Turkanapithecus

Turkanapithecus
Skull of Turkanapithecus kalakolensis in the Muséum national d'histoire naturelle in Paris.
Temporal occurrence
early Miocene
18 to 16 million years
Locations
Turkana Lake , Kenya
Systematics
Monkey (anthropoidea) Old World Monkey (Catarrhini) Human (Hominoidea) incertae sedis Turkanapithecus
Scientific name
Turkanapithecus
Leakey & Leakey , 1986
species
Turkanapithecus kalakolensis

Turkanapithecus is an extinct genus of primates that was foundin East Africa during the early Miocene . According to the first description of the genus and type species ,published in 1986, fossils discoveredon the shores of Lake Turkana in the north of Kenya comefrom sedimentary layers , the age of which wasdated to around 18 to 16 million yearson the basis of reference fossils . The assignment of the genus to a certain family within the superfamily of the human species was described in the first description as "uncertain" (" incertae sedis ").

Naming

Turkanapithecus is an artificial word . The name of the genus refers to the proximity of the place of discovery to Lake Turkana and the Greek word πίθηκος ( pronounced píthēkos in ancient Greek : "monkey"). The epithet of the only scientifically described species to date , Turkanapithecus kalakolensis , is derived from the site on the Kalakol River. Turkanapithecus kalakolensis therefore means "Turkana monkey from the Kalakol river".

Initial description

As holotype of the species and also the type species Turkanapithecus kalakolensis was first described by Richard Leakey and Meave Leakey of craniofacial KNM-WK 16950A with an associated, partly bezahntem lower jaw KNM-WK 16950B from the reference Kalodirr (3 ° 20 'N, 35 ° 40 'O), which was excavated as a surface find during the excavation period 1985/86. In the facial skull, bones were preserved in the area of ​​the forehead, eyes, nose and the partially dentate upper jaw . As paratypes , several arm and leg bones (KNM-WK 16951-X) were named in the first description, which probably belonged to the same individual as the facial skull. At the same site in 1985/86 the fossils related to Afropithecus were discovered.

The location of the finds is the Kenyan National Museum (hence KNM) in Nairobi .

features

The individuals of the species Turkanapithecus kalakolensis were relatively small animals with a short snout , according to the first description smaller than the approx. 20 kg heavy Proconsul africanus and comparable to a white-bearded colobus monkey living today . The delimitation of the finds from species of the same age as humans was mainly based on various features of the dentition, especially the molars .

Individual evidence

1. ^ Richard Leakey , Meave Leakey : A second new Miocene hominoid from Kenya. In: Nature . Volume 324, 1986, pp. 146-148, doi: 10.1038 / 324146a0