Proconsul major, an extinct primate of the genus Proconsul, was possibly the ancestor of Afropithecus and showed hominid characteristics. It occurred during the early Miocene and was roughly, the size of a gorilla. The species previously referred to as Ugandapithecus major is now considered to be a synonym of Proconsul major.[1] Prior to 2000 it was known as Proconsul major[2] and some argue against the renaming.[3]
| Proconsul major Temporal range: Miocene
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|---|---|
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Scientific classification 
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| Domain: | Eukaryota |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Mammalia |
| Order: | Primates |
| Suborder: | Haplorhini |
| Infraorder: | Simiiformes |
| Family: | †Proconsulidae |
| Genus: | †Proconsul |
| Species: | †P. major
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| Binomial name | |
| †Proconsul major Le Gros Clark & Leakey, 1950
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| Synonyms | |
|
Ugandapithecus major Le Gros Clark & Leakey, 1950 | |
Proconsul major lived on the continent of Africa in the region around Moroto, Uganda. Based upon dental morphology, Proconsul major was a frugivorous species.
Morphology edit
Proconsul major had a typical primate dental formula of 2.1.2.32.1.2.3. The canines are sexually dimorphic. The inferior transverse torus is absent and the superior transverse torus is well-developed in Proconsul major. This species had an average body mass of around 50 kg (110 lb).
Fossil finds edit
A nearly complete fossilized P. major skull estimated to be 20 million years old was found at the Napak XV site near Iriri on the slope of the extinct Napak Volcano in July 2011 by a team led by Martin Pickford and Brigitte Senut.[4][5] After a year of cleaning, documentation and reconstruction in Paris, the skull fragments are now on display in the Uganda Museum in Kampala.[6]
Previously, only smaller pieces of younger fossils had been found at Napak and at the Moroto I site near Loitakero.
References edit
- ^ Senut, Brigitte; Pickford, Martin; Gommery, Dominique; Kunimatsu, Yutaka (15 August 2000). "Un nouveau genre d'hominoïde du Miocène inférieur d'Afrique orientale : Ugandapithecus major (Le Gros Clark & Leakey, 1950)". Comptes Rendus de l'Académie des Sciences, Série IIA. 331 (3): 227–233. Bibcode:2000CRASE.331..227S. doi:10.1016/S1251-8050(00)01407-5.
- ^ Tuttle, RH (2010). Hidemi Ishida (ed.). Human origins and environmental backgrounds. New York: Springer. p. 20. ISBN 978-1441939944.
- ^ Begun, David (2007). "4 Fossil Record of Miocene Hominoids" (PDF). In Winfried Henke, Ian Tattersall (ed.). Handbook of paleoanthropology. New York: Springer. p. 934. ISBN 978-3540324744.
- ^ Mennessier, Marc (2011-09-21). "Découverte d'un lointain cousin des hominidés". Le Figaro.
- ^ Kostov, Nicolas (August 26, 2011). "Ugandapithecus Major: Our cousin, 20 million years ago". Daily Monitor. Retrieved 12 July 2012.
- ^ Nyanzi, Peter; Aloysious Kasoma (2012-08-18). "Bienvenue, Ugandapithecus Major". The Independent. Kampala. Retrieved 2012-08-28.
External links edit
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