Dryopithecus was a
genusIn biology, a genus is a taxonomic unit used in the classification of living and fossil organisms. The term comes from Latin genus "descent, family, type, gender" , cognate with – genos, "race, stock, kin" ..In addition, genus is a taxonomic rank in the hierarchy In biology, a genus (plural:...
of
apeAn ape is any member of the Hominoidea superfamily of primates. Due to its ambiguous nature, the term ape is less suitable as a means of describing taxonomic relationships....
s that is known from Eastern
AfricaAfrica is the world's second-largest and second most-populous continent, after Asia. At about 30.2 million km² including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of the Earth's total surface area and 20.4% of the total land area. With a billion people in 61 territories, it accounts for about 14.8% of the...
into
EurasiaEurasia is a large landmass covering about 52,990,000 km
2 or about 10.6% of the Earth's surface...
. It lived during the Upper
MioceneThe Miocene is a geological epoch of the Neogene period and extends from about 23.03 to 5.33 million years before the present . The Miocene was named by Sir Charles Lyell. Its name comes from the Greek words and and means "less recent" because it has 18% fewer modern sea invertebrates than the...
period, from 12 to 9 million years ago, and probably includes the common ancestor of the lesser apes (
gibbonGibbons are apes in the family Hylobatidae . The family is divided into four genera based on their diploid chromosome number: Hylobates , Hoolock , Nomascus , and Symphalangus . The extinct Bunopithecus sericus is a gibbon or gibbon-like ape which, until recently, was thought to be closely related...
s and
siamangThe Siamang is a tailless, arboreal, black furred gibbon native to the forests of Malaysia, Thailand, and Sumatra. The largest of the lesser apes, the Siamang can be twice the size of other gibbons, reaching 1 m in height, and weighing up to 14 kg...
s) and the great apes.
The first species of
Dryopithecus discovered was found in France, in 1856. The five-
cuspA cusp is an occlusal or incisal eminence on a tooth.Canine teeth, otherwise known as cuspids, each possess a single cusp, while premolars, otherwise known as bicuspids, possess two each. Molars normally possess either four or five cusps...
and juvenile fissure pattern of its molar teeth, known as the Y-5 arrangement, is typical of the dryopithecids and of hominoids in general.
Dryopithecus was a
genusIn biology, a genus is a taxonomic unit used in the classification of living and fossil organisms. The term comes from Latin genus "descent, family, type, gender" , cognate with – genos, "race, stock, kin" ..In addition, genus is a taxonomic rank in the hierarchy In biology, a genus (plural:...
of
apeAn ape is any member of the Hominoidea superfamily of primates. Due to its ambiguous nature, the term ape is less suitable as a means of describing taxonomic relationships....
s that is known from Eastern
AfricaAfrica is the world's second-largest and second most-populous continent, after Asia. At about 30.2 million km² including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of the Earth's total surface area and 20.4% of the total land area. With a billion people in 61 territories, it accounts for about 14.8% of the...
into
EurasiaEurasia is a large landmass covering about 52,990,000 km
2 or about 10.6% of the Earth's surface...
. It lived during the Upper
MioceneThe Miocene is a geological epoch of the Neogene period and extends from about 23.03 to 5.33 million years before the present . The Miocene was named by Sir Charles Lyell. Its name comes from the Greek words and and means "less recent" because it has 18% fewer modern sea invertebrates than the...
period, from 12 to 9 million years ago, and probably includes the common ancestor of the lesser apes (
gibbonGibbons are apes in the family Hylobatidae . The family is divided into four genera based on their diploid chromosome number: Hylobates , Hoolock , Nomascus , and Symphalangus . The extinct Bunopithecus sericus is a gibbon or gibbon-like ape which, until recently, was thought to be closely related...
s and
siamangThe Siamang is a tailless, arboreal, black furred gibbon native to the forests of Malaysia, Thailand, and Sumatra. The largest of the lesser apes, the Siamang can be twice the size of other gibbons, reaching 1 m in height, and weighing up to 14 kg...
s) and the great apes.
The first species of
Dryopithecus discovered was found in France, in 1856. The five-
cuspA cusp is an occlusal or incisal eminence on a tooth.Canine teeth, otherwise known as cuspids, each possess a single cusp, while premolars, otherwise known as bicuspids, possess two each. Molars normally possess either four or five cusps...
and juvenile fissure pattern of its molar teeth, known as the Y-5 arrangement, is typical of the dryopithecids and of hominoids in general. Other dryopithecids have been found in Hungary, Spain, and China.
Description
Dryopithecus was about in body length, and more closely resembled a monkey than a modern ape. The structure of its limbs and wrists show that it walked in a similar way to modern
chimpanzeeChimpanzee, sometimes colloquially chimp, is the common name for the two extant species of ape in the genus Pan. The Congo River forms the boundary between the native habitat of the two species:...
s, but that it used the flat of its hands, like a monkey, rather than knuckle-walking, like modern apes. Its face exhibited klinorhynchy, with its face being tilted downwards in profile.
It likely spent most of its life in trees, and was probably a
brachiatorBrachiators are a type of primate mostly from the family Hylobatidae, which includes gibbons. Brachiators use their arms to move from tree branch to tree branch, through a process called brachiation. Their arms are longer than their legs, and are much more powerful.-Evolution:Brachiators began as...
, similar to modern
orangutanThe orangutans are two endangered species of great apes. Known for their intelligence, they live in trees and are the largest living arboreal animal. They have longer arms than other great apes, and their hair is typically reddish-brown, instead of the brown or black hair typical of other great apes...
s and gibbons. Its
molarMolar may refer to:*Molar , the fourth kind of tooth in mammals*Molar , a unit of concentration, or molarity, of solutions equal to 1 mol/L*Molar volume...
s had relatively little enamel, suggesting that it ate soft leaves and fruit, an ideal food for a tree-dwelling animal.
Morphology
Dryopithecus fontani had a dental formula of 2:1:2:3 on both the upper and lower jaw. The incisors of this
speciesIn biology, a species is:* a taxonomic rank or* a unit at that rank ....
were relatively narrow and less spatulate compared to other genera such as
Proconsul-Ancient Rome:In the Roman Republic, a proconsul was a promagistrate who, after serving as consul, spent a year as a governor of a province...
. The upper molars of this species had a partly developed lingual cingulum.
Dryopithecus fontani had relatively long upper premolars and relatively broad lower premolars. The lower molars had the Y5 pattern, which is also called the Dryopithecus pattern. The cheek had a thin layer of enamel on them and there were low, rounded
cuspA cusp is an occlusal or incisal eminence on a tooth.Canine teeth, otherwise known as cuspids, each possess a single cusp, while premolars, otherwise known as bicuspids, possess two each. Molars normally possess either four or five cusps...
s. This species had gracile canines and a short premaxilla. The
mandibleThe mandible or inferior maxillary bone forms the lower jaw and holds the lower teeth in place. It also refers to both the upper and lower sections of the beaks of birds; in this case the "lower mandible" corresponds to the mandible of humans while the "upper mandible" is functionally equivalent...
of
Dryopithecus fontani had an inferior transverse torus but lacked a superior transverse torus.
The forelimbs of this species had a reduced olecranon process, a deep humeral trochlea, and the loss of the entepicondylar foramen.
Dryopithecus fontani had an average body mass of around 35.0 kilograms.
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