''Pliobates cataloniae'' is a primate from 11.6 million years ago, during the Iberian Miocene. Originally described as a species of stem-ape that was found to be the sister taxon to

gibbon Gibbons () are apes in the family Hylobatidae (). The family historically contained one genus, but now is split into four extant genera and 20 species. Gibbons live in subtropical and tropical forests from eastern Bangladesh and Northeast Indi ...

s and great apes like humans, it was subsequently reinterpreted as a non-ape

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

belonging to the group Crouzeliidae within the superfamily

Pliopithecoidea Pliopithecoidea is an extinct superfamily of catarrhine primates that inhabited Asia and Europe during the Miocene. Although they were once a widespread and diverse group of primates, the pliopithecoids have no living descendants. History of d ...

on the basis of discovery of new dental remains with crouzeliid synapomorphies.

Mosaic characteristics

Its anatomy is gibbon-like; prior to this discovery, it was assumed that the ancestral ape

bauplan A body plan, (), or ground plan is a set of morphological features common to many members of a phylum of animals. The vertebrates share one body plan, while invertebrates have many. This term, usually applied to animals, envisages a "blueprin ...

was robust like ''

Proconsul A proconsul was an official of ancient Rome who acted on behalf of a Roman consul, consul. A proconsul was typically a former consul. The term is also used in recent history for officials with delegated authority. In the Roman Republic, military ...

''. This species has mosaic characteristics of primitive, monkey-like features and the more derived ape characteristics; however, even when originally described it wasn't interpreted as a direct ancestor of modern apes but rather a side-branch that retained the ancestral morphotype and was thus placed in its own family Pliobatidae. Its subsequent placement within Pliopithecoidea indicates that it was convergent with apes in elbow and wrist morphology.

Palaeobiology

Based on the morphology of its

ulna The ulna or ulnar bone (: ulnae or ulnas) is a long bone in the forearm stretching from the elbow to the wrist. It is on the same side of the forearm as the little finger, running parallel to the Radius (bone), radius, the forearm's other long ...

, the methods of locomotion of ''Pliobates'' consisted of above-branch quadrupedalism and eclectic climbing, along with suspensory behaviours resembling those of modern

spider monkeys Spider monkeys are New World monkeys belonging to the genus ''Ateles'', part of the subfamily Atelinae, family Atelidae. Like other atelines, they are found in tropical forests of Central and South America, from southern Mexico to Brazil. The g ...

References

Pliopithecidae Monotypic prehistoric primate genera Fossil taxa described in 2015 {{paleo-primate-stub