The family Dendropithecidae is an extinct family of

catarrhine The parvorder Catarrhini , catarrhine monkeys, Old World anthropoids, or Old World monkeys, consisting of the Cercopithecoidea and apes (Hominoidea). In 1812, Geoffroy grouped those two groups together and established the name Catarrhini, "Old ...

monkeys. They date from the Early

Miocene The Miocene ( ) is the first 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 means "less recent" ...

, around 20 - 12 million years ago. Fossils of the two ''Dendropithecus'' species, ''Dendropithecus macinnesi'' and ''Dendropithecus ugandensis'', have been found in East Africa, including several partial skeletons of ''Dendropithecus macinnesi'' on Rusinga Island in

Lake Victoria Lake Victoria is one of the African Great Lakes. With a surface area of approximately , Lake Victoria is Africa's largest lake by area, the world's largest tropical lake, and the world's second-largest fresh water lake by surface area after ...

. Other species are ''Simiolus andrewsi'', ''Simiolus cheptumoae'', ''Simiolus enjiessi''. ''Micropithecus clarki'' and ''Micropithecus leakeyorum'' may not be part Dendropithecidae, and may be sister to the crown

Catarrhini The parvorder Catarrhini , catarrhine monkeys, Old World anthropoids, or Old World monkeys, consisting of the Cercopithecoidea and apes (Hominoidea). In 1812, Geoffroy grouped those two groups together and established the name Catarrhini, "Old ...

(or, depending on the definition, the apes and the Cercopithecidae may have emerged in the Dendropithecidae). The later Nyanzapithecinae (including '' Oreopithecus (''† 7 Ma)) appear to be sister to ''

Simiolus ''Simiolus'' is an extinct genus of dendropithecid primates. It was described by Mary Leakey and Richard Leakey in 1987, and the type species is ''S. enjiessi'', which existed during the Miocene of Kenya. The species epithet is a phonetic pun o ...

''.

Description

The taxa included in Dendropithecidae, possess the following traits: * Upper and lower canines strongly bilaterally compressed * P₃ moderately to strongly specialized for sectoriality * Slender limb bones * Humerus with a relatively straight shaft * Medial epicondyle of the humerus is large and medially directed * Epitrochlear fossa is well developed * Zona conoidea is broad and shallow * Trochlear articular surface exhibits minimal spooling * Olecranon fossa is shallow ''Micropithecus'' appears to be sister to the crown catarrhini.

References

Miocene primates Pliocene primates Miocene extinctions Prehistoric apes Primate families Prehistoric mammal families {{paleo-primate-stub