Rangwapithecus weighed approximately 15 kg (33 lb) and the size and shape of the ape's teeth indicate that it was a folivore.2 An arboreal ape from the earliest Miocene3 adapted to life in the rainforest, it is associated particularly with Mfangano Island4 although the species previously inhabited a woodland-bushland environment.5
Rangwapithecus was sympatric with Proconsul,6 and may be synonymous with both Proconsul gordoni and Proconsul vancouveringi.7 It is also similar to another species found in Africa.8 Rangwapithecus gordoni and P. africanus are similarly sized though they differ morphologically, and both are restricted to Koru and Songhur.9
Rangwapithecus was a generalised frugivore that was also able to engage in folivory as a fallback during times of dietary stress.10
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Fleagle 1999, p. 462 - Fleagle, JG (1999). Primate adaptation and evolution. Academic Press. ISBN 978-0-12-260341-9. ↩
Lyell 1833, p. 343 - Lyell, C (1833). Principles of geology: being an attempt to explain the former changes of the earth's surface by reference to causes now in operation, Volume 3. J. Murray. Retrieved 2011-12-29. https://books.google.com/books?id=sWIOAAAAQAAJ&pg=PA343 ↩
Andrews & Kelley 2007, Abstract - Andrews, Peter; Kelley, Jay (2007). "Middle Miocene Dispersals of Apes". Folia Primatologica. 78 (5–6): 328–43. doi:10.1159/000105148. PMID 17855786. S2CID 19293586. https://doi.org/10.1159%2F000105148 ↩
Andrews & Evans 1979 - Andrews, P.; Evans, E. N. (1979). "The Environment of Ramapithecus in Africa". Paleobiology. 5 (1): 22–30. Bibcode:1979Pbio....5...22A. doi:10.1017/s0094837300006266. JSTOR 2400387. S2CID 88248574. https://ui.adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/1979Pbio....5...22A ↩
Cameron 2004, p. 62 - Cameron, D. W. (2004). Hominid adaptations and extinctions. UNSW Press. ISBN 9780868407166. ↩
Tuttle 1986, p. 28 - Tuttle, R. (1986). Apes of the world: their social behavior, communication, mentality, and ecology. Noyes Publ. p. 28. ISBN 9780815511045. ↩
Leakey & Leakey 1987, Abstract - Leakey, R.E.; Leakey, M.G. (1987). "A new Miocene small-bodied ape from Kenya". Journal of Human Evolution. 16 (4): 369–87. Bibcode:1987JHumE..16..369L. doi:10.1016/0047-2484(87)90067-4. https://ui.adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/1987JHumE..16..369L ↩
Andrews 2000, p. 356 - Andrews, Peter (May 2000). "Evolution and Environment in the Hominoidea". In Gee, H (ed.). Shaking the tree: readings from Nature in the history of life. University of Chicago Press. ISBN 978-0-226-28497-2. ↩
Shearer, Brian M.; Ungar, Peter S.; McNulty, Kieran P.; Harcourt-Smith, William E.H.; Dunsworth, Holly M.; Teaford, Mark F. (January 2015). "Dental microwear profilometry of African non-cercopithecoid catarrhines of the Early Miocene". Journal of Human Evolution. 78: 33–43. doi:10.1016/j.jhevol.2014.08.011. Retrieved 3 December 2024 – via Elsevier Science Direct. https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0047248414002036 ↩