Pliobates

{{Speciesbox

| fossil_range = {{Fossil range|11.6}}

| image = Pliobates fossils and reconstruction.webp

| image_caption = Pliobates fossils and reconstruction

| display_parents = 3

| genus = Pliobates

| parent_authority = Alba et al. 2015

| species = cataloniae

| authority = Alba et al. 2015

}}

File:Pliobates mouthparts.webp

Pliobates cataloniae is a primate from 11.6 million years ago, during the Iberian Miocene.{{Cite journal |last1=Bouchet |first1=Florian |last2=Urciuoli |first2=Alessandro |last3=Beaudet |first3=Amélie |last4=Pina |first4=Marta |last5=Moyà-Solà |first5=Salvador |last6=Alba |first6=David M. |date=2021-12-01 |title=Comparative anatomy of the carotid canal in the Miocene small-bodied catarrhine Pliobates cataloniae |url=https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0047248421001251 |journal=Journal of Human Evolution |volume=161 |pages=103073 |doi=10.1016/j.jhevol.2021.103073 |pmid=34628300 |bibcode=2021JHumE.16103073B |issn=0047-2484|hdl=2263/82958 |hdl-access=free }}{{Cite journal |last1=Urciuoli |first1=Alessandro |last2=Zanolli |first2=Clément |last3=Bouchet |first3=Florian |last4=Almécija |first4=Sergio |last5=Moyà-Solà |first5=Salvador |last6=Alba |first6=David M |date=2022 |title=Semicircular canal morphology of the Miocene small-bodied catarrhine Pliobates cataloniae: Phylogenetic implications |url=https://rgdoi.net/10.13140/RG.2.2.34937.34409 |language=en |doi=10.13140/RG.2.2.34937.34409}} Originally described as a species of stem-ape that was found to be the sister taxon to gibbons and great apes like humans,{{cite journal | last1=Alba | first1=David M. | last2=Almécija | first2=Sergio | last3=DeMiguel | first3=Daniel | last4=Fortuny | first4=Josep | last5=de los Rios | first5=Miriam Pérez | last6=Pina | first6=Marta | last7=Robles | first7=Josep M. | last8=Moyà-Solà | first8=Salvador | title=Miocene small-bodied ape from Eurasia sheds light on hominoid evolution | journal=Science | date=30 October 2015 | volume=350 | issue=6260 | pages=aab2625 | doi=10.1126/science.aab2625 | pmid=26516285| bibcode=2015Sci...350.2625A | doi-access=free }} it was subsequently reinterpreted as a non-ape catarrhine belonging to the group Crouzeliidae within the superfamily Pliopithecoidea on the basis of discovery of new dental remains with crouzeliid synapomorphies.{{Cite journal|last1=Bouchet |first1=Florian |last2=Zanolli |first2=Clément |last3=Urciuoli |first3=Alessandro |last4=Almécija |first4=Sergio |last5=Fortuny |first5=Josep |last6=Robles |first6=Josep M. |last7=Beaudet |first7=Amélie |last8=Moyà-Solà |first8=Salvador |last9=Alba |first9=David M. |year=2024 |title=The Miocene primate Pliobates is a pliopithecoid |journal=Nature Communications |volume=15 |issue=1 |at=2822 |doi=10.1038/s41467-024-47034-9 |pmid=38561329 |pmc=10984959 |doi-access=free |bibcode=2024NatCo..15.2822B }}

Mosaic characteristics

Its anatomy is gibbon-like; prior to this discovery, it was assumed that the ancestral ape bauplan was robust like Proconsul.{{cite news | first=Colin | last=Barras | url=https://www.newscientist.com/article/dn28416-fossil-discovery-could-be-the-last-common-ancestor-to-all-apes/ | title=Fossil discovery could be the last common ancestor to all apes | work=New Scientist | date=29 October 2015 }} This species has mosaic characteristics of primitive, monkey-like features and the more derived ape characteristics; however, even when originally described it wasn't interpreted as a direct ancestor of modern apes but rather a side-branch that retained the ancestral morphotype and was thus placed in its own family Pliobatidae.{{cite news | url=http://www.latimes.com/science/sciencenow/la-sci-sn-ape-fossil-evolution-diverge-20151029-story.html | title=Ancestor of all apes might not be what scientists expected, new fossil shows | first=Amina | last=Kahn | date=29 October 2015 | department=Science Now | newspaper=Los Angeles Times }} Its subsequent placement within Pliopithecoidea indicates that it was convergent with apes in elbow and wrist morphology.

Palaeobiology

Based on the morphology of its ulna, the methods of locomotion of Pliobates consisted of above-branch quadrupedalism and eclectic climbing, along with suspensory behaviours resembling those of modern spider monkeys.{{Cite journal |last=Raventós-Izard |first=Georgina |last2=Monclús-Gonzalo |first2=Oriol |last3=Moyà-Solà |first3=Salvador |last4=Alba |first4=David M. |last5=Arias-Martorell |first5=Julia |date=May 2025 |title=Ulnar morphology of Pliobates cataloniae (Pliopithecoidea: Crouzeliidae): Insights into catarrhine locomotor diversity and forelimb evolution |url=https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0047248425000168?via%3Dihub |journal=Journal of Human Evolution |language=en |volume=202 |pages=103663 |doi=10.1016/j.jhevol.2025.103663 |access-date=18 June 2025 |via=Elsevier Science Direct}}

References

Category:Pliopithecidae

Category:Monotypic prehistoric primate genera

Category:Fossil taxa described in 2015