Pliopithecoidea: Difference between revisions

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The crania of ''P. vindobonesis'', ''Laccopithecus robustus'', ''Pliopithecus zhanxiangi'', and ''Anapithecus hernyaki'' demonstrate that pliopithecoids had relatively large and globular braincases with a projecting snout.<ref name="Begun2002" /><ref name="Andrewsetal1996" /> The snout projects less than the propliopithecoids of North Africa (''i.e.'' ''[[Aegyptopithecus]]''), suggesting some prognathic reduction from the inferred common ancestor of these two primate families. The orbits are widely spaced and the mandible is long and robust, with a relatively broad ramus.<ref name="Begun2002" /> Most importantly, however, pliopithecoids had an incompletely ossified ectotympanic tube. This anatomical feature represents an intermediate stage between what is found in [[platyrrhines]], which do not have an ossified ectotympanic tube, and [[catarrhines]], which have a completely ossified ectoympanic tube.<ref name="Begun2002" /><ref name="Harrison2013" /><ref name="Andrewsetal1996" />

Nearly all of what is known about the body proportions and post-cranial morphology of this family are derived from ''Pliopithecus vindobonensis'', as it is the only species for which a complete skeleton has been found.<ref name="Zapfe1958" /> Still, the majority of fossil material indicates that pliopithecoids were medium sized primates, approximately the size of a howler monkey or a gibbon (8&nbsp;kg).<ref name="Albaetal2012">{{cite journal|last1=Alba|first1=David|last2=Moyà-Solà|first2=Salvador|last3=Robles|first3=Josep M.|last4=Galindo|first4=Jordi|title=Brief Communication: The Oldest Pliopithecid Record in the Iberia Peninsula Based on New Material From the Vallès-Penedès Basin|journal=American Journal of Physical Anthropology|date=2012|volume=147|pages=135–140|doi=10.1002/ajpa.21631|pmid=22170401}}</ref> Köhler estaimesestimates a slightly higher average weight of 10&nbsp;kg.<ref name="Kohler" /> Post-cranially, pliopithecoids had an interesting mix of platyrrhine and catarrhine traits. The brachial index of ''P. vindobonesis'' (the length of the radius divided by the length of the humerus) is similar to that of a howler monkey, but the crural index (the length of the tibia divided by the length of the femur) is similar to that of a gibbon.<ref name="Begun2002" /> Proportionally, however, the forelimbs of ''P. vindobonesis'' were shorter than their hindlimbs, making them comparable to a baboon. The hands and feet of ''P. vindobonesis'' were long and curved, suggesting that pliopithecoids were adept and agile climbers.<ref name="Begun2002" /><ref name="Zapfe1958" /> The post-crania of ''P. vindobonesis'' also shows that Pliopithecoids had an entepicondylar foramen, which is a primitive trait not found in any other catarrhine primates (extant or extinct).<ref name="Begun2002" /><ref name="Harrison2013" /><ref name="Andrewsetal1996">{{cite book|last1=Andrews|first1=Peter|last2=Harrison|first2=Terry|last3=Delson|first3=Eric|last4=Bernor|first4=Raymond|last5=Martin|first5=L|title=Distribution and Biochronology of European and Southwest Asian Miocene Catarrhines|date=1996|publisher=Columbia University Press|isbn=0-231-08246-0}}</ref> The wrist and hands of pliopithecoids were seemingly much more similar to platyrrhines than to catarrhines, as the carpo-metacarpal joint of the thumb is a modified “hinge joint” compared to the "saddle-like" thumb joint found in Old World monkeys and apes.<ref name="Harrison1987">{{cite journal|last1=Harrison|first1=Terry|title=The phylogenetic relationships of the early catarrhine primates: a review of the current evidence|journal=Journal of Human Evolution|date=1987|volume=16|pages=41–80|doi=10.1016/0047-2484(87)90060-1}}</ref> Pliopithecoids also had a tail.<ref name="Begun2002" /><ref name="Andrewsetal1996" />

== Classification ==