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The Swamp Ape (Oreopithecus bambolii) is a prehistoric primate species from the Miocene epoch whose fossils have been found in Italy (Tuscany and Sardinia) and in East Africa. To date, over 50 individuals have been discovered from the Tuscan mines of Monte Bamboli, Baccinello, Montemassi, Casteani, and Ribolla, making Oreopithecus one of the best-represented fossil apes. The Miocene Epoch is a period of time that extends from about 23. ...
Scientific classification or biological classification is a method by which biologists group and categorize species of organisms. ...
“Animalia†redirects here. ...
Typical Classes Subphylum Urochordata - Tunicates Ascidiacea Thaliacea Larvacea Subphylum Cephalochordata - Lancelets Subphylum Myxini - Hagfishes Subphylum Vertebrata - Vertebrates Petromyzontida - Lampreys Placodermi (extinct) Chondrichthyes - Cartilaginous fishes Acanthodii (extinct) Actinopterygii - Ray-finned fishes Actinistia - Coelacanths Dipnoi - Lungfishes Amphibia - Amphibians Reptilia - Reptiles Aves - Birds Mammalia - Mammals Chordates (phylum Chordata) include the vertebrates, together with...
Subclasses & Infraclasses Subclass †Allotheria* Subclass Prototheria Subclass Theria Infraclass †Trituberculata Infraclass Metatheria Infraclass Eutheria Mammals (class Mammalia) are warm-blooded, vertebrate animals characterized by the production of milk in female mammary glands and the presence of hair, three middle ear bones used in hearing, and a neocortex region in the...
For the ecclesiastical use of this term, see primate (religion) Families 13, See classification A primate is any member of the biological order Primates, the group that contains all lemurs, monkeys, and apes, including humans. ...
In biology, binomial nomenclature is the formal system of naming species. ...
Paul Gervais (September 26, 1816 - February 10, 1879) was a French palaeontologist. ...
Families 15, See classification A primate is any member of the biological order Primates, the group that contains all the species commonly related to the lemurs, monkeys, and apes, with the latter category including humans. ...
In biology, a species is one of the basic units of biodiversity. ...
The Miocene Epoch is a period of time that extends from about 23. ...
FOSSIL is a standard for allowing serial communication for telecommunications programs under DOS. FOSSIL is an acronym for Fido Opus Seadog Standard Interface Layer. ...
Tuscany (Italian: ) is one of the 20 Regions of Italy. ...
Sardinia (pronounced ; Italian: ; Sardinian: or Sardinnya) is the second-largest island in the Mediterranean Sea (after Sicily). ...
Eastern Africa (UN subregion) East African Community Central African Federation (defunct) geographic, including above East Africa or Eastern Africa is the easternmost region of the African continent, variably defined by geography or geopolitics. ...
Families Hylobatidae Hominidae †Proconsulidae †Dryopithecidae †Oreopithecidae Aditya Dhara is a member of the Hominoidea superfamily of primates, which includes humans. ...
Oreopithecus bambolii is estimated to have weighed 30-35 kg. It possessed a relatively short snout, elevated nasal bones, small and globular neurocranium, vertical orbital plane, and gracile facial bones. The shearing crests on its molars suggest a diet specializing in plant leaves. The very robust lower face, with a large attachment surface for the masseter muscle and a sagittal crest for attachment of the temporal muscle, indicates a heavy masticatory apparatus. Its teeth were small relative to body size. The lack of a diastema (gap) between the second incisor and first premolar of the mandible indicates that Oreopithecus had canines of size comparable to the rest of its dentition. In many primates, small canines correlate with reduced inter-male competition for access to mates and less sexual dimorphism. Its habitat appears to have been swampy, and not savanna or forest. The postcranial anatomy of Oreopithecus features adaptations to both suspensory arborealism and bipedalism. Functional traits related to suspensory locomotion include its broad thorax, short trunk, high intermembral index, long and slender digits, and extensive mobility in virtually all joints. At the same time, it also features adaptations to upright walking such as the presence of a lumbar curve, in distinction to otherwise similar species known from the same period. Since the fossils have been dated to about 8 million years ago, this represents an unusually early appearance of upright posture. How adapted it was for bipedal walking is not known, but its fingers and arms also seems to show adaptations for climbing and swinging. Molar 47 (left), molar 46 and premolar 45(right) Molars are the rearmost and most complicated kind of tooth in most mammals. ...
In human anatomy, the masseter is one of the muscles of mastication. ...
Canine skull showing sagittal crest A sagittal crest is a ridge of bone running lengthwise along the midline of the top of the skull (at the sagittal suture) of many mammalian and reptilian skulls, among others. ...
The temporalis muscle is one of the muscles of mastication. ...
Incisors are the first kind of tooth in heterodont mammals. ...
The premolar teeth or bicuspids are transitional teeth located between the canine and molar teeth. ...
The mandible (from Latin mandibÅla, jawbone) or inferior maxillary bone is, together with the maxilla, the largest and strongest bone of the face. ...
The Canine teeth are the long, pointed teeth used for grabbing hold of and tearing apart foods, also called cuspids, dogteeth or fangs. Species that feature them, such as humans and dogs, usually have four, two in the top jaw, two in the lower, on either side of the Incisors. ...
Female (left) and male Common Pheasant, illustrating the dramatic difference in both color and size between the sexes Sexual dimorphism is the systematic difference in form between individuals of different sex in the same species. ...
This article or section does not cite any references or sources. ...
Savanna at Ngorongoro Conservation Area, Tanzania. ...
A forest is an area with a high density of trees (or, historically, a wooded area set aside for hunting). ...
This article or section does not cite its references or sources. ...
In anatomy, lumbar is an adjective that means of or pertaining to the abdominal segment of the torso, between the diaphragm and the sacrum (pelvis). ...
Mega-annum, usually abbreviated as Ma, is a unit of time equal to one million years. ...
Another piece of evidence lies in the semicircular canals of the inner ear. The semicircular canal serves as a sense organ for balance and controls the reflex for gaze stabilization. The inner ear has three canals on each side of the head, and each of the six canals encloses a membranous duct that forms an endolymph-filled circuit. Hair cells in the duct’s ampulla pick up endolymph disturbances caused by movement, which register as rotatory head movement. They respond to body sway of frequencies greater than 0.1 Hz and trigger the vestibulocollic (neck) reflex and vestibuloocular (eye) reflex to recover balance and gaze stability. The bony semicircular canals allow estimates of duct arc length and orientation with respect to the sagittal plane. inner ear illustration showing semicircular canal, hair cells, ampulla, cupula, vestibular nerve, & fluid The semicircular canals are three half-circular, interconnected tubes located inside each ear that are the equivalent of three gyroscopes located in three planes perpendicular (at right angles) to each other. ...
Endolymph is the fluid contained in the membranous labyrinth of the inner ear. ...
The ampulla of Vater is a sphincter (a small muscle) where the common bile duct enters the duodenum. ...
During upright walking, human head rotation frequencies range between 2-8 Hz along the sagittal and coronal planes and between 1-3 Hz along the horizontal plane. Across species, the semicircular canals of agile animals have larger arcs than those of slower ones. For example, the rapid leaper Tarsius bancamus has semicircular canals much bigger than the slow-climbing Nycticebus coucang. The semicircular canals of brachiating gibbons are bigger than those of arboreal and terrestrial quadrupedal great apes. As a rule of thumb, arc size of the ducts decreases with body mass and consequently slower angular head motions. Arc size increases with greater agility and thus more rapid head motions. Modern humans have bigger arcs on their anterior and posterior canals, which reflect greater angular motion along the sagittal plane. The lateral canal has a smaller arc size, corresponding to reduced head movement from side to side. The sagittal plane of the human body is an imaginary slice made from the top of the head down, cutting the body into two more or less mirror-image halves. ...
The anatomical planes The anatomical position is a schematic convention for describing the relative morphology of the human body. ...
[[{{{diversity_link}}}|Diversity]] {{{diversity}}} Binomial name Nycticebus coucang (Boddaert, 1785) Trinomial name {{{trinomial}}} Type Species {{{type_species}}} {{{subdivision_ranks}}} [[Image:{{{range_map}}}|{{{range_map_width}}}|]] Synonyms {{{synonyms}}} The Sunda Loris (Nycticebus coucang), or Bengal Slow Loris, is a slow loris. ...
Genera Hylobates Hoolock Nomascus Symphalangus Gibbons are the small apes that are grouped in the family Hylobatidae. ...
Genera Subfamily Ponginae Pongo - Orangutans Gigantopithecus (extinct) Sivapithecus (extinct) Subfamily Homininae Gorilla - Gorillas Pan - Chimpanzees Homo - Humans Paranthropus (extinct) Australopithecus (extinct) Sahelanthropus (extinct) Ardipithecus (extinct) Kenyanthropus (extinct) Pierolapithecus (extinct) (tentative) The Hominids (Hominidae) are a biological family which includes humans, extinct species of humanlike creatures and the other great apes...
Trinomial name Homo sapiens sapiens Linnaeus, 1758 Humans, or human beings, are bipedal primates belonging to the mammalian species Homo sapiens (Latin: wise man or knowing man) in the family Hominidae (the great apes). ...
Allometric measurements on the bony labyrinth of BAC-208, a fragmentary cranium that preserves a complete, undeformed petrosal bone suggest that Oreopithecus moved with agility comparable to extant great apes. Its anterior and lateral semicircular canal sizes fall within the range for great apes. Its relatively large posterior arc implies that Oreopithecus was more proficient at stabilizing angular head motion along the sagittal plane. Allometry is the science studying the differential growth rates of the parts of a living organisms body part or process. ...
Some have suggested the unique locomotory behavior of Oreopithecus requires a revision of the current consensus on the timing of bipedality in human developmental history, but there is little agreement on this point among paleontologists. Among other things, its foot was birdlike and had an anatomy different from the early bipedal human ancestors. The big toe of its unique foot splayed out 90 degrees from the other toes, all of which were shorter and straighter than those of modern apes. The foot's birdlike, tripod design probably was associated with a short, shuffling stride. Some researchers have related Oreopithecus to the early Oligocene Apidium, a small arboreal proto-ape that lived nearly 34 million years ago in Egypt. Others claim it is an extinct great ape without descendants and a sister taxon of the European Dryopithecus, a Miocene genus that resembles modern great apes. Still others have suggested that Oreopithecus is an arboreal hoofed mammal. For the moment, this species is a considerable anomaly, and may represent an independent development of bipedality other than that which led to humans, and which came to a dead end some time later. More fossil discoveries may help settle this and other questions. Likewise, the taxonomic placement of Oreopithecus is unsettled. Some scientists place it as a very early catarrhine, shortly after the split from the New World monkeys. Other scientists place it in Hominidae just before the split of the orangutans from the rest of the great apes. A paleontologist carefully chips rock from a column of dinosaur vertebrae. ...
Apidium (from Latin Apidium, or little bull, as the first fossils were thought to be from a hoofed animal) is an extinct primate, one of the earliest monkeys known, living in the early Oligocene, roughly 36 to 34 millions years ago. ...
Species †Dryopithecus wuduensis †Dryopithecus fontani †Dryopithecus brancoi †Dryopithecus laietanus †Dryopithecus crusafonti Dryopithecus was a genus of apes that is known from localities ranging from Eastern Africa into Eurasia. ...
Families Cercopithecidae Hylobatidae Hominidae Catarrhini is the unranked group of the Primates, one of the three major divisions of the suborder Haplorrhini. ...
Families Cebidae Aotidae Pitheciidae Atelidae The New World monkeys are the four families of primates that are found in Central and South America: the Cebidae, Aotidae, Pitheciidae and Atelidae. ...
Genera The hominids are the members of the biological family Hominidae (the great apes), which includes humans, chimpanzees, gorillas, and orangutans. ...
Type species Simia pygmaeus Linnaeus, 1760 Orangutan distribution Species Pongo pygmaeus Pongo abelii The orangutans are two species of great apes known for their intelligence and their long arms and reddish-brown hair. ...
Genera Subfamily Ponginae Pongo - Orangutans Gigantopithecus (extinct) Sivapithecus (extinct) Subfamily Homininae Gorilla - Gorillas Pan - Chimpanzees Homo - Humans Paranthropus (extinct) Australopithecus (extinct) Sahelanthropus (extinct) Ardipithecus (extinct) Kenyanthropus (extinct) Pierolapithecus (extinct) (tentative) The Hominids (Hominidae) are a biological family which includes humans, extinct species of humanlike creatures and the other great apes...
It evolved in isolation from other animals for at least two million years on an island in the Mediterranean where Tuscany in Italy is found today. A cooling phase around 9 million years ago transformed a tropical island into a temperate one characteristic of middle European biomes at the time. There were no large predators on the island and the apes didn't have any natural enemies. Later, probably during the ice age when the sea level dropped all over the world, a land bridge emerged and connected the island with the mainland. New species, among them large predators, were then free to invade this isolated environment where animals like the Swamp Ape were easy prey. Soon this strange primate, as well as other creatures on the island, was gone forever; a parallel to what happened when the land bridge between North America and South America joined the two continents. The Mediterranean Sea is an intercontinental sea positioned between Europe to the north, Africa to the south and Asia to the east, covering an approximate area of 2. ...
Tuscany (Italian: ) is one of the 20 Regions of Italy. ...
The scientific name Oreopithecus quickly inspired the commonly used though unofficial name for the species among paleontologists, Cookie Monster. The true etymology, however, is rather more mundane: it comes from the Greek "oros" and "pithekos" meaning "hill-ape". Cookie Monster (right) and his mother in a season 33 Letter of the Day segment, 2002. ...
External links
Bibliography - Alba, David M. et al. “Canine reduction in the Miocene hominoid Oreopithecus bambolii: behavioural and evolutionary implications.” Journal of Human Evolution, vol. 40 (2001): pp. 1-16.
- Carnieri, E. and F. Mallegni. “A new specimen and dental microwear in Oreopithecus bambolii.” Homo, vol. 54 (2003): pp. 29-35.
- Rook, Lorenzo et al. “The bony labyrinth of Oreopithecus bambolii.” Journal of Human Evolution, vol. 46 (2004): pp. 347-354.
- Spoor, Fred. “The semicircular canal system and locomotor behavior, with special reference to hominin evolution” in Walking Upright: Results of the 13th International Senckenberg Conference at the Werner Reimers Foundation, eds. Jens Lorenz Franken et al., E. Schweitzerbart’sche Verlagsbuchhandlung, 2003.
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