Ouranopithecus

Based on O. macedoniensis' dental and facial anatomy, it has been suggested that Ouranopithecus was actually a dryopithecine. However, it is probably more closely related to the Ponginae.{{cite journal |last1=Alba |first1=D.M. |last2=Fortuny |first2=J. |last3=Moya-Sola |first3=S. |title=Enamel thickness in the middle Miocene great apes Anoiapithecus, Picrolapithecus and Dryopithecus|journal=Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences |year=2010|volume=277|issue=1691 |pages=2237–2245|doi=10.1098/rspb.2010.0218 |pmid=20335211 |display-authors=etal|pmc=2880156}}{{cite journal|last=Begun|first=David R.|title=Relations among great apes and humans: New interpretations based on the fossil great ape Dryopithecus |journal=American Journal of Physical Anthropology|year=2005|volume=37|pages=11–63|doi=10.1002/ajpa.1330370604|doi-access=free}} Some researchers consider O. macedoniensis to be the last common ancestor of humans (hominins) and the other apes,{{cite journal|last=de Bonis|first=Louis|title=New hominoid skull material from the late Miocene of Macedonia in Northern Greece|journal=Nature|year=1990|volume=345|pages=712–4|doi=10.1038/345712a0|pmid=2193230|issue=6277|display-authors=etal|bibcode=1990Natur.345..712D|s2cid=4259387}} and a forerunner to australopithecines and humans,{{cite journal|last=de Bonis|first=Louis|author2=Koufos, George D.|title=Ouranopithecus and dating the splitting of extant hominoids|journal=Comptes Rendus Palevol|year=2004|volume=3|issue=4|pages=257–264|doi=10.1016/j.crpv.2004.04.002}} although this is very controversial and not widely accepted. It is true that O. macedoniensis shares derived features with some early hominins (such as the frontal sinus, a cavity in the forehead), but they are almost certainly not closely related species.{{cite journal|last=de Bonis|first=Louis|title=Dental metric variation in early Hominids comparison between Australopithecus afarensis and Ouranopithecus macedoniensis |journal=Comptes Rendus des Séances de l'Académie des Sciences |series=Serie III Sciences de la Vie |year=1981 |volume=292 |pages=263–266 |display-authors=etal}}

In 1984, British palaeontologists Peter Andrews and Lawrence B. Martin classified Graecopithecus and Ouranopithecus as synonyms (same taxon) and treated them as members of the genus Sivapithecus.{{Cite journal|last1=Martin|first1=L.B.|last2=Andrews|first2=P.|date=1984|title=The phyletic position of Graecopithecus freybergi Koenigswald|url=https://ci.nii.ac.jp/naid/10016064903/|journal=Courier Forschungsinstitut Senckenberg|volume=69|pages=25–40}}{{cite journal|last=Andrews|first=Martin L.|title=The phylogenetic position of Graeceopithecus freybergi Koenigswald |journal=Courier Forschungsinstitut Senckenberg |year=1984|volume=69|pages=25–40}} However, comparative analysis showed that there is not enough data to support the synonymy.{{cite journal|last=Koufos|first=George D.|author2=de Bonis, Louis|title=The late Miocene Hominoids Ouranopithecus and Graeceopithecus. Implications about their relationships and taxonomy|journal=Annales de Paléontologie |year=2005|volume=91|issue=3|pages=227–240|doi=10.1016/j.annpal.2005.05.001|bibcode=2005AnPal..91..227K }}

When more O. macedoniensis fossils were discovered{{Cite journal|last=Koufos|first=G. D.|date=1993|title=Mandible of Ouranopithecus macedoniensis (Hominidae, Primates) from a new late miocene locality of Macedonia (Greece)|url=https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/8317563|journal=American Journal of Physical Anthropology|volume=91|issue=2|pages=225–234|doi=10.1002/ajpa.1330910208|pmid=8317563}} including part of the skull in the 1990s,{{Cite journal|last1=de Bonis|first1=L.|last2=Bouvrain|first2=G.|last3=Geraads|first3=D.|last4=Koufos|first4=G.|date=1990|title=New hominid skull material from the late Miocene of Macedonia in northern Greece|url=https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/2193230|journal=Nature|volume=345|issue=6277|pages=712–714|bibcode=1990Natur.345..712D|doi=10.1038/345712a0|pmid=2193230|s2cid=4259387}} it became apparent that O. macedoniensis and G. freybergi are distinct species. In the light of new data, in 1997, Australian palaeontologist David W. Cameron treated Graecopithecus as a valid genus based on taxonomic priority and renamed O. macedoniensis as Graecopithecus macedoniensis.{{Cite journal|last=Cameron|first=David W.|date=1997|title=The taxonomic status of Graecopithecus|url=https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02381616|journal=Primates|language=en|volume=38|issue=3|pages=293–302|doi=10.1007/BF02381616|s2cid=28982498|url-access=subscription}}{{Cite journal|last=Cameron|first=D. W.|date=1997|title=A revised systematic scheme for the Eurasian Miocene fossil Hominidae|url=https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/9361253|journal=Journal of Human Evolution|volume=33|issue=4|pages=449–477|doi=10.1006/jhev.1997.0145|pmid=9361253|bibcode=1997JHumE..33..449C }} However, better O. macedoniensis specimens were found{{Cite journal|last1=Ioannidou|first1=Melania|last2=Koufos|first2=George D.|last3=de Bonis|first3=Louis|last4=Harvati|first4=Katerina|date=2019|title=A new three-dimensional geometric morphometrics analysis of the Ouranopithecus macedoniensis cranium (Late Miocene, Central Macedonia, Greece)|url=https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/31339568/|journal=American Journal of Physical Anthropology|volume=170|issue=2|pages=295–307|doi=10.1002/ajpa.23900|pmid=31339568|s2cid=198194561}} including a new species Ouranopithecus turkae from Turkey{{Cite journal|last1=Güleç|first1=Erksin Savas|last2=Sevim|first2=Ayla|last3=Pehlevan|first3=Cesur|last4=Kaya|first4=Ferhat|date=2007|title=A new great ape from the late Miocene of Turkey|url=https://www.jstage.jst.go.jp/article/ase/115/2/115_070501/_article|journal=Anthropological Science|language=en|volume=115|issue=2|pages=153–158|doi=10.1537/ase.070501|issn=0918-7960|doi-access=free}} that warranted separation of the genus.

In addition, a meticulous re-description of Graecopithecus specimens in 2017 further evidenced that Graecopithecus is more related to humans than to apes,{{Cite journal|last1=Fuss|first1=Jochen|last2=Spassov|first2=Nikolai|last3=Begun|first3=David R.|last4=Böhme|first4=Madelaine|date=2017|title=Potential hominin affinities of Graecopithecus from the Late Miocene of Europe|journal=PLOS ONE|volume=12|issue=5|pages=e0177127|bibcode=2017PLoSO..1277127F|doi=10.1371/journal.pone.0177127|pmc=5439669|pmid=28531170|doi-access=free}} while Ouranopithecus specimens have strict ape-like characters. Separate genus are therefore continued to be generally adopted.{{Cite journal|last=Andrews|first=Peter|date=2020|title=Last Common Ancestor of Apes and Humans: Morphology and Environment|url=https://www.karger.com/Article/FullText/501557|journal=Folia Primatologica|language=english|volume=91|issue=2|pages=122–148|doi=10.1159/000501557|pmid=31533109|s2cid=202687516|doi-access=free}}{{Citation|last1=Gilbert|first1=Christopher C.|title=Dispersal of Miocene Hominoids (and Pliopithecoids) from Africa to Eurasia in Light of Changing Tectonics and Climate|date=2020|url=https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-49753-8_17|work=Biological Consequences of Plate Tectonics: New Perspectives on Post-Gondwana Break-up–A Tribute to Ashok Sahni|pages=393–412|editor-last=Prasad|editor-first=Guntupalli V.R.|series=Vertebrate Paleobiology and Paleoanthropology|place=Cham|publisher=Springer International Publishing|language=en|doi=10.1007/978-3-030-49753-8_17|isbn=978-3-030-49753-8|access-date=2021-11-16|last2=Pugh|first2=Kelsey D.|last3=Fleagle|first3=John G.|editor2-last=Patnaik|editor2-first=Rajeev|s2cid=229622942|url-access=subscription}}{{Cite journal|last1=Almécija|first1=Sergio|last2=Hammond|first2=Ashley S.|last3=Thompson|first3=Nathan E.|last4=Pugh|first4=Kelsey D.|last5=Moyà-Solà|first5=Salvador|last6=Alba|first6=David M.|date=2021|title=Fossil apes and human evolution|url=https://ddd.uab.cat/record/240044|journal=Science|volume=372|issue=6542|pages=eabb4363|doi=10.1126/science.abb4363|pmid=33958446|s2cid=233872889}}

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• {{annotated link|Anoiapithecus|Anoiapithecus}}
• {{annotated link|Chororapithecus|Chororapithecus}}
• {{annotated link|Dryopithecus|Dryopithecus}}
• {{annotated link|Nakalipithecus|Nakalipithecus}}
• {{annotated link|Pierolapithecus|Pierolapithecus}}
• {{annotated link|Samburupithecus|Samburupithecus}}

{{div col end}}

{{Reflist}}

{{Commons category|Ouranopithecus|Ouranopithecus}}

• [https://humanorigins.si.edu/evidence/human-evolution-timeline-interactive Human Timeline (Interactive)] – Smithsonian, National Museum of Natural History (August 2016).

{{Haplorhini|Ho.}}

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{{Taxonbar |from = Q14516253 }}

Category:Hominidae

Category:Fossil taxa described in 1977

Category:Miocene primates of Asia

Category:Miocene primates of Europe

Category:Prehistoric apes

Category:Prehistoric primate genera

Category:Prehistoric Greece