Menu
Home Explore People Places Arts History Plants & Animals Science Life & Culture Technology
On this page
Nacholapithecus
Extinct genus of hominoids

Nacholapithecus kerioi was an ape that lived 15-14 million years ago during the Middle Miocene. Fossils have been found in the Nachola formation in northern Kenya. The only member of the genus Nacholapithecus, it is thought to be a key genus in early hominid evolution. Similar in body plan to Proconsul, it had a long vertebral column with six lumbar vertebrae, no tail, a narrow torso, large upper limbs with mobile shoulder joints, and long feet.

Together with other Kenyapithecinae such as Equatorius, Kenyapithecus, and Griphopithecus, Nacholapithecus displayed synapomorphies with Anoiapithecus.

Related Image Collections Add Image
Profiles
1 Image
We don't have any YouTube videos related to Nacholapithecus yet.
We don't have any PDF documents related to Nacholapithecus yet.
We don't have any Books related to Nacholapithecus yet.
We don't have any archived web articles related to Nacholapithecus yet.

Taxonomy

Nacholapithecus was initially classified as belonging in Kenyapithecus,4 then attributed5 to Equatorius (with Equatorius perhaps grouped into a subfamily Equatorinae, instead of both species in Afropithecini),67 finally recognised by Ishida et al. (1999) as a separate genus.8910 Classified perhaps as a member of the family Proconsulidae.11

Fossil finds

Nacholapithecus kerioi is known from the lowest part of the Aka Aiteputh Formation, one of five formations in the Neogene System in Nachola, Samburu District, northern Kenya.1213 The formation is largely part of the north-western rift flank overlying the Nachola Formation.14

Notes

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Nacholapithecus.

References

  1. Sawada et al. 2006 - Sawada, Y.; Saneyoshi, M.; Nakayama, K.; Sakai, T.; Itaya, T.; Hyodo, M.; Mukokya, Y.; Pickford, M.; Senut, B.; Tanaka, S. (2006). "The Ages and Geological Backgrounds of Miocene Hominoids Nacholapithecus, Samburupithecus, and Orrorin from Kenya". Human Origins and Environmental Backgrounds. Developments in Primatology: Progress and Prospects. Springer. pp. 71–96. doi:10.1007/0-387-29798-7_6. ISBN 978-0-387-29638-8. https://doi.org/10.1007%2F0-387-29798-7_6 ↩

  2. Henke & Hardt 2007, p. 1020 - Henke, W.; Hardt, T. (2007). Handbook of paleoanthropology. Springer. ISBN 978-3-540-32474-4. https://books.google.com/books?id=vhoRdbTrjc8C&pg=PA1020 ↩

  3. Moyà-Solà et al. 2009 - Moyà-Solà, S.; Alba, D. M.; Almécija, S.; Casanovas-Vilar, I.; Köhler, M.; de Esteban-Trivigno, S.; Robles, J. M.; Galindo, J.; Fortuny, J. (2009). "A unique Middle Miocene European hominoid and the origins of the great ape and human clade". PNAS. 106 (24): 9601–06. Bibcode:2009PNAS..106.9601M. doi:10.1073/pnas.0811730106. PMC 2701031. PMID 19487676. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2701031 ↩

  4. Ishida et al. 1984 - Ishida, H.; Pichford, M.; Nakaya, H.; Nakano, Y. (1984). "Fossil anthropoids from Nachola and Samburu Hills, Samburu District, Kenya". African Study Monographs. Supplementary Issue. 2 (2): 73–85. doi:10.14989/68314. https://doi.org/10.14989%2F68314 ↩

  5. Ward et al. 1999 - Ward, S.; Brown, B.; Hill, A.; Kelley, J.; Downs, W. (1999). "Equatorius: A new hominoid genus from the middle Miocene of Kenya". Science. 285 (5432): 1382–1386. doi:10.1126/science.285.5432.1382. PMID 10464093. https://doi.org/10.1126%2Fscience.285.5432.1382 ↩

  6. Cameron 2004 - Cameron, D. W. (2004). Hominid Adaptations and Extinctions. UNSW Press. ISBN 9780868407166. https://books.google.com/books?id=fnqzb4_UVfkC&pg=PA101 ↩

  7. Cameron 2004, p. 101 - Cameron, D. W. (2004). Hominid Adaptations and Extinctions. UNSW Press. ISBN 9780868407166. https://books.google.com/books?id=fnqzb4_UVfkC&pg=PA101 ↩

  8. Ishida et al. 1999 - Ishida, H.; Kunimatsu, Y.; Nakatsukasa, M.; Nakano, Y. (1999). "New hominoid genus from the Middle Miocene of Nachola, Kenya". Anthropological Science. 107 (2): 189–191. doi:10.1537/ase.107.189. https://doi.org/10.1537%2Fase.107.189 ↩

  9. Russon & Begun 2004, p. 305 - Russon, A. E.; Begun, D. R. (2004). Russon, A. E.; Begun, D. R. (eds.). The Evolution of Thought: Evolutionary Origins of Great Ape Intelligence. Cambridge University Press. ISBN 9780521783354. https://books.google.com/books?id=DvV-WJHWcTsC&pg=PA305 ↩

  10. Ishida et al. 2004, Abstract - Ishida, H.; Kunimatsu, Y.; Takano, T.; Nakano, Y.; Nakatsukasa, M. (2004). "Nacholapithecus skeleton from the Middle Miocene of Kenya". Journal of Human Evolution. 46 (1): 69–103. Bibcode:2004JHumE..46...69I. doi:10.1016/j.jhevol.2003.10.001. PMID 14698685. https://ui.adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/2004JHumE..46...69I ↩

  11. Zalmout et al. 2010 - Zalmout, I. S.; Sanders, W. J.; MacLatchy, L. M.; Gunnell, G. F.; Al-Mufarreh, Y. A.; Ali, M. A.; Nasser, A.-A. H.; Al-Masari, A. M.; Al-Sobhi, S. A.; Nadhra, A. O.; Matari, A. H.; Wilson, J. A.; Gingerich, P. D. (2010). "New Oligocene primate from Saudi Arabia and the divergence of apes and Old World monkeys". Nature. 466 (7304): 360–364. Bibcode:2010Natur.466..360Z. doi:10.1038/nature09094. PMID 20631798. S2CID 205220837. https://ui.adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/2010Natur.466..360Z ↩

  12. Nakatsukasa & Kunimatsu 2009, Abstract - Nakatsukasa, M.; Kunimatsu, Y. (May–June 2009). "Nacholapithecus and its importance for understanding hominoid evolution". Evolutionary Anthropology. 18 (3): 103–119. doi:10.1002/evan.20208. S2CID 84530387. https://doi.org/10.1002%2Fevan.20208 ↩

  13. Sawada et al. 2006 - Sawada, Y.; Saneyoshi, M.; Nakayama, K.; Sakai, T.; Itaya, T.; Hyodo, M.; Mukokya, Y.; Pickford, M.; Senut, B.; Tanaka, S. (2006). "The Ages and Geological Backgrounds of Miocene Hominoids Nacholapithecus, Samburupithecus, and Orrorin from Kenya". Human Origins and Environmental Backgrounds. Developments in Primatology: Progress and Prospects. Springer. pp. 71–96. doi:10.1007/0-387-29798-7_6. ISBN 978-0-387-29638-8. https://doi.org/10.1007%2F0-387-29798-7_6 ↩

  14. Ishida et al. 2006, p. 74 - Ishida, H.; Tuttle, R.; Pickford, M.; Ogihara, N.; Nakatsukasa, M. (2006). Ishida, H.; Tuttle, R.; Pickford, M.; Ogihara, N.; Nakatsukasa, M. (eds.). Human Origins and Environmental Backgrounds. Developments in Primatology: Progress and Prospects. Springer. ISBN 9780387296388. https://books.google.com/books?id=0KfjsoDXUtUC&pg=PA74 ↩