''Simiolus'' is an extinct genus of
dendropithecid primate
Primates are a diverse order (biology), order of mammals. They are divided into the Strepsirrhini, strepsirrhines, which include the lemurs, galagos, and lorisids, and the Haplorhini, haplorhines, which include the Tarsiiformes, tarsiers and ...
s. It was described by
Mary Leakey
Mary Douglas Leakey, FBA (née Nicol, 6 February 1913 – 9 December 1996) was a British paleoanthropologist who discovered the first fossilised ''Proconsul'' skull, an extinct ape which is now believed to be ancestral to humans. She also disc ...
and
Richard Leakey
Richard Erskine Frere Leakey (19 December 1944 – 2 January 2022) was a Kenyan paleoanthropologist, conservationist and politician. Leakey held a number of official positions in Kenya, mostly in institutions of archaeology and wildlife cons ...
in 1987, and the type species is ''S. enjiessi'', which existed during the
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" ...
of
Kenya
)
, national_anthem = " Ee Mungu Nguvu Yetu"()
, image_map =
, map_caption =
, image_map2 =
, capital = Nairobi
, coordinates =
, largest_city = Nairobi
, ...
. The
species epithet Specific name may refer to:
* in Database management systems, a system-assigned name that is unique within a particular database
In taxonomy, either of these two meanings, each with its own set of rules:
* Specific name (botany)
A botanical name ...
is a phonetic pun on the acronym
NGS.
[Page 182, ''The ape in the tree: an intellectual & natural history of Proconsul'', by Alan Walker, Pat Shipman. Harvard University Press, 2005. /] A new species, ''S. andrewsi'', also from the middle Miocene of Kenya, was described by Terry Harrison in 2010.
[Harrison, Terry (2010). "Chapter 24: Dendropithecoidea, Proconsuloidea, and Hominoidea (Catarrhini, Primates)". In Werdelin, L.; Sanders, W.J. Cenozoic Mammals of Africa. University of California Press. pp. 429–469. .] In November 2018, scientists reported the discovery of the smallest known
ape, ''Simiolus minutus'', which weighed approximately eight pounds, and lived about 12.5 million years ago in
Kenya
)
, national_anthem = " Ee Mungu Nguvu Yetu"()
, image_map =
, map_caption =
, image_map2 =
, capital = Nairobi
, coordinates =
, largest_city = Nairobi
, ...
in
East Africa
East Africa, Eastern Africa, or East of Africa, is the eastern subregion of the African continent. In the United Nations Statistics Division scheme of geographic regions, 10-11-(16*) territories make up Eastern Africa:
Due to the histori ...
.
Species
* ''Simiolus enjiessi''
Leakey & Leakey, 1987
* ''Simiolus leakeyorum''
* ''Simiolus cheptumoae''
Pickford & Kunimatsu, 2005
* ''Simiolus andrewsi''
Harrison, 2010
* ''Simiolus minutus''
Rossie & Hill, 2018
Notes
References
Miocene primates of Africa
Miocene mammals of Africa
Prehistoric primate genera
Fossil taxa described in 1987
{{paleo-primate-stub