''Ouranopithecus'' ("celestial ape" from Ancient Greek οὐρανός (ouranós), "sky, heaven" + πίθηκος (píthēkos),"ape") is a genus of extinct Eurasian great ape represented by two species, ''

Ouranopithecus macedoniensis ''Ouranopithecus macedoniensis'' is a prehistoric species of '' Ouranopithecus'' from the Late Miocene of Greece. See more detail at '' Ouranopithecus''. This species is known from three localities in Northern Greece. The type location is Ravin ...

'', a late

Miocene The Miocene ( ) is the first epoch (geology), geological epoch of the Neogene Period and extends from about (Ma). The Miocene was named by Scottish geologist Charles Lyell; the name comes from the Greek words (', "less") and (', "new") and mea ...

(9.6–8.7 mya)

hominoid Apes (collectively Hominoidea ) are a clade of Old World simians native to sub-Saharan Africa and Southeast Asia (though they were more widespread in Africa, most of Asia, and as well as Europe in prehistory), which together with its sister g ...

from

Greece Greece,, or , romanized: ', officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the southern tip of the Balkans, and is located at the crossroads of Europe, Asia, and Africa. Greece shares land borders ...

and ''

Ouranopithecus turkae ''Ouranopithecus turkae'' is a prehistoric species of '' Ouranopithecus'' from the Late Miocene of Turkey. This is known from the Corakyerler locality, central Anatolia. It is known only from three cranial fossils. Dated faunal remains associat ...

'', also from the late Miocene (8.7–7.4 mya) of Turkey. The first specimen ''O. macedoniensis'' was discovered by French palaeontologists Louis de Bonis and Jean Melentis in 1977, and ''O. turkae'' by Turkish team led by Erksin Savaş Güleç in 2007. For a long time it was considered as similar (synonymous) to ''

Graecopithecus ''Graecopithecus'' is an extinct species 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, ...

'' and member of the genus ''

Sivapithecus ''Sivapithecus'' () (syn: ''Ramapithecus)'' is a genus of extinct apes. Fossil remains of animals now assigned to this genus, dated from 12.2 million years old in the Miocene, have been found since the 19th century in the Siwalik Hills of the I ...

,'' which more discoveries proved otherwise.

Description and systematics

Based on ''O. macedoniensis dental and facial

anatomy Anatomy () is the branch of biology concerned with the study of the structure of organisms and their parts. Anatomy is a branch of natural science that deals with the structural organization of living things. It is an old science, having it ...

, it has been suggested that ''Ouranopithecus'' was actually a dryopithecine. However, it is probably more closely related to the

Ponginae Ponginae , also known as the Asian hominids, is a subfamily in the family Hominidae. Once a diverse lineage of Eurasian apes, the subfamily has only one extant genus, '' Pongo'' (orangutans), which contains three extant species; the Sumatran oran ...

. Some researchers consider ''O. macedoniensis'' to be the last common ancestor of humans (hominins) and the other apes, and a forerunner to australopithecines and humans, although this is very controversial and not widely accepted. It is true that ''O. macedoniensis'' shares derived features with some early hominins (such as the frontal sinus, a cavity in the forehead), but they are almost certainly not closely related species. In 1984, British palaeontologists Peter Andrews and Lawrence B. Martin classified ''Graecopithecus'' and ''Ouranopithecus'' as synonyms (same taxon) and treated them as members of the genus ''

.'' However, comparative analysis showed that there is not enough data to support the synonymy. When more ''O. macedoniensis'' fossils were discovered including part of the skull in the 1990s, it became apparent that ''O. macedoniensis'' and ''G. freybergi'' are distinct species. In the light of new data, in 1997, Australian palaeontologist David W. Cameron treated ''Graecopithecus'' as a valid genus based on taxonomic priority and renamed ''O. macedoniensis'' as ''Graecopithecus macedoniensis.'' However, better ''O. macedoniensis'' specimens were found including a new species ''

'' from Turkey that warranted separation of the genus. In addition, a meticulous re-description of ''Graecopithecus'' specimens in 2017 further evidenced that ''Graecopithecus'' is more related to humans than to apes, while ''Ouranopithecus'' specimens have strict ape-like characters. Separate genus are therefore continued to be generally adopted.

References

External links

Human Timeline (Interactive)
– Smithsonian,

National Museum of Natural History The National Museum of Natural History is a natural history museum administered by the Smithsonian Institution, located on the National Mall in Washington, D.C., United States. It has free admission and is open 364 days a year. In 2021, with 7 ...

(August 2016). {{Taxonbar , from = Q14516253 Fossil taxa described in 1977 Miocene mammals of Europe Miocene primates of Asia Miocene primates of Europe Prehistoric apes Prehistoric primate genera Prehistoric Greece

Description and systematics

See also

References

External links