Sivapithecus
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Conservation status: Fossil Miocene
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Sivapithecus indicus |
Sivapithecus is a genus of extinct primates. Fossil remains of animals now assigned to this genus, dated from 12.5 million to 8.5 million years old in the Miocene, have been found since the 19th century in the Siwalik Hills in what is now India and Pakistan. Any one of the species in this genus may have been the ancestor to the modern orangutans.
Currently three species are generally recognized. Sivapithecus indicus fossils date from about 12.5 million to 10.5 million years ago. S. sivalensis lived from 9.5 million to 8.5 million years ago. In 1988 a third, significantly larger species was described and named S. parvada (dated at about 10 million years ago).
Siwalik specimens once assigned to the genus Ramapithecus are now considered by most researchers to belong to one or more species of Sivapithecus.
In 1982 David Pilbeam published a description of a significant fossil find — a large part of the face and jaw of a Sivapithecus. The specimen bore many similarities to the orangutan skull and strengthened the theory (previously suggested by others) that Sivapithecus was closely related to orangutans.
[edit] References
- Kelley, Jay. 2002. The hominoid radiation in Asia. In Hartwig, W. (ed.) The Primate Fossil Record, Cambridge University Press, pp. 369-384.
[edit] External link
- Photo of the 1982 Sivapithecus skull ("GSP 15000")
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