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Notes on Ramapithecus , the earliest known hominid, and Dryopithecus
Author(s) -
Pilbeam David
Publication year - 1966
Publication title -
american journal of physical anthropology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.146
H-Index - 119
eISSN - 1096-8644
pISSN - 0002-9483
DOI - 10.1002/ajpa.1330250102
Subject(s) - subgenus , pleistocene , hominidae , early pleistocene , subfamily , paleontology , gorilla , biology , zoology , biological evolution , taxonomy (biology) , biochemistry , genetics , gene
Recent paleontological analysis of the Higher Primate subfamily Dryopithecinae shows that fossils in this group can be referred to two genera, Ramapithecus and Dryopithecus. Ramapithecus is known from India and East Africa in Late Miocene or Early Pliocene time (about 14 m. years ago). The remains of Ramapithecus resemble closely the equivalent parts of the later Hominidae and contrast with those of the Pongidae. It is concluded that Ramapithecus is the earliest known hominid, some 5 or 6 times older than the oldest Pleistocene hominids. Dryopithecus is a pongid and contains as subgenera ( Dryopithecus ), ( Proconsul ), and ( Sivapithecus ). Probably part of ( Proconsul ) is ancestral to the chimpanzee and part to the gorilla, while part of ( Sivapithecus ) is ancestral to the orang‐utan.