Ultrapithecus: Difference between revisions

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The genus ''Ultrapithecus'' was first described in 1901 by [[Florentino Ameghino]], based on fossil remains found in [[Argentina|Argentine]] terrains dated from the end of the Middle Eocene. Ameghino described two species, ''Ultrapithecus rutilans'' and ''U. rusticulus'', and thought that this genus was an archaic [[primate]], hence its genus name, ''Ultrapithecus'', meaning "monkey from the other side", referring to its discovery in [[South America]] instead of the [[Old World]]. ''Ultrapithecus'' was subsequently placed within the order Notoungulata, and the two species are considered synonyms, with ''U. rutilans'' taking precedence.

''Ultrapithecus'' has historically been placed with the family [[Oldfieldthomasiidae]],<ref name=Simpson>G. G. Simpson. 1967. The beginning of the age of mammals in South America. Part II. Bulletin of the American Museum of Natural History 137:1-260</ref>, but more recent studies tends to indicate that this family was paraphyletic, with ''Ultrapithecus'' being a member of an Eocene adaptive radiation of archaic notoungulates, nested at the basis of the suborder [[Typotheria]].<ref>*G. Billet. 2011. Phylogeny of the Notoungulata (Mammalia) based on cranial and dental characters. Journal of Systematic Palaeontology. 9 (4): 481–97. doi:10.1080/14772019.2010.528456. OCLC 740994816.</ref> It seems to have been closely related with the genus ''[[Kibenikhoria]]''.

==References and Bibliography==