''Simiolus'' is an extinct genus of dendropithecid

primate Primates is an order (biology), order of mammals, which is further divided into the Strepsirrhini, strepsirrhines, which include lemurs, galagos, and Lorisidae, lorisids; and the Haplorhini, haplorhines, which include Tarsiiformes, tarsiers a ...

s. It was described by

Mary Leakey Mary Douglas Leakey, Fellow of the British Academy, FBA (née Nicol, 6 February 1913 – 9 December 1996) was a British paleoanthropologist who discovered the first fossilised ''Proconsul (mammal), Proconsul'' skull, an extinct ape which is now ...

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 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 ...

Kenya Kenya, officially the Republic of Kenya, is a country located in East Africa. With an estimated population of more than 52.4 million as of mid-2024, Kenya is the 27th-most-populous country in the world and the 7th most populous in Africa. ...

. 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 (biology), taxonomy, either of these two meanings, each with its own set of rules: * Specific name (botany) ...

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 Apes (collectively Hominoidea ) are a superfamily of Old World simians native to sub-Saharan Africa and Southeast Asia (though they were more widespread in Africa, most of Asia, and Europe in prehistory, and counting humans are found global ...

, ''Simiolus minutus'', which weighed approximately , and lived about 12.5 million years ago in

East Africa East Africa, also known as Eastern Africa or the East of Africa, is a region at the eastern edge of the Africa, African continent, distinguished by its unique geographical, historical, and cultural landscape. Defined in varying scopes, the regi ...

Species

* ''Simiolus enjiessi'' Leakey & Leakey, 1987 * ''Simiolus leakeyorum'' * ''Simiolus cheptumoae'' Pickford & Kunimatsu, 2005 * ''Simiolus andrewsi'' Harrison, 2010 * ''Simiolus minutus'' Rossie & Hill, 2018

Notes

References

Dendropithecidae Miocene primates of Africa Miocene mammals of Africa Prehistoric primate genera Fossil taxa described in 1987 {{paleo-primate-stub