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Anoiapithecus
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<p><i>Anoiapithecus</i> is an <a href="/facts/Extinct/24p5NP2q">extinct</a> <a href="/facts/Ape/QdTk4pko">ape</a> <a href="/facts/Genus/m8EFjSms">genus</a> thought to be closely related to <i><a href="/facts/Dryopithecus/H8S3XtU7">Dryopithecus</a></i>. Both genera lived during the <a href="/facts/Miocene/cBRRzq4g">Miocene</a>, approximately 12 million years ago. Fossil specimens <a href="/facts/Author_citation_(zoology)/uKq79mjE">named</a> by <a href="/facts/Salvador_Moy%25C3%25A0-Sol%25C3%25A0/FzsDHjHp">Salvador Moyà-Solà</a> are known from the deposits from <a href="/facts/Spain/bIyrB8EY">Spain</a>. </p><p>The discoverers described <i>Anoiapithecus brevirostris</i> as a <a href="/facts/Hominoid/QdTk4pko">hominoid</a> (superfamily <a href="/facts/Hominoidea/QdTk4pko">Hominoidea</a>) in the <a href="/facts/Dryopithecine/fscPEYCg">dryopithecine</a> tribe. They believe that it has more modern <a href="/facts/Phenotypic_trait/seYSUTul">traits</a> than the Kenyapithecines from which Kenya's <i><a href="/facts/Kenyapithecus_wickeri/KfgMVBT2">Kenyapithecus wickeri</a></i> brings fragmentary information. The African <a href="/facts/Biological_specimen/u51y6uvM">specimens</a> are considered a sister taxon to the hominids, and 2 million years younger European specimens must be from the time after these two groups split. This means that hominids may have evolved in Europe. </p><p>The name comes from the <a href="/facts/Anoia_River/YTdlkaoc">Anoia River</a> region in <a href="/facts/Catalonia/p2KeGXbf">Catalonia</a>, where the fossil was found. It has been given the nickname <i>Lluc</i> (since it is a male individual). The name Lluc is the Catalan form of Luke, which in Latin suggests "light", as this discovery enlighted our early evolution. </p><p>The modern anatomical features that characterized the family <a href="/facts/Hominidae/ILn1SYKB">Hominidae</a> visible in Lluc's fossil among others are: unique facial pattern for hominoids, nasal aperture wide at the base, high <a href="/facts/Zygomatic_bone/on2Xkb0q">cheek bone</a>, and deep palate. </p>