Theropithecus

{{Short description|Genus of Old World monkeys}}

{{Automatic taxobox

| fossil_range = Pliocene-Recent {{fossilrange|4.1|0}}

| image = Southern gelada (Theropithecus gelada obscurus) male.jpg

| image_caption = Male gelada

| display_parents = 2

| taxon = Theropithecus

| authority = I. Geoffroy, 1843

| subdivision_ranks = Species

| subdivision = See text

| type_species = Theropithecus gelada

| type_species_authority = (Rüppell, 1835)

}}

Theropithecus is a genus of primates in the family Cercopithecidae. It contains a single living species, the gelada (Theropithecus gelada), native to the Ethiopian Highlands.

Additional species are known from fossils, including:

• {{extinct}}Theropithecus brumpti{{cite book | author = Turner, Alan |author2=Antón, Mauricio | title = Evolving Eden, An Illustrated Guide to the Evolution of the African Large-Mammal Fauna | publisher = Columbia University Press | year = 2004 | location = New York | page = 55}}Getahun, D. A., Delson, E., & Seyoum, C. M. (2023). A review of Theropithecus oswaldi with the proposal of a new subspecies. Journal of human evolution, 180, 103373. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jhevol.2023.103373
• {{extinct}}Theropithecus darti
• {{extinct}}Theropithecus oswaldi{{cite web |url=https://paleobiodb.org/classic/checkTaxonInfo?taxon_no=133587 |title=The Paleobiology Database |access-date=11 August 2013}}

The earliest remains probably belonging to the genus are from Kanapoi, Kenya, dating to the early Pliocene, around 4.1-4.2 million years ago.

Although most remains are known from Africa, during the Early Pleistocene the genus had a broader distribution ranging from southern Europe, including Spain{{Cite journal |last=Ferràndez-Cañadell |first=Carles |last2=Ribot |first2=Francesc |last3=Gibert |first3=Lluís |date=September 2014 |title=New fossil teeth of Theropithecus oswaldi (Cercopithecoidea) from the Early Pleistocene at Cueva Victoria (SE Spain) |url=https://linkinghub.elsevier.com/retrieve/pii/S0047248414001092 |journal=Journal of Human Evolution |language=en |volume=74 |pages=55–66 |doi=10.1016/j.jhevol.2014.02.020|url-access=subscription }} and possibly Italy,{{Cite journal |last=Patel |first=Biren A. |last2=Gilbert |first2=Christopher C. |last3=Ericson |first3=Kristin E. |date=February 2007 |title=Cercopithecoid cervical vertebral morphology and implications for the presence of Theropithecus in early Pleistocene Europe |url=https://linkinghub.elsevier.com/retrieve/pii/S004724840600159X |journal=Journal of Human Evolution |language=en |volume=52 |issue=2 |pages=113–129 |doi=10.1016/j.jhevol.2006.07.014|url-access=subscription }} to the Indian subcontinent.{{Cite journal |last=Patnaik |first=Rajeev |last2=Cerling |first2=Thure E. |last3=Uno |first3=Kevin T. |last4=Fleagle |first4=John G. |date=April 2014 |title=Diet and Habitat of Siwalik Primates Indopithecus, Sivaladapis and Theropithecus |url=http://www.bioone.org/doi/abs/10.5735/086.051.0214 |journal=Annales Zoologici Fennici |language=en |volume=51 |issue=1-2 |pages=123–142 |doi=10.5735/086.051.0214 |issn=0003-455X|url-access=subscription }}