Rangwapithecus

Rangwapithecus is an extinct genus of ape from the Early Miocene of Kenya. Late Miocene phalanges from Hungary have also been assigned to this genus, but were later reclassified as Dryopithecus.^[1]

Rangwapithecus
Jaw of Rangwapithecus gordoni
Scientific classification
Domain:	Eukaryota
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Mammalia
Order:	Primates
Suborder:	Haplorhini
Infraorder:	Simiiformes
Family:	†Dendropithecidae
Subfamily:	†Nyanzapithecinae
Genus:	†Rangwapithecus Andrews, 1974

Description

Rangwapithecus weighed approximately 15 kg (33 lb) and the size and shape of the ape's teeth indicate that it was a folivore.^[2] An arboreal ape from the earliest Miocene^[3] adapted to life in the rainforest, it is associated particularly with Mfangano Island^[4] although the species previously inhabited a woodland-bushland environment.^[5]

Taxonomy

Rangwapithecus was sympatric with Proconsul,^[6] and may be synonymous with both Proconsul gordoni and Proconsul vancouveringi.^[7] It is also similar to another species^[vague] found in Africa.^[8] Rangwapithecus gordoni and P. africanus are similarly sized though they differ morphologically, and both are restricted to Koru and Songhur.^[9]

Palaeoecology

Rangwapithecus was a generalised frugivore that was also able to engage in folivory as a fallback during times of dietary stress.^[10]

Notes

1. Begun 1988
2. Fleagle 1999, p. 462
3. Lyell 1833, p. 343
4. Andrews & Kelley 2007, Abstract
5. Andrews & Evans 1979
6. Cameron 2004, p. 62
7. Tuttle 1986, p. 28
8. Leakey & Leakey 1987, Abstract
9. Andrews 2000, p. 356
10. Shearer, Brian M.; Ungar, Peter S.; McNulty, Kieran P.; Harcourt-Smith, William E.H.; Dunsworth, Holly M.; Teaford, Mark F. (January 2015). "Dental microwear profilometry of African non-cercopithecoid catarrhines of the Early Miocene". Journal of Human Evolution. 78: 33–43. doi:10.1016/j.jhevol.2014.08.011. Retrieved 3 December 2024 – via Elsevier Science Direct.

References

• Andrews, Peter (May 2000). "Evolution and Environment in the Hominoidea". In Gee, H (ed.). Shaking the tree: readings from Nature in the history of life. University of Chicago Press. ISBN 978-0-226-28497-2.
• Andrews, P; Cronin, JE (1982). "The relationships of Sivapithecus and Ramapithecus and the evolution of the orang-utan". Nature. 297 (5867): 541–6. Bibcode:1982Natur.297..541A. doi:10.1038/297541a0. PMID 7045678. S2CID 4368755.
• Andrews, P.; Evans, E. N. (1979). "The Environment of Ramapithecus in Africa". Paleobiology. 5 (1): 22–30. Bibcode:1979Pbio....5...22A. doi:10.1017/s0094837300006266. JSTOR 2400387. S2CID 88248574.
• Andrews, Peter; Kelley, Jay (2007). "Middle Miocene Dispersals of Apes". Folia Primatologica. 78 (5–6): 328–43. doi:10.1159/000105148. PMID 17855786. S2CID 19293586.
• Begun, David R. (1988). "Catarrhine phalanges from the Late Miocene (Vallesian) of Rudabánya, Hungary" (PDF). Journal of Human Evolution. 17 (4): 413–37. Bibcode:1988JHumE..17..413B. doi:10.1016/0047-2484(88)90030-9. Retrieved 2012-12-22.
• Cameron, D. W. (2004). Hominid adaptations and extinctions. UNSW Press. ISBN 9780868407166.
• Fleagle, JG (1999). Primate adaptation and evolution. Academic Press. ISBN 978-0-12-260341-9.
• Greenfield, Leonard Owen (1979). "On the adaptive pattern of "Ramapithecus"". American Journal of Physical Anthropology. 50 (4): 527–48. doi:10.1002/ajpa.1330500406. PMID 111557.
• Greenfield, L. O. (1987). "A Late Divergence Hypothesis". In Ciochon, Russell L.; Fleagle, John G. (eds.). Primate evolution and human origins. Evolutionary Foundations of Human Behavior Series. Transaction Publishers. p. 222. ISBN 9780202011752. Retrieved 2011-12-29.
• Leakey, R.E.; Leakey, M.G. (1987). "A new Miocene small-bodied ape from Kenya". Journal of Human Evolution. 16 (4): 369–87. Bibcode:1987JHumE..16..369L. doi:10.1016/0047-2484(87)90067-4.
• Lyell, C (1833). Principles of geology: being an attempt to explain the former changes of the earth's surface by reference to causes now in operation, Volume 3. J. Murray. Retrieved 2011-12-29.
• Schwartz, JH (1984). "The evolutionary relationships of man and orang-utans". Nature. 308 (5959): 501–5. Bibcode:1984Natur.308..501S. doi:10.1038/308501a0. PMID 6424028. S2CID 4343195.
• Tuttle, R. (1986). Apes of the world: their social behavior, communication, mentality, and ecology. Noyes Publ. p. 28. ISBN 9780815511045.
• Tuttle, Russell H. (2006). "Seven Decades of East African Miocene Anthropoid Studies". In Ishida, Hidemi; Tuttle, Russell; Pickford, Martin; Ogihara, Naomichi; Nakatsukasa, Masato (eds.). Human origins and environmental backgrounds. Developments in Primatology: Progress and Prospects. Birkhäuser. pp. 15–29. ISBN 978-0387296388.

External links

• Wolpoff, M. H.; De Bonis, L.; Fleagle, J. G.; Frayer, D. W.; Greenfield, L. O.; Jacobs, K. H.; Protsch, R.; Rightmire, P. G.; Sarich, V. (1982). "Ramapithecus and Hominid Origins [and Comments and Reply]". Current Anthropology. 23 (5): 501–522. doi:10.1086/202893. JSTOR 2742391. S2CID 88285271.