Mesopithecus

{{Short description|Extinct genus of monkeys}}

{{Automatic taxobox

| fossil_range =
8.2–2.6 Million years ago

| image = Mesopithecus pentelici skeleton.JPG

| image_caption = Skeleton

| image2 = Mesopithecus pentelicus from Zhaotong, China.jpg

| image2_caption = Life restoration of Mesopithecus pentelicus from Zhaotong, China by Mauricio Antón

| taxon = Mesopithecus

| authority = Wagner, 1839

| subdivision_ranks = Species

| subdivision = * Mesopithecus monspessulanus
Gervais 1859

• Mesopithecus pentelici
  Wagner 1839 (type)

}}

Mesopithecus ("middle monkey" for being between Hylobates and Semnopithecus in build) is an extinct genus of Old World monkey belonging to the subfamily Colobinae that lived in Eurasia during the Late Miocene and Pliocene epochs, around 8.2-2.6 million years ago.{{cite journal|author=Xueping Ji, Dionisios Youlatos, Nina G. Jablonski, Ruliang Pan, Chunxia Zhang, Pei Li, Min Tang, Tengsong Yu, Wenqi Li, Chenglong Deng, Song Li|year=2020|url=|title=Oldest colobine calcaneus from East Asia (Zhaotong, Yunnan, China)|journal=Journal of Human Evolution|volume=147|issue=102866|page=|doi=10.1016/j.jhevol.2020.102866|pmid=32862123 |bibcode=2020JHumE.14702866J }}{{cite journal |author=Jablonski, Nina G. |display-authors=et al.|title=Mesopithecus pentelicus from Zhaotong, China, the easternmost representative of a widespread Miocene cercopithecoid species |date=6 August 2020 |journal=Journal of Human Evolution |volume=145 |page=102851 |doi=10.1016/j.jhevol.2020.102851 |pmid=32771770 |doi-access=free |bibcode=2020JHumE.14602851J }}{{Cite journal |last=Eronen |first=Jussi T. |last2=Rook |first2=Lorenzo |date=November 2004 |title=The Mio-Pliocene European primate fossil record: dynamics and habitat tracking |url=https://linkinghub.elsevier.com/retrieve/pii/S0047248404001137 |journal=Journal of Human Evolution |language=en |volume=47 |issue=5 |pages=323–341 |doi=10.1016/j.jhevol.2004.08.003}} Fossils span from Great Britain and the Iberian Peninsula in the west, eastwards to the Indian Subcontinent and China. Mesopithecus had a body length of about {{convert|40|cm|in}}, possessing a slender body with long, muscular limbs and flexible fingers.{{cite book |editor=Palmer, D.|year=1999 |title= The Marshall Illustrated Encyclopedia of Dinosaurs and Prehistoric Animals|publisher= Marshall Editions|location=London|pages= 289|isbn= 1-84028-152-9}} Analysis of its anatomy suggests that members of the genus were semiterrestrial, spending a considerable amount of the time on the ground,{{Cite journal |last=Youlatos |first=Dionisios |last2=Koufos |first2=George D. |date=January 2010 |title=Locomotor evolution of Mesopithecus (Primates: Colobinae) from Greece: evidence from selected astragalar characters |url=http://link.springer.com/10.1007/s10329-009-0161-2 |journal=Primates |language=en |volume=51 |issue=1 |pages=23–35 |doi=10.1007/s10329-009-0161-2 |issn=0032-8332|url-access=subscription }}{{Cite journal |last=Bogdanova |first=Ralitsa |last2=Youlatos |first2=Dionisios |last3=Spassov |first3=Nikolai |date=July 2023 |title=Terrestriality as reflected in the humerus of Mesopithecus delsoni (Cercopithecidae, Colobinae) from Hadjidimovo, Bulgaria |url=https://linkinghub.elsevier.com/retrieve/pii/S0047248423000623 |journal=Journal of Human Evolution |language=en |volume=180 |pages=103383 |doi=10.1016/j.jhevol.2023.103383|doi-access=free }} though some authors have argued that some species were likely arboreal.{{Cite journal |last=Escarguel |first=Gilles |date=August 2005 |title=Mathematics and the Lifeway of Mesopithecus |url=http://link.springer.com/10.1007/s10764-005-5324-4 |journal=International Journal of Primatology |language=en |volume=26 |issue=4 |pages=801–823 |doi=10.1007/s10764-005-5324-4 |issn=0164-0291|url-access=subscription }} Mesopithecus were likely capable climbers and probably occasionally engaged in leaping. Dental microwear analysis suggests that it fed on hard seeds as well as probably leaves.{{Cite journal |last=Merceron |first=Gildas |last2=Scott |first2=Jessica |last3=Scott |first3=Robert S. |last4=Geraads |first4=Denis |last5=Spassov |first5=Nikolai |last6=Ungar |first6=Peter S. |date=December 2009 |title=Folivory or fruit/seed predation for Mesopithecus, an earliest colobine from the late Miocene of Eurasia? |url=https://linkinghub.elsevier.com/retrieve/pii/S004724840900133X |journal=Journal of Human Evolution |language=en |volume=57 |issue=6 |pages=732–738 |doi=10.1016/j.jhevol.2009.06.009|url-access=subscription }}{{Cite journal |last=Thiery |first=Ghislain |last2=Gillet |first2=Geoffrey |last3=Lazzari |first3=Vincent |last4=Merceron |first4=Gildas |last5=Guy |first5=Franck |date=November 2017 |title=Was Mesopithecus a seed eating colobine? Assessment of cracking, grinding and shearing ability using dental topography |url=https://linkinghub.elsevier.com/retrieve/pii/S0047248417303822 |journal=Journal of Human Evolution |language=en |volume=112 |pages=79–92 |doi=10.1016/j.jhevol.2017.09.002}} Morphometric analysis of a M. pentelici mandible from Shuitangba in Yunnan, China confirm that it was best adapted for eating hard seeds, though its more developed condyle length and moment arms of the temporomandibular joint and medial pterygoid muscles suggest this population of M. pentelici exhibited a greater degree of folivory than others.{{Cite journal |last1=Pan |first1=Hao |last2=Ji |first2=Xueping |last3=Youlatos |first3=Dionisios |last4=Chen |first4=Ying |last5=Zhang |first5=He |last6=Guo |first6=Gaigai |last7=Wang |first7=Jing |last8=Huang |first8=Kang |last9=Hou |first9=Rong |last10=He |first10=Gang |last11=Guo |first11=Songtao |last12=Zhang |first12=Pei |last13=Li |first13=Baoguo |last14=Pan |first14=Ruliang |date=17 December 2024 |title=Morphometric Study on the Mandible of Colobine Fossil ( Mesopithecus pentelicus ) Found in East Asia, a Comparison With Extant Taxa |url=https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1002/ajp.23706?casa_token=sdUeOltz86IAAAAA%3At2Lnke1Otdew3JUDqGmUCshf-fJpDa2U08C4amBNTyFS-CP6gi6CbCbW17fboz_lZPcWOcSnNXkVxgaO |journal=American Journal of Primatology |language=en |volume=87 |issue=1 |doi=10.1002/ajp.23706 |issn=0275-2565 |access-date=17 December 2024 |via=Wiley Online Library|url-access=subscription }} The relationship of Mesopithecus to living members of Colobinae is uncertain, some have interpreted it as an early offshoot outside the split between Asian and African colobines, while others have interpreted it as a close relative of the Asian doucs (Pygathrix).{{Cite journal |last=Alba |first=David M. |last2=Montoya |first2=Plini |last3=Pina |first3=Marta |last4=Rook |first4=Lorenzo |last5=Abella |first5=Juan |last6=Morales |first6=Jorge |last7=Delson |first7=Eric |date=November 2015 |title=First record of Mesopithecus (Cercopithecidae, Colobinae) from the Miocene of the Iberian Peninsula |url=https://linkinghub.elsevier.com/retrieve/pii/S0047248415001979 |journal=Journal of Human Evolution |language=en |volume=88 |pages=1–14 |doi=10.1016/j.jhevol.2015.08.003|url-access=subscription }}