''Theropithecus oswaldi'' is an

extinct Extinction is the termination of an organism by the death of its Endling, last member. A taxon may become Functional extinction, functionally extinct before the death of its last member if it loses the capacity to Reproduction, reproduce and ...

species A species () is often defined as the largest group of organisms in which any two individuals of the appropriate sexes or mating types can produce fertile offspring, typically by sexual reproduction. It is the basic unit of Taxonomy (biology), ...

of '' Theropithecus'' from the early to middle

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, and

Algeria Algeria, officially the People's Democratic Republic of Algeria, is a country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It is bordered to Algeria–Tunisia border, the northeast by Tunisia; to Algeria–Libya border, the east by Libya; to Alger ...

. The species went extinct in South Africa around 1 million years ago. Having existed alongside hominins like ''

Homo erectus ''Homo erectus'' ( ) is an extinction, extinct species of Homo, archaic human from the Pleistocene, spanning nearly 2 million years. It is the first human species to evolve a humanlike body plan and human gait, gait, to early expansions of h ...

'', it is likely that conflict with early humans played a role in their extinction as a site has been found with many juveniles butchered.

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 . Postcranial

fossils A fossil (from Classical Latin , ) is any preserved remains, impression, or trace of any once-living thing from a past geological age. Examples include bones, shells, exoskeletons, stone imprints of animals or microbes, objects preserved ...

found of this species are much greater in size than extant papionins, including the

mandrill The mandrill (''Mandrillus sphinx'') is a large Old World monkey native to west central Africa. It is one of the most colorful mammals in the world, with red and blue skin on its face and posterior. The species is Sexual dimorphism, sexually ...

Palaeoecology

According to ''δ''¹³C values from fossils of the species from Swartkrans, it was a specialised grazer. A 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. ''T. oswaldi'' fossils are also known from Elandsfontein, where they subsided on diets mainly composed of C₃ plants as both browsers and grazers.

References

Papionini Pleistocene mammals of Africa Pleistocene mammals of Europe Prehistoric monkeys Pleistocene primates Fossil taxa described in 1916 {{paleo-primate-stub