Propliopithecus
Extinct genus of primates
Propliopithecus is an extinct genus of primate.
The 40 cm (1 ft 4 in) long creature resembled today's gibbons. Its eyes faced forwards, giving it stereoscopic vision. Propliopithecus was most likely an omnivore. It is possible that Propliopithecus is the same creature as Aegyptopithecus. If that would be the case the name Propliopithecus would take precedence over Aegyptopithecus according to ICZN rules, because it was coined earlier.
01Human-like dental features
Propliopithecus had small canine teeth, lacked spaces to fit the canine teeth of the other jaw into, and had molars very similar to those of Australopithecus. These features set Propliopithecus apart from Aegyptopithecus, which had big canine teeth along with other more normal simian dental features.
02Palaeobiology
Palaeoecology
The low rates of tooth chipping in Propliopithecus suggests that it did not regularly consume hard foods. Multiple instances of dental caries are known from P. chirobates, suggesting it ate a diet of soft and sweet fruits.
Sources and credits
This article is adapted from the Wikipedia article “Propliopithecus”, written by its contributors and licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Fathomly has changed the layout, removed citation markers, navigation and maintenance notices, and adjusted punctuation. This adapted version is shared under the same license. For references, see the original article.
Images, from Wikimedia Commons:
- Propliopithecus haeckeli mandible.JPG by Ghedoghedo, CC BY-SA 3.0
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