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5 - Theropithecus fossils from Africa and India and the taxonomy of the genus

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  11 November 2009

Nina G. Jablonski
Affiliation:
University of Western Australia, Perth
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Summary

Summary

  1. The female Theropithecus skull from Swartkrans, South Africa, SK 561, is described for the first time after reconstruction by R. Clarke. It is closely similar to female crania from Kanjera, but the anterior dentition is better preserved. The probable male cranium SK 599 lacks a face or teeth, but is most likely referable to Papio (Dinopithecus) ingens on the basis of its short postglenoid processes. Several isolated teeth from Brain's recent excavations at Swartkrans demonstrate no significant size increase from members one to three; this suggests only a short span of time (perhaps less than 0.25 Ma) separated these horizons, rather than the 1+ Ma originally suggested by Brain.

  2. The first fossil Theropithecus specimen ever published, a single lower molar from Ain Jourdel, Algeria, is described. It is a typical M1 of a small species whose only distinction is the acute angle formed at the base of its median lingual notch. The distal humerus from Garaet Ichkeul, Tunisia, is probably from a macaque (rather than a Theropithecus, as suggested by Geraads).

  3. The isolated Theropithecus molar from Lothagam-3, Kenya, is described. It is a slightly damaged and moderately worn tooth, probably M2, of a size comparable to several Plio- Pleistocene species of the genus. Its crown complexity and relief is high, and as it probably dates to between 4.0–3.3 Ma, it is unlikely to be a member of the T. brumpti lineage, whose early members have weakly complex molar crowns.

  4. Two Theropithecus molars are described from Kanam East, Kenya. Although heavily worn, they compare most favorably with the Hadar sample of T. darti, which corresponds to a suggested earlier Pliocene age for the deposits.

  5. […]

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Theropithecus
The Rise and Fall of a Primate Genus
, pp. 157 - 190
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 1993

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