Otavipithecus

{{Short description|Extinct species of ape}}

{{Speciesbox

| image = Otavipithecus namibiensis.JPG

| image_alt = Fossil jawbone of "Otavipithecus namibiensis" at the National Museum of Natural History, France

| image_caption = Fossil jawbone of Otavipithecus namibiensis at the National Museum of Natural History, France

| extinct = yes

| fossil_range =
13 Million years ago

| genus = Otavipithecus

| species = namibiensis

| parent_authority = Conroy et al., 1992

| authority = Conroy et al., 1992

| display_parents = 4

| synonyms =

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Otavipithecus namibiensis is an extinct species of ape from the Miocene of Namibia. The fossils were discovered at the Berg Aukas mines in the foothills of the Otavi mountains, hence the generic name. The species was described in 1992 by Glenn Conroy and colleagues, and was at the time the only non-hominin fossil ape known from Southern Africa. The scientists noted that the surrounding area of the discovered specimen included fauna dated at "about 13 ± 1 Myr".{{cite journal |last1=Conroy |first1=Glenn C. |author2-link=Martin Pickford |last2=Pickford |first2=Martin |author3-link=Brigitte Senut |last3=Senut |first3=Brigitte |last4=Couvering |first4=John Van |last5=Mein |first5=Pierre |year=1992 |title=Otavipithecus namibiensis, first Miocene hominoid from southern Africa |journal=Nature |volume=356 |issue=6365 |pages=144–148 |bibcode=1992Natur.356..144C |doi=10.1038/356144a0 |issn=0028-0836 |pmid=1545864 |s2cid=24829488}} The fossils consist of part of the lower jawbone with molars, a partial frontal bone, a heavily damaged ulna, one vertebra and a partial finger bone.{{Cite book| last = Harrison | first = T | chapter = Dendropithecoidea, Proconsuloidea and Hominoidea | editor1-last = Werdelin | editor1-first = L. | editor2-last = Sanders | editor2-first = W. J | title = Cenozoic Mammals of Africa | url = https://archive.org/details/cenozoicmammalsa00werd | url-access = limited | publisher = University of California Press | location = Berkeley | year = 2010 | pages = [https://archive.org/details/cenozoicmammalsa00werd/page/n428 429]–469}}

Otavipithecus is estimated to have weighed between 14 and 20 kg.{{Cite book | last = Conroy | first = G. C| title = Reconstructing human origins| publisher = W. W. Norton & company| location = New York | year = 1997}}

The unspecialised teeth have only a thin layer of enamel, implying a diet of soft vegetation such as fruit and young leaves.

The phylogenetic position of Otavipithecus is not clear from the meagre fossils known to date. Alternative proposals have it branching close to the earlier Afropithecus of Kenya,{{cite journal| last=Singleton | first= M|year= 2000 | title = The phylogenetic affinities of Otavipithecus namibiensis | journal= Journal of Human Evolution| volume= 38| issue= 4| pages= 537–573| doi= 10.1006/jhev.1999.0369| pmid= 10715196| bibcode= 2000JHumE..38..537S}} or being close to the common ancestor of modern African apes (humans, chimpanzees, and gorillas).{{cite journal| last1=Pickford | first1= M.| last2=Moyà-Solà | first2= S.| last3=Köhler | first3= M|year= 1997 | title= Phylogenetic implications of the first Middle Miocene hominoid frontal bone from Otavi, Namibia | journal= Comptes Rendus de l'Académie des Sciences| volume= 325| pages= 459–466}}{{cite book| last1=Cartmill| first1=M. | last2 = Smith | first2= F. H | year= 2009| title= The Human Lineage| publisher=Wiley-Blackwell|location=New Jersey}}