Proconsu lZICA.
''Proconsul major'', an extinct
primate of the genus
''Proconsul'', was possibly the ancestor of ''
Afropithecus'' and showed
hominid
The Hominidae (), whose members are known as the great apes or hominids (), are a taxonomic family of primates that includes eight extant species in four genera: '' Pongo'' (the Bornean, Sumatran and Tapanuli orangutan); ''Gorilla'' (the east ...
characteristics. It occurred during the early
Miocene and was roughly, the size of a
gorilla. The species previously referred to as ''Ugandapithecus major'' is now considered to be a synonym of ''Proconsul major''.
Prior to 2000 it was known as ''Proconsul major''
and some argue against the renaming.
''Proconsul major'' lived on the
continent of
Africa in the region around
Moroto,
Uganda. Based upon dental
morphology, ''Proconsul major'' was a
frugivorous species.
Morphology
''Proconsul major'' had a typical primate
dental formula of . The
canines are sexually dimorphic. The inferior transverse torus is absent and the superior transverse torus is well-developed in ''Proconsul major''. This species had an average body mass of around .
Fossil finds
A nearly complete fossilized ''P. major'' skull estimated to be 20 million years old was found at the
Napak
Napak is a town in Northern Uganda. It is the commercial, administrative and municipal headquarters of Napak District. The district is named after the town.
Location
The town is situated approximately , southwest of Moroto, the largest town in K ...
XV site near Iriri on the slope of the extinct
Napak Volcano in July 2011 by a team led by
Martin Pickford and
Brigitte Senut
Brigitte Senut (27 January 1954, Paris) is a French paleoprimatologist and paleoanthropologist and a professor at the National Museum of Natural History, Paris. She is a specialist in the evolution of great apes and humans.
Life and work
Senu ...
.
[ After a year of cleaning, documentation and reconstruction in Paris, the skull fragments are now on display in the ]Uganda Museum
The Uganda Museum is located in Kampala, Uganda. It displays and exhibits ethnological, natural-historical and traditional life collections of Uganda's cultural heritage. It was founded in 1908, after Governor George Wilson called for "all articl ...
in Kampala.[
Previously, only smaller pieces of younger fossils had been found at Napak and at the Moroto I site near Loitakero.
]
References
External links
Proconsul major
Noel T. Boaz
Prehistoric apes
Fossil taxa described in 1950
Miocene primates of Africa
{{paleo-primate-stub
