Oreopithecus

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Oreopithecus
Oreopithecus in the Instituto de Paleontología Miquel Crusafont

Oreopithecus in the Instituto de Paleontología Miquel Crusafont

Temporal occurrence
Miocene ( Vallesium to Turolium )
8 to 7 million years
Locations
Systematics
Human (Hominoidea)
Apes (Hominidae)
Homininae
Dryopithecini
Oreopithecus
Scientific name
Oreopithecus
Gervais , 1872
Art
  • Oreopithecus bambolii

Oreopithecus is an extinct genus of primates whose individuals may have been able to walk upright . The genus is not considered to be the direct ancestor of humans ( Homo sapiens ), but iscountedto the tribe Hominoidea . The fossils of Oreopithecus come from the upper Miocene and have been dated to the time before some 8-7 million years ago.

Naming and first description

Oreopithecus is an artificial word . The name of the genus is derived from the Greek ὄρος oros 'mountain' and πίθηκος pithekos 'monkey'. The epithet of the only scientifically described species so far , Oreopithecus bambolii , refers to the location of the first fossils - several lower jaws - on Monte Bamboli, northwest of Follonica in Tuscany . Oreopithecus bambolii therefore means "Bamboli mountain monkey".

Paul Gervais , who determined the designation of genus and species in 1872 based on findings in Tuscan lignites , when choosing the name of the genus alluded to the 'mountain-like' protruding cusps of the large molars .

The holotype of the genus and, at the same time, the type species Oreopithecus bambolii is the well-preserved, toothed lower jaw of a young individual (see drawing).

In 1958, Johannes Hürzeler described other finds from Tuscany. After that, other remains were also found on Sardinia ; Sardinia and Tuscany formed a large island with Corsica in the Miocene , which belonged to an archipelago between Europe and Africa.

features

The anatomical features of Oreopithecus could be reconstructed quite well, since almost all bones have survived. Accordingly, Oreopithecus bambolii had - similar to the later species of the direct human ancestors - a relatively short jaw with small incisors and also relatively small canines , the diastema between the incisor and canine in the upper jaw was small or absent. The foramen magnum was relatively far forward, which - together with findings on the structure of the bones of the trunk and legs - was interpreted as an indication of a two-legged mode of locomotion. An analysis of the hand bones revealed that Oreopithecus bambolii had also developed the ability to grip with precision .

The body length of this primate is estimated to be 110 cm and the weight to be 32 kg. The skeleton is characterized by long arms, bulges above the eyes and a missing tail. The big toe stood - comparable to Ardipithecus ramidus - at an angle of 100 ° from the foot, so that the whole foot formed a tripod . This foot anatomy did not allow for a fast run. Because of the long arms, it was long believed that Oreopithecus bambolii had moved swinging through the trees. Recent studies of the short, human-like pelvis and leg skeleton indicate, however, that it moved mainly upright on two legs; In 1997, however, this was not interpreted in the sense of a phylogenetic proximity to the direct ancestors of the great apes, but as a consequence of adapting to life as an endemic on an island. However, the thesis of an upright gait was contradicted in 2013 after investigations of the lumbar spine and sacrum by Oreopithecus . In early 2020, the physique of the species was described as being comparable to that of the gibbons living today .

From the nature of the teeth, especially the enamel , it was concluded that Oreopithecus bambolii mainly fed on soft fruits.

Ecological conditions

Its limb morphology was able to develop under the conditions of an isolated island ecology. Apart from two fish-eating otters and an omnivorous , but mostly herbivorous, bear, there were no predators on the Tuscan-Sardinian island. 6.5 million years ago, the island region came into contact with mainland Europe as a result of tectonic faults in the Apennine region and an incipient desiccation of the Mediterranean Sea (known as the Messinian salinity crisis ), and was colonized by saber-toothed cats such as Machairodus and Metailurus . Oreopithecus bambolii then died out.

Systematics

The species is not a direct ancestor of humans, but represents a convergent development. This is also supported by the fact that it developed in isolation from the human ancestors who lived in Africa.

The phylogenetic position of Oreopithecus bambolii is controversial. By some researchers the kind is in its own family as a side branch of the superfamily of (Oreopithecidae) human-like assigned (Hominoidea), but by other researchers as a member of the family of great apes interpreted (Hominids). According to investigations of the Baccinello fossil from 1990, Oreopithecus bambolii is in the ancestral history of Dryopithecus .

literature

  • Alessandro Urciuoli et al .: The evolution of the vestibular apparatus in apes and humans. In: eLife. 2020, 9, e51261, doi: 10.7554 / eLife.51261 .
  • Jordi Agusti, Mauricio Anton: Mammoths, Sabertooths, and Hominids: 65 Million Years of Mammalian Evolution in Europe. Columbia University Press, 2005, ISBN 978-0231116411 .
  • Gustav Schwalbe : About the fossil monkey Oreopithecus Bambolii. At the same time a contribution to the morphology of the primate teeth. In: Journal of Morphology and Anthropology. Volume 19, No. 1, 1915, pp. 149-254.

Individual evidence

  1. ^ A b c d Bernard Wood , Terry Harrison : The evolutionary context of the first hominins. In: Nature . Volume 470, 2011, pp. 347-352, doi: 10.1038 / nature09709
  2. ↑ a b Jordi Agusti, Mauricio Anton: Mammoths, Sabertooths, and Hominids [...], p. 193
  3. ^ Paul Gervais : Sur un singe fossile, d'espèce non encore décrite, qui a été decouvert au Monte-Bamboli (Italy). In: Comptes rendus de l'Académie des sciences. Volume 74, May 6, 1872, pp. 1217-1223
  4. ↑ Gustav Schwalbe : About the fossil monkey Oreopithecus Bambolii. [...] , 1915, p. 151
  5. ^ University of Florence: Illustration of the holotype.
  6. ^ Johannes Hürzeler : Oreopithecus bambolii Gervais: a preliminary report. In: Negotiations of the Natural Research Society Basel. Volume 69, 1958, pp. 1-47
  7. ↑ Lorenzo Rook, Luca Bondioli, Meike Köhler, Salvador Moyà-Solà and Roberto Macchiarelli: Oreopithecus was a bipedal ape after all: Evidence from the iliac cancellous architecture. In: PNAS . Volume 96, No. 15, 1999, pp. 8795-8799; doi: /10.1073/pnas.96.15.8795
  8. ^ Salvador Moyà-Solà, Meike Köhler and Lorenzo Rook: Evidence of hominid-like precision grip capability in the hand of the Miocene ape Oreopithecus. In: PNAS. Volume 96, No. 1, 1999, pp. 313-317; doi: 10.1073 / pnas.96.1.313
  9. ^ William L. Jungers : Body size and morphometric affinities of the appendicular skeleton in Oreopithecus bambolii (IGF 11778). In: Journal of Human Evolution. Volume 16, No. 5, 1987, pp. 445-456, doi: 10.1016 / 0047-2484 (87) 90072-8
  10. ↑ Jordi Agusti, Mauricio Anton: Mammoths, Sabertooths, and Hominids [...], p. 198
  11. ↑ Meike Köhler and Salvador Moyà-Solà: Ape-like or hominid-like? The positional behavior of Oreopithecus bambolii reconsidered. In: PNAS. Volume 94, No. 21, 1997, pp. 11747-11750, doi: 10.1073 / pnas.94.21.11747
  12. ↑ Gabrielle A. Russo, Liza J. Shapiro: Reevaluation of the lumbosacral region of Oreopithecus bambolii. In: Journal of Human Evolution. Volume 65, No. 3, 2013, pp. 253-265, doi: 10.1016 / j.jhevol.2013.05.004
  13. ^ Ashley S. Hammond et al .: Insights into the lower torso in late Miocene hominoid Oreopithecus bambolii. In: PNAS. Online pre-publication of December 23, 2019, doi: 10.1073 / pnas.1911896116 .
  14. ↑ Daniel Demiguel, David M. Alba and Salvador Moyà-Solà: Dietary Specialization during the evolution of Western Eurasian hominoids and the Extinction of European Great Apes. In: PLoS ONE. 9 (5): e974422014, 2014, doi: 10.1371 / journal.pone.0097442
  15. ^ L. Carmignani et al .: Tertiary compression and extension in the Sardinian basement. In: Bollettino di Geofisica Teorica e Applicata. Volume 36, Nos. 141-144, 1994, pp. 45-62, abstract
  16. ^ W. Krijgsman et al .: Late Neogene evolution of the Taza-Guercif Basin (Rifian Corridor, Morocco) and implications for the Messinian salinity crisis. In: Marine Geology , Volume 153, 1999, pp. 147-160.
  17. ↑ JM Soria, J. Fernández, C. Viseras: Late Miocene stratigraphy and palaeogeographic evolution of the intramontane Guadix Basin (Central Betic Cordillera, Spain): implications for an Atlantic-Mediterranean connection. In: Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology , Volume 151, 1999, pp. 255-266.
  18. ↑ Jordi Agusti, Mauricio Anton: Mammoths, Sabertooths, and Hominids [...], pp. 198-199
  19. ^ Raffaele Sardella: Remarks on the Messinian carnivores (mammalia) of Italy. In: Bolletino della Societá Paleontologica Italiana. Volume 47, No. 2, 2008, pp. 195-202 (PDF).
  20. ^ Lorenzo Rook et al .: The Italian record of latest Miocene continental vertrebrates. In: Bollettino della Societá Paleontologica Italiana , 47 (2), 2008, pp. 191–194 (PDF).