Pliopithecoidea: Difference between revisions

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In the mid-twentieth century, paleontologists [[Johannes Hürzeler]] and [[Helmuth Zapfe]] reinvigorated interest in the pliopithecoids with a series of publications in which they named a number of new species, including ''Pliopithecus vindobonensis'', which consists of the most complete cranial and post-cranial pliopithecoid specimens ever discovered. Based on their size, and some superficial similarities to modern day gibbons, Zapfe suggested that pliopithecoids were ancestral to the [[Hylobatidae]] lineage.<ref name="Zapfe1958">{{cite journal|last1=Zapfe|first1=Helmuth|title=The skeleton of ''Pliopithecus'' (''Epipliopithecus'') ''vindobonesis'' Zapfe and Hürzeler|journal=American Journal of Physical Anthropology|date=1958|volume=16|issue=4|pages=441–457|doi=10.1002/ajpa.1330160405}}</ref>

With the discovery of more European pliopithecoid fossils in the mid to late 1970s,<ref name="Ginsburg1975">{{cite journal|last1=Ginsburg|first1=Leonard|title=Les Pliopithe`ques des faluns helve´tiens de la Touraine et de l’Anjou |journal=Colloques Internationaux du Centre national de la recherche scientifique |date=1975|issue=218|pages=877–886}}</ref><ref name="Ginsburg&Mein1980">{{cite journal|last1=Ginsburg|first1=Leonard|last2=Mein|first2=Pierre|title=''Crouzelia rhondanica'', nouvelle espe`ce de primate catarrhinien, et essai sur la position systématique de Pliopithecidae|journal=Bulletin du Muséum nationalNational d'histoireHistoire naturelleNaturelle, Paris|date=1980|issue=4|pages=57–85}}</ref> and subsequent discovery of pliopithecoid fossils in China,<ref name="Li1978">{{cite journal|last1=Li|first1=Chuan-kuei|title=A Miocene gibbon-like primate from Shihhung, Kiangsu Province|journal=Vertebrata PalAsiatica |date=1978|issue=16|pages=187–192}}</ref> the idea that pliopithecoids were ancestral to gibbons fell out of favor. Today, most paleontologists agree that pliopithecoids hold a basal position in the [[catarrhine]] family tree.<ref name="Begun2002" /><ref name="Harrison2013" /><ref name="Alba&Moyà-Solà2012">{{cite journal|last1=Alba|first1=David|last2=Moyà-Solà|first2=Salvador|title=A New Pliopithecid Genus (Primates: Pliopithecoidea) From Castel de Barberà (Vallès-Penedès Basin, Catalonia, Spain)|journal=American Journal of Physical Anthropology|date=2012|volume=147|pages=88–112|doi=10.1002/ajpa.21630}}</ref> As such, pliopithecoids represent something similar to the common ancestor of [[Old World monkey]]s and [[ape]]s.

A [[femur]] discovered in [[Eppelsheim]] and given the Genus name [[Paidopithex]] was for many years controversial, as its large size compared to Pliopithecoids led to suggestions that it was instead related to the [[Dryopithecini]]. A lack of femurs for Dryopithecini meant that the suggestion was not ruled out for many years, but in 2002 work by Köhler et al comparing it to a recently discovered [[Dryopithecus laietanus]] skeleton showed that it was very different from the Dryopithecini. However, Köhler felt unable to definitely place Paidopithex in the Pliopithecoid superfamily, stating it was either an unusually large Pliopithecoid (estimated bodyweight 22&nbsp;kg) or could be the sole known species of a separate superfamily.<ref name="Kohler">{{cite journal |title=Taxonomic affinities of the Eppelsheim femur |last1=Köhler |first1=M |last2=Alba |first2=DM|last3=Solà |first3=SM|last4=MacLatchy |first4=L|date=December 2002 |journal=American Journal of Physical Anthropology |pmid=12448015 |doi=10.1002/ajpa.10140 |volume=119 |pages=297–304}}</ref>