Oligocene Anthropoids Understanding Physical Anthropology and Archaeology, 9th ed., p. 196

Oligocene Anthropoids

Understanding Physical Anthropology and Archaeology, 9th ed., p. 196

Understanding Physical Anthropology and Archaeology, 9th ed., p. 103

“Anthropoids”

= all living and extinct monkeys,

apes and humans

Anthropoids

OligoceneAnthropoids

General Features / Trends of Apes / HumansGeneral Features / Trends of Apes / Humans

2. “Dental apes”

prospered during the Oligocene

General Features / Trends of Apes / HumansGeneral Features / Trends of Apes / Humans

Dental apes are “apes” with monkey-like bodies

who did not hang or swing

“Times to Remember” WebPage

Oligocene Anthropoids

Understanding Physical Anthropology and Archaeology, 9th ed., p. 196

Major site

Understanding Physical Anthropology and Archaeology, 9th ed., p. 195

OligoceneOligocene

El Fayum:

Parapithecus

• squirrel monkeys with teeth that associate them more with Old World monkeys

Parapithecus

OligoceneOligocene

El Fayum:

Parapithecus

Propliopithecus• a small gibbon-like ape

Humankind Emerging, 7th ed., p. 179

Propliopithecus

OligoceneOligocene

El Fayum:

Parapithecus

Propliopithecus

Aegyptopithecus

Oligocene AnthropoidsOligocene Anthropoids

Aegyptopithecus zeuxis

– Oligocene “dental ape”

– largest of the Fayum anthropoids• ca. the size of a howler monkey• 13 – 20 pounds

Oligocene Anthropoids

Understanding Physical Anthropology and Archaeology, 9th ed., p. 196

Humankind Emerging, 7th ed., p. 188

Aegyptopithecus zeuxis

Aegyptopithecus zeuxis

Humankind Emerging, 7th ed., p. 180

Aegyptopithecus

Humankind Emerging, 7th ed., p. 180

Aegyptopithecus

Aegyptopithecus zeuxis

Aegyptopithecus

Oligocene AnthropoidsOligocene Anthropoids

Aegyptopithecus

– is important because it bridges the gap between the Eocene fossils and the Miocene hominoids

Oligocene Anthropoids

Understanding Physical Anthropology and Archaeology, 9th ed., p. 196

General Features / Trends of Apes / HumansGeneral Features / Trends of Apes / Humans

3. True apes that brachiated probablyoriginated in the Early Miocene

ca. 20 – 17 mya

General Features / Trends of Apes / HumansGeneral Features / Trends of Apes / Humans

“Only after the evolution of arboreal suspension . . . would the modern meaning of the term ape have been applicable.”

Campbell-Loy, p. 195

General Features / Trends of Apes / HumansGeneral Features / Trends of Apes / Humans

All living apesshow forelimb-dominated

locomotion

(They climb, swing, or hang about by their arms -- “brachiation”)

Next: Miocene Hominoids

Understanding Physical Anthropology and Archaeology, 9th ed., p. 196