Amphipithecus: Difference between revisions

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'''''Amphipithecus mogaungensis''''' ("ape-like creature of Mogaung", derived from the [[Ancient Greek]] {{lang|grc|[[:wikt:ἀμφί|ἀμφί]]}}, ''{{lang|grc|[[:wikt:amphi-|amphi-]]}}'' meaning "around" and ''{{lang|grc|pithēkos}}'', ''{{lang|la|pithecus}}'' meaning "ape") was a [[primate]] that lived in Late [[Eocene]] [[Myanmar]]. Along with another primate ''[[Pondaungia|Pondaungia cotteri]]'', both are difficult to categorise within the order [[Primate]]s. What little is known suggests that they are neither [[Adapiformes|adapiform]] nor [[Omomyidae|omomyid]] primates, two of the earliest primate groups to appear in the fossil record. Deep mandibles and mandibular molars with low, broad crowns suggest they are both [[simian]]s, a group that includes monkeys, apes, and humans, though more material is needed for further comparison. The teeth also suggest that these were [[frugivore]] primates, with a body mass of {{convert|6|-|10|kg|abbr=on}}.<ref>{{cite book |author=Fleagle |year=1998 |title=Primate Evolution and Adaptation |publisher=Academic Press |isbn=9780080492131 | ref = harv}}</ref>

== Discovery ==

[[File:BarnumBrown Student.jpg|thumbnail|left|Barnum Brown discovered the species on the outskirts of [[Mogaung]] in [[Burma|Myanmar]].]]

In early 1923, notable fossil prospector, [[Barnum Brown]] (famed for discovering the first ''[[Tyrannosaurus rex]]'' skeleton) traveled with his wife Lilian Brown to [[Yangon]], the capital of [[Myanmar]]. Brown focused his fossil prospecting along areas of Pondaung [[Sandstone]]. In the outskirts of [[Mogaung]] town, he identified a mandible with three teeth (right). He did not recognise the significance of his find until 14&nbsp;years later, when [[Edwin H. Colbert]] identified the fossil as a new species of primate and the earliest known anthropoid in the world.<ref>{{cite journal |last=Ciochon |first=R. L. |authorlinkauthor-link=Russell Ciochon | year = 1985 | title = Fossil ancestors of Burma | journal = Natural History | volume = 94 | issue = 10 | page = 26 | ref = harv}}</ref>

==References==