| Mesopithecus Temporal range:
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|---|---|
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| Skeleton | |
Scientific classification 
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| Domain: | Eukaryota |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Mammalia |
| Order: | Primates |
| Suborder: | Haplorhini |
| Infraorder: | Simiiformes |
| Family: | Cercopithecidae |
| Subfamily: | Colobinae |
| Genus: | †Mesopithecus Wagner, 1839 |
| Species | |
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Mesopithecus ("middle monkey" for being between Hylobates and Semnopithecus in build) is an extinct genus of Old World monkey that lived in Europe and Asia 7 to 5 million years ago.[1][2][3] Mesopithecus resembled a modern macaque, with a body length of about 40 centimetres (16 in). It was adapted to both walking and climbing, possessing a slender body with long, muscular limbs and flexible fingers. Its teeth suggest that it primarily ate soft leaves and fruit.[4] It was once thought that these extinct monkeys might be an ancestor of the grey langur, but a study in 2004[5] suggested that they are more closely related to the snub-nosed monkeys and doucs.
Gallery
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Mesopithecus pentelici skulls -
Skeletal restoration
References
- ^ "Fossils of 6.4-Million-Year-Old Monkey Found in China". sci-news. Archived from the original on 2023-06-26.
- ^ Xueping Ji, Dionisios Youlatos, Nina G. Jablonski, Ruliang Pan, Chunxia Zhang, Pei Li, Min Tang, Tengsong Yu, Wenqi Li, Chenglong Deng, Song Li (2020). "Oldest colobine calcaneus from East Asia (Zhaotong, Yunnan, China)". Journal of Human Evolution. 147 (102866). doi:10.1016/j.jhevol.2020.102866.
{{cite journal}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link) - ^ Jablonski, Nina G.; et al. (6 August 2020). "Mesopithecus pentelicus from Zhaotong, China, the easternmost representative of a widespread Miocene cercopithecoid species". Journal of Human Evolution. 145: 102851. doi:10.1016/j.jhevol.2020.102851. PMID 32771770.
- ^ Palmer, D., ed. (1999). The Marshall Illustrated Encyclopedia of Dinosaurs and Prehistoric Animals. London: Marshall Editions. p. 289. ISBN 1-84028-152-9.
- ^ Pan, Ruliang; Groves, Colin; Oxnard, Charles (2004). "Relationships between the fossil colobine Mesopithecus pentelicus and extant cercopithecoids, based on dental metrics" (PDF). American Journal of Primatology. 62 (4): 287–299. doi:10.1002/ajp.20022. PMID 15085533. S2CID 6688467. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2008-07-27. Retrieved 2009-01-26.
External links
- "Rare Mesopithecus skull unearthed in Chalkidiki". Anaweb. Archived from the original on 2006-10-07.
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This page was last edited on 17 January 2024, at 18:17