Theropithecus oswaldi

Theropithecus oswaldi Temporal range: Early to Middle Pleistocene 1 Million years ago
Fragmented jaw
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Mammalia
Order:	Primates
Suborder:	Haplorhini
Family:	Cercopithecidae
Genus:	Theropithecus
Species:	†T. oswaldi
Binomial name
†Theropithecus oswaldi (Andrews, 1916)
Subspecies
† T. o. delsoni † T. o. ecki † T. o. oswaldi
Synonyms
Theropithecus atlanticus [1] Simopithecus oswaldiAndrews, 1916 Simopithecus jonathoni

Theropithecus oswaldi is an extinct species of Theropithecus from the Early to Middle Pleistocene of Kenya, Ethiopia, Tanzania, South Africa, Spain, Morocco, Algeria, and India. ^{[2] [1]} The species went extinct in South Africa around 1 million years ago. ^[3] Having existed alongside hominins like Homo erectus , conflict with early humans likely played a role in their extinction, as a site has been found with many juveniles butchered. ^{[4] [1]}

Description

It is remarkable for its large size compared to other Old World monkeys. One source projects a specimen of Theropithecus oswaldi to have weighed 72 kg (159 lb). ^[5] Postcranial fossils found of this species are much greater in size than extant papionins, including the mandrill. ^[6]

Palaeoecology

According to δ¹³C values from fossils of the species from Swartkrans, T. oswaldi was a specialised grazer. ^[7] A dental microwear study of T. oswaldi specimens from Swartkrans found that their dietary patterns were similar to geladas, yellow baboons, and mantled guerezas and would have included leaves and grasses in addition to fruits. ^[8] A different dental microwear study based on fossils from the Omo Valley suggests that the diet of T. oswaldi, like that of the modern day gelada, consisted primarily of the aerial parts of herbaceous monocots and dicots. ^[9] Yet another dental microwear study of T. oswaldi from Ahl al Oughlam in Morocco also evidenced that it primarily ate grasses. ^[10] T. oswaldi fossils are also known from Elandsfontein, ^[11] where they subsided on diets mainly composed of C₃ plants as both browsers and grazers. ^[12]

References

1. Getahun, Dagmawit Abebe; Delson, Eric; Seyoum, Chalachew Mesfin (July 2023). "A review of Theropithecus oswaldi with the proposal of a new subspecies". Journal of Human Evolution . 180: 103373. doi:10.1016/j.jhevol.2023.103373 . Retrieved 5 March 2026– via Elsevier Science Direct.
2. "The Paleobiology Database" . Retrieved 11 August 2013.
3. Faith, J.T., 2014. "Late Pleistocene and Holocene mammal extinctions on continental Africa". Earth-Science Reviews 128: 105–121
4. Shipman, Pat; Bosler, Wendy (June 1981). "Butchering of Giant Geladas at an Acheulian Site". Current Anthropology . 22: 257–288. doi:10.1086/202663. JSTOR   2742201. S2CID   87006937.
5. Jablonski, Nina; Leakey, Meave; Anton, Mauricio (1 January 2008), Jablonski, N.G. Leakey, M.G. and Anton, M. (2008) Systematic "Paleontology of the Cercopithecines". In: Jablonski, N.G. and Leakey, M.G. (eds.) Koobi Fora Research Project. Vol. 6. "The Fossil Monkeys". California Academy of Sciences, San Francisco, pp. 103–300, pp. 103–300, retrieved 3 May 2020
6. Geraads, Denis; de Bonis, Louis (6 Feb 2020). "First record of Theropithecus (Cercopithecidae) from the Republic of Djibouti". Journal of Human Evolution . 138 102686. Bibcode:2020JHumE.13802686G. doi: 10.1016/j.jhevol.2019.102686 . PMID   31759254. S2CID   208254366.
7. van der Merwe, Nikolaas J.; Thackeray, J.Francis; Lee-Thorp, Julia A.; Luyt, Julie (May 2003). "The carbon isotope ecology and diet of Australopithecus africanus at Sterkfontein, South Africa" . Journal of Human Evolution . 44 (5): 581–597. doi:10.1016/S0047-2484(03)00050-2 . Retrieved 7 September 2024– via Elsevier Science Direct.
8. El-Zaatari, Sireen; Grine, Frederick E.; Teaford, Mark F.; Smith, Heather F. (August 2005). "Molar microwear and dietary reconstructions of fossil cercopithecoidea from the Plio-Pleistocene deposits of South Africa". Journal of Human Evolution . 49 (2): 180–205. doi:10.1016/j.jhevol.2005.03.005 . Retrieved 4 November 2025– via Elsevier Science Direct.
9. Merceron, Gildas; Kallend, Auria; Francisco, Arthur; Louail, Margot; Martin, Florian; Plastiras, Christos-Alexandros; Thiery, Ghislain; Boisserie, Jean-Renaud (15 June 2021). "Further away with dental microwear analysis: Food resource partitioning among Plio-Pleistocene monkeys from the Shungura Formation, Ethiopia". Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology . 572 110414. doi:10.1016/j.palaeo.2021.110414 . Retrieved 7 September 2024– via Elsevier Science Direct.
10. Louail, Margot; Geraads, Denis; Daujeard, Camille; Gallotti, Rosalia; Lefèvre, David; Mohib, Abderrahim; Raynal, Jean-Paul; Merceron, Gildas (January 2026). "A close-up at the paleoecology of the most western gelada relatives: Insights from dental microwear texture analysis". Journal of Human Evolution . 210: 103784. doi:10.1016/j.jhevol.2025.103784 . Retrieved 5 March 2026– via Elsevier Science Direct.
11. Forrest, Frances L.; Stynder, Deano D.; Bishop, Laura C.; Levin, Naomi E.; Lehmann, Sophie B.; Patterson, David B.; Matthews, Thalassa; Braun, David R. (February 2018). "Zooarchaeological reconstruction of newly excavated Middle Pleistocene deposits from Elandsfontein, South Africa". Journal of Archaeological Science . 17: 19–29. doi:10.1016/j.jasrep.2017.10.034 . Retrieved 10 September 2024– via Elsevier Science Direct.
12. Lehmann, Sophie B.; Braun, David R.; Dennis, Kate J.; Patterson, David B.; Stynder, Deano D.; Bishop, Laura C.; Forrest, Frances; Levin, Naomi E. (1 September 2016). "Stable isotopic composition of fossil mammal teeth and environmental change in southwestern South Africa during the Pliocene and Pleistocene". Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology . 457: 396–408. doi:10.1016/j.palaeo.2016.04.042 . Retrieved 10 September 2024– via Elsevier Science Direct.