fossil shows". Science Now. Los Angeles Times .