Proconsul nyanzae
Encyclopedia
Proconsul nyanzae is a species of fossil
primate
first discovered by Louis Leakey
on Rusinga Island
in 1942, which he published in Nature in 1943. A joint publication of Wilfrid Le Gros Clark
and Louis Leakey
in 1951, "The Miocene Hominoidea of East Africa", first defines Proconsul nyanzae. In 1965 Simons and Pilbeam
replaced Proconsul with Dryopithecus, using the same species names.
In 1967, Louis defined Kenyapithecus africanus on seven fossils from Rusinga Island
. He saw it as an ancestor of wickeri and also of man, with a date of 20 mya in the middle Miocene
. Another fossil found by the VanCouverings on Rusinga in 1967 seemed to confirm africanus. In 1969 Simons and Pilbeam moved Kenyapithecus africanus into Dryopithecus nyanzae. By 1978 the genus had recovered from the Dryopithecine event and was back to Proconsul. In that year Andrews moved Clark & Leakey's 1951 Sivapithecus africanus into Proconsul nyanzae.
A more recent discovery by Ward et al. in 1999 and reclassification splits Kenyapithecus africanus away again and lumps it with Equatorius africanus, which would move it to the Afropithecinae subfamily with Afropithecus turkanensis
. As Proconsul, Kenyapithecus may not be in the same clade as apes and humans, but as the older Equatorius, it may be.
of 2:1:2:3 on both the upper and lower jaw. The upper premolars of Proconsul nyanzae were large. This species had a relatively thick enamel on the molars. The mandible
of this species
was relatively robust. Proconsul nyanzae had an average body mass of about 30.0 kilograms.
of Africa
and the fossils were found in areas that suggest it lived in a dry, open woodland
environment
.
Fossil
Fossils are the preserved remains or traces of animals , plants, and other organisms from the remote past...
primate
Primate
A primate is a mammal of the order Primates , which contains prosimians and simians. Primates arose from ancestors that lived in the trees of tropical forests; many primate characteristics represent adaptations to life in this challenging three-dimensional environment...
first discovered by Louis Leakey
Louis Leakey
Louis Seymour Bazett Leakey was a British archaeologist and naturalist whose work was important in establishing human evolutionary development in Africa. He also played a major role in creating organizations for future research in Africa and for protecting wildlife there...
on Rusinga Island
Rusinga Island
Rusinga Island, with an elongated shape approx. 10 miles from end to end and 3 miles at its widest point, lies in the eastern part of Lake Victoria at the mouth of the Winam Gulf...
in 1942, which he published in Nature in 1943. A joint publication of Wilfrid Le Gros Clark
Wilfrid Le Gros Clark
Sir Wilfrid Edward Le Gros Clark was a British anatomist surgeon, primatologist and palaeoanthropologist, today best remembered for his contribution to the study of human evolution....
and Louis Leakey
Louis Leakey
Louis Seymour Bazett Leakey was a British archaeologist and naturalist whose work was important in establishing human evolutionary development in Africa. He also played a major role in creating organizations for future research in Africa and for protecting wildlife there...
in 1951, "The Miocene Hominoidea of East Africa", first defines Proconsul nyanzae. In 1965 Simons and Pilbeam
David Pilbeam
David Pilbeam is the Henry Ford II Professor of the Social Sciences at Harvard University and curator of paleoanthropology at the Peabody Museum of Archaeology and Ethnology. He is a member of the National Academy of Sciences. He received his Ph.D...
replaced Proconsul with Dryopithecus, using the same species names.
In 1967, Louis defined Kenyapithecus africanus on seven fossils from Rusinga Island
Rusinga Island
Rusinga Island, with an elongated shape approx. 10 miles from end to end and 3 miles at its widest point, lies in the eastern part of Lake Victoria at the mouth of the Winam Gulf...
. He saw it as an ancestor of wickeri and also of man, with a date of 20 mya in the middle Miocene
Miocene
The Miocene is a geological epoch of the Neogene Period and extends from about . 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 Pliocene. The Miocene follows the Oligocene...
. Another fossil found by the VanCouverings on Rusinga in 1967 seemed to confirm africanus. In 1969 Simons and Pilbeam moved Kenyapithecus africanus into Dryopithecus nyanzae. By 1978 the genus had recovered from the Dryopithecine event and was back to Proconsul. In that year Andrews moved Clark & Leakey's 1951 Sivapithecus africanus into Proconsul nyanzae.
A more recent discovery by Ward et al. in 1999 and reclassification splits Kenyapithecus africanus away again and lumps it with Equatorius africanus, which would move it to the Afropithecinae subfamily with Afropithecus turkanensis
Afropithecus
Afropithecus turkanensis, a new Miocene hominoid, was excavated from a small site near Lake Turkana called Kalodirr in northern Kenya in 1986 and was named by Richard Leakey and Meave Leakey...
. As Proconsul, Kenyapithecus may not be in the same clade as apes and humans, but as the older Equatorius, it may be.
Morphology
Proconsul nyanzae had a dental formulaDentition
Dentition pertains to the development of teeth and their arrangement in the mouth. In particular, the characteristic arrangement, kind, and number of teeth in a given species at a given age...
of 2:1:2:3 on both the upper and lower jaw. The upper premolars of Proconsul nyanzae were large. This species had a relatively thick enamel on the molars. The mandible
Mandible
The mandible pronunciation or inferior maxillary bone forms the lower jaw and holds the lower teeth in place...
of this species
Species
In biology, a species is one of the basic units of biological classification and a taxonomic rank. A species is often defined as a group of organisms capable of interbreeding and producing fertile offspring. While in many cases this definition is adequate, more precise or differing measures are...
was relatively robust. Proconsul nyanzae had an average body mass of about 30.0 kilograms.
Range
Proconsul nyanzae lived on the continentContinent
A continent is one of several very large landmasses on Earth. They are generally identified by convention rather than any strict criteria, with seven regions commonly regarded as continents—they are : Asia, Africa, North America, South America, Antarctica, Europe, and Australia.Plate tectonics is...
of Africa
Africa
Africa 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...
and the fossils were found in areas that suggest it lived in a dry, open woodland
Woodland
Ecologically, a woodland is a low-density forest forming open habitats with plenty of sunlight and limited shade. Woodlands may support an understory of shrubs and herbaceous plants including grasses. Woodland may form a transition to shrubland under drier conditions or during early stages of...
environment
Ecosystem
An ecosystem is a biological environment consisting of all the organisms living in a particular area, as well as all the nonliving , physical components of the environment with which the organisms interact, such as air, soil, water and sunlight....
.
External links
- The History Files: Hominid Chronology
- http://members.tripod.com/cacajao/equatorius_africanus.html
- Proconsulidae, Mikko's Phylogeny archive
- Proconsul nyanzae, classification in the Taxonomicon site
- Torso morphology and locomotion in Proconsul nyanzae, abstract of article by CV Ward in Am J Phys Anthropol. 1993 Nov;92(3):291-328, shown on pubmed.gov
- Partial skeleton of Proconsul nyanzae from Mfangano Island, Kenya, abstract of article by CV Ward in American Journal of Physical Anthropology, Volume 90, Issue 1, Pages 77 - 111, shown on Wiley Interscience site.