Nakalipithecus

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Nakalipithecus
Temporal range: Tortonian, 9.9–9.8  Ma
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Nakalipithecus mandible.jpg
Top and side views of the Nakalipithecus holotype, a jawbone and the molars
Scientific classification OOjs UI icon edit-ltr.svg
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Mammalia
Order: Primates
Suborder: Haplorhini
Infraorder: Simiiformes
Superfamily: Hominoidea
Family: Hominidae
Genus:† Nakalipithecus
Kunimatsu et al., 2007
Species:
†N. nakayamai
Binomial name
†Nakalipithecus nakayamai
Kunimatsu et al., 2007

Nakalipithecus nakayamai, sometimes referred to as the Nakali ape, [1] is an extinct species of great ape from Nakali, Kenya, from about 9.9–9.8 million years ago during the Late Miocene. It is known from a right jawbone with 3 molars and from 11 isolated teeth. The jawbone specimen is presumed female as the teeth are similar in size to those of female gorillas and orangutans. Compared to other great apes, the canines are short, the enamel is thin, and the molars are flatter. Nakalipithecus seems to have inhabited a sclerophyllous woodland environment.

Taxonomy

Hominidae
Two hypotheses on Nakalipithecus taxonomy [2]

Nakalipithecus was first described from a right jawbone, the holotype KNM-NA46400, and eleven isolated teeth excavated in 2005 by a team of Japanese and Kenyan researchers in mud flow deposits in the Nakali area of northern Kenya's former Rift Valley Province, hence the genus name Nakalipithecus ("Nakali ape"). The species name is in honour of the late Japanese geologist Katsuhiro Nakayama who worked on the expedition. The specimen dates to about 9.9–9.8 million years ago in the Late Miocene. The specimens are housed by the National Museums of Kenya. The holotype preserves all 3 lower molars, and the isolated teeth are: a left first incisor, a right first incisor, a right canine, a right third upper premolar, a left third upper premolar, a right left fourth upper premolar, a left fourth upper premolar, a right first upper molar, a right third upper molar, a left third upper molar, and a left fourth lower premolar. [3]

It is debated if great apes evolved in Africa or Eurasia given the abundance of early fossil apes species in the latter and the paucity in the former, despite all modern great apes except the orangutan being known from Africa. The first Miocene African ape, Samburupithecus , was discovered in 1982. [4] It is unclear how Nakalipithecus is related to other apes. It is possible these Late Miocene African apes were stem great apes closely related to the last common ancestor of all modern African apes, which existed about 9–8 million years ago. [3]

Nakalipithecus and the 9 million year old Greek Ouranopithecus macedoniensis exhibit many similarities with each other, but Nakalipithecus has more basal (primitive) traits, which could indicate that it was the ancestor or closely related to the ancestor of Ouranopithecus. Ouranopithecus, in turn, is postulated to be closely related to australopithecines and the human line. This would show that apes evolved in Africa. However, evidence of common ancestry can also be interpreted as convergent evolution, with similar dental adaptations caused by inhabiting a similar environment, though Ouranopithecus seems to have consumed more hard objects than Nakalipithecus. [3] A 2017 study on deciduous fourth premolars—deciduous teeth are less affected by environmental factors as they soon fall out and are replaced by permanent teeth—found that Nakalipithecus and later African apes (including australopithecines) shared more similarities with each other than to Eurasian apes, though drew no clear conclusion on the Nakalipithecus–Ouranopithecus relationship. [5]

Nakalipithecus has also been proposed to have been the ancestor to the 8 million year old Chororapithecus, which possibly represents an early member of the gorilla line; if both of these are correct, then Nakalipithecus could potentially represent an early gorilla. [2]

Anatomy

Nakalipithecus has an overall large size, with teeth similar in size to those of female gorillas and orangutans. The specimen is thus presumed female. The Samburupithecus specimen was also about the same size. Unlike other apes, the canines are short, and as long as they are wide—about 10.7 mm × 10.5 mm (0.42 in × 0.41 in) in height and width respectively. For comparison, the left first incisor is 10.8 mm × 8.6 mm (0.43 in × 0.34 in). The premolars are elongated, and the protoconid (the cusp on the tongue side) of the third premolar is oriented more cheekwards, which is a distinguishing characteristic of Miocene African apes from Miocene Eurasian apes. Compared to African apes contemporary with Nakalipithecus, the tooth enamel on the molars is thinner, and the cusps (which project outward from the tooth) are less inflated, creating a wider basin. In the holotype, the first, second, and third molars are 15.6 mm × 14 mm (0.61 in × 0.55 in), 16.2 mm × 15.8 mm (0.64 in × 0.62 in), and 19.5 mm × 15.1 mm (0.77 in × 0.59 in), respectively. Like modern and some contemporary apes, but unlike earlier East African apes, the first molar is relatively large, with a first molar to second molar ratio of 85%. Like Ouranopithecus and early Sivapithecus (Sivapithecus is known from the Indian subcontinent), but unlike most contemporary and future apes, the third molar was much larger than the second, with a third molar to second molar ratio of 115%, though this ratio is smaller than that of the later Southeast Asian Khoratpithecus . The mandible is less robust (heavily built) than those of contemporary Eurasian Miocene apes, except for Ouranopithecus. [3]

Palaeobiology

During the Late Miocene, East Africa, the Sahara, the Middle East, and Southern Europe all appear to have been predominantly seasonal sclerophyllous evergreen woodland environments. Nakali appears to have been dominated by C3 (forest) plants. Nakalipithecus is known from the Upper Beds, which comprise lakeside or riverine deposits. [3] Climate change caused the expansion of grasslands in Africa from 10–7 million years ago, likely fragmenting populations of forest-dwelling primates, leading to extinction. [6]

Nakali has also yielded a black rhino specimen, [7] the pig Nyanzachoerus , an antelope, the hippo Kenyapotamus , the rhino Kenyatherium , the giraffe Palaeotragus , [8] the horse Hipparion , [9] the elephant-like proboscideans Deinotherium and (possibly) Choerolophodon , [8] and the colobine monkey Microcolobus . [10] The third premolar of a small nyanzapithecine ape was also found in Nakali, [11] [6] and Samburupithecus was nearly contemporaneous with Nakalipithecus, and was discovered 60 km (37 mi) to the north of Nakali. [3]

See also

Related Research Articles

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Homininae, also called "African hominids" or "African apes", is a subfamily of Hominidae. It includes two tribes, with their extant as well as extinct species: 1) the tribe Hominini ―and 2) the tribe Gorillini (gorillas). Alternatively, the genus Pan is sometimes considered to belong to its own third tribe, Panini. Homininae comprises all hominids that arose after orangutans split from the line of great apes. The Homininae cladogram has three main branches, which lead to gorillas and to humans and chimpanzees. There are two living species of Panina and two living species of gorillas, but only one extant human species. Traces of extinct Homo species, including Homo floresiensis have been found with dates as recent as 40,000 years ago. Organisms in this subfamily are described as hominine or hominines.

<i>Pierolapithecus</i> Extinct species of ape from Miocene Europe

Pierolapithecus catalaunicus is an extinct species of primate which lived around 12.5-13 million years ago during the Miocene in what is now Hostalets de Pierola, Catalonia, Spain. Some researchers believe that it is a candidate for common ancestor to the great ape clade, or is at least closer than any previous fossil discovery. Others suggest it being a pongine, or a dryopith. On 16 October 2023, scientists reported the facial reconstruction of the great ape.

<i>Sivapithecus</i> Genus of extinct Asian ape

Sivapithecus is a genus of extinct apes. Fossil remains of animals now assigned to this genus, dated from 12.2 million years old in the Miocene, have been found since the 19th century in the Siwalik Hills of the Indian subcontinent as well as in Kutch. Any one of the species in this genus may have been the ancestor to the modern orangutans.

<i>Gigantopithecus</i> Genus of primate

Gigantopithecus is an extinct genus of ape that lived in southern China from 2 million to approximately 300-200,000 years ago during the Early to Middle Pleistocene, represented by one species, Gigantopithecus blacki. Potential identifications have also been made in Thailand, Vietnam, and Indonesia. The first remains of Gigantopithecus, two third molar teeth, were identified in a drugstore by anthropologist Ralph von Koenigswald in 1935, who subsequently described the ape. In 1956, the first mandible and more than 1,000 teeth were found in Liucheng, and numerous more remains have since been found in at least 16 sites. Only teeth and four mandibles are known currently, and other skeletal elements were likely consumed by porcupines before they could fossilise. Gigantopithecus was once argued to be a hominin, a member of the human line, but it is now thought to be closely allied with orangutans, classified in the subfamily Ponginae.

<i>Dryopithecus</i> Extinct great ape from Europe

Dryopithecus is a genus of extinct great apes from the middle–late Miocene boundary of Europe 12.5 to 11.1 million years ago (mya). Since its discovery in 1856, the genus has been subject to taxonomic turmoil, with numerous new species being described from single remains based on minute differences amongst each other, and the fragmentary nature of the holotype specimen makes differentiating remains difficult. There is currently only one uncontested species, the type species D. fontani, though there may be more. The genus is placed into the tribe Dryopithecini, which is either an offshoot of orangutans, African apes, or is its own separate branch.

<i>Kenyapithecus</i> Extinct genus of primates

Kenyapithecus wickeri is a fossil ape discovered by Louis Leakey in 1961 at a site called Fort Ternan in Kenya. The upper jaw and teeth were dated to 14 million years ago. One theory states that Kenyapithecus may be the common ancestor of all the great apes. More recent investigations suggest Kenyapithecus is more primitive than that and is only slightly more modern than Proconsul, which is considered to be an ape.

<i>Ekembo nyanzae</i> Extinct species of mammal

Ekembo nyanzae, originally classed as a species of Proconsul, is a species of fossil primate first discovered by Louis Leakey on Rusinga Island in 1942, which he published in Nature in 1943. It is also known by the name Dryopithecus africanus. A joint publication of Wilfrid Le Gros Clark and Louis Leakey in 1951, "The Miocene Hominoidea of East Africa", first defines Proconsul nyanzae. In 1965 Simons and Pilbeam replaced Proconsul with Dryopithecus, using the same species names.

<i>Ouranopithecus</i> Genus of extinct Eurasian great ape from the Miocene

Ouranopithecus is a genus of extinct Eurasian great ape represented by two species, Ouranopithecus macedoniensis, a late Miocene hominoid from Greece and Ouranopithecus turkae, also from the late Miocene of Turkey.

Chororapithecus is an extinct great ape from the Afar region of Ethiopia roughly 8 million years ago during the Late Miocene, comprising one species, C. abyssinicus. It is known from 9 isolated teeth discovered in a 2005–2007 survey of the Chorora Formation. The teeth are indistinguishable from those of gorillas in terms of absolute size and relative proportions, and it has been proposed to be an early member of Gorillini. However, this is controversial given the paucity of remains, and notable anatomical differences between Chororapithecus and gorilla teeth. The Kenyan ape Nakalipithecus has been proposed to be an ancestor of Chororapithecus or at least closely related. If correct, they would be the only identified fossil members of any modern non-human great ape lineage, and would push the gorilla–human last common ancestor from 8 million years ago to 10 million years ago. The teeth are adapted for processing tough plant fibres as well as hard, brittle food, and the formation is thought to represent a forested lakeside habitat.

<i>Lufengpithecus</i> Extinct genus of primates

Lufengpithecus is an extinct genus of ape, known from the Late Miocene of East Asia. It is known from thousands of dental remains and a few skulls and probably weighed about 50 kg (110 lb). It contains three species: L. lufengensis, L. hudienensis and L. keiyuanensis. Lufengpithecus lufengensis is from the Late Miocene found in China, named after the Lufeng site and dated around 6.2 Ma. Lufengpithecus is either thought to be the sister group to Ponginae, or the sister to the clade containing Ponginae and Homininae.

<i>Samburupithecus</i> Extinct genus of primate from Miocene Kenya

Samburupithecus is an extinct primate that lived in Kenya during the middle to late Miocene. The one species in this genus, Samburupithecus kiptalami, is known only from a maxilla fragment dated to 9.5 million years ago discovered in 1982 and formally described by Ishida & Pickford 1997. The type specimen KNM-SH 8531 was discovered by the Joint Japan-Kenya Expedition at the SH22 fossil site in the Samburu District, a locality where several other researchers found no ape fossils.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hominidae</span> Family of primates

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Anoiapithecus is an extinct ape genus thought to be closely related to Dryopithecus. Both genera lived during the Miocene, approximately 12 million years ago. Fossil specimens named by Salvador Moyà-Solà are known from the deposits from Spain.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Dryopithecini</span> Extinct tribe of apes

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<i>Nacholapithecus</i> Extinct genus of hominoids

Nacholapithecus kerioi was an ape that lived 14-15 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.

<i>Graecopithecus</i> Extinct genus of hominids

Graecopithecus is an extinct genus of hominid that lived in southeast Europe during the late Miocene around 7.2 million years ago. Originally identified by a single lower jaw bone bearing teeth found in Pyrgos Vasilissis, Athens, Greece, in 1944, other teeth were discovered from Azmaka quarry in Bulgaria in 2012. With only little and badly preserved materials to reveal its nature, it is considered as "the most poorly known European Miocene hominoids." The creature was popularly nicknamed 'El Graeco' by scientists.

<i>Ouranopithecus macedoniensis</i> Extinct species of mammal

Ouranopithecus macedoniensis is a prehistoric species of Ouranopithecus from the Late Miocene of Greece. See more detail at Ouranopithecus.

The phylogenetic split of Hominidae into the subfamilies Homininae and Ponginae is dated to the middle Miocene, roughly 18 to 14 million years ago. This split is also referenced as the "orangutan–human last common ancestor" by Jeffrey H. Schwartz, professor of anthropology at the University of Pittsburgh School of Arts and Sciences, and John Grehan, director of science at the Buffalo Museum.

<i>Otavipithecus</i> Extinct species of ape

Otavipithecus namibiensis is an extinct species of ape from the Miocene of Namibia. The fossils were discovered at the Berg Aukas mines in the foothills of the Otavi mountains, hence the generic name. The species was described in 1992 by Glenn Conroy and colleagues, and was at the time the only non-hominin fossil ape known from Southern Africa. The scientists noted that the surrounding area of the discovered specimen included fauna dated at "about 13 ± 1 Myr". The fossils consist of part of the lower jawbone with molars, a partial frontal bone, a heavily damaged ulna, one vertebra and a partial finger bone.

<i>Nyanzapithecus</i> Extinct species of mammal

Nyanzapithecus pickfordi is an extinct species of primate from the Middle Miocene of Maboko Island, Nyanza Province, Kenya. It had an average body mass of around 10 kg (22 lb).

References

  1. ↑ Kiarie, Maina. "Nakalipithecus". Enzi Museum. Retrieved 8 August 2023.
  2. 1 2 Katoh, S.; Beyene, Y.; Itaya, T.; et al. (2016). "New geological and palaeontological age constraint for the gorilla–human lineage split". Nature. 530 (7589): 215–218. Bibcode:2016Natur.530..215K. doi:10.1038/nature16510. PMID   26863981. S2CID   205247254.
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Kunimatsu, Y.; Nakatsukasa, M.; Sawada, Y.; Sakai, T. (2007). "A new Late Miocene great ape from Kenya and its implications for the origins of African great apes and humans". Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. 104 (49): 19220–19225. Bibcode:2007PNAS..10419220K. doi: 10.1073/pnas.0706190104 . PMC   2148271 . PMID   18024593.
  4. ↑ Yasui, Kinya; Nakano, Yoshihiko; Ishida, Hidemi (March 1987). "Excavation at the Fossil-Hominoid-Bearing Locality, Site-SH22 in the Samburu Hills, Northern Kenya". African Study Monographs. Supplementary Issue. 5: 169–174. doi:10.14989/68329. ISSN   0286-9667.
  5. ↑ Morita, W.; Morimoto, N.; Kunimatsu, Y.; et al. (2017). "A morphometric mapping analysis of lower fourth deciduous premolar in hominoids: Implications for phylogenetic relationship between Nakalipithecus and Ouranopithecus". Comptes Rendus Palevol. 116 (5–6): 655–669. Bibcode:2017CRPal..16..655M. doi:10.1016/j.crpv.2016.10.004. hdl: 2115/71435 .
  6. 1 2 Kunimatsu, Y.; Sawada, Y.; Sakai, T.; et al. (2017). "The latest occurrence of the nyanzapithecines from the early Late Miocene Nakali Formation in Kenya, East Africa". Anthropological Science. 125 (2): 45–51. doi: 10.1537/ase.170126 .
  7. ↑ Handa, N.; Nakatsukasa., M.; Kunimatsu, Y.; Nakaya, H. (2019). "Additional specimens of Diceros (Perissodactyla, Rhinocerotidae) from the Upper Miocene Nakali Formation in Nakali, central Kenya". Historical Biology. 31 (2): 262–273. doi:10.1080/08912963.2017.1362560. S2CID   135074081.
  8. 1 2 Benefit, B. R.; Pickford, M. (1986). "Miocene fossil cercopithecoids from Kenya". Physical Journal of Anthropology. 69 (4): 441–464. doi:10.1002/ajpa.1330690404.
  9. ↑ Nakaya, H.; Uno, K.; Fukuchi, A.; et al. (13 September 2010). Late Miocene paleoenvironment of hominoids—mesowear analysis of fossil ungulate cheek teeth from northern Kenya. International Primatological Society. Vol. 26. doi:10.14907/primate.26.0.147.0. 147.
  10. ↑ Nakatsukasa, M.; Mbua, E.; Sawada, Y.; et al. (2010). "Earliest colobine skeletons from Nakali, Kenya". Physical Journal of Anthropology. 143 (3): 365–382. doi:10.1002/ajpa.21327. PMID   20949609.
  11. ↑ Kunimatsu, Y.; Nakatsukasa, M.; Sawada, Y. (2016). "A second hominoid species in the early Late Miocene fauna of Nakali (Kenya)". Anthropological Science. 124 (2): 75–83. doi: 10.1537/ase.160331 .
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