Victoriapithecus
Extinct monkey from middle Miocene central Africa / From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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Victoriapithecus macinnesi was a primate from the middle Miocene that lived approximately 15 to 17 million years ago in Northern and Eastern Africa. Through extensive field work on Maboko Island in Lake Victoria, Kenya, over 3,500 specimens have been found, making V. macinnesi one of the best-known fossil primates.[1] It was previously thought that perhaps multiple species of Victoriapithecus were found, however the majority of fossils found indicate there is only one species, V. macinnesi.[1] Victoriapithecus shows similarities to the extant subfamilies Colobinae and Cercopithecinae. However, Victoriapithecus predates the last common ancestor of these two groups and instead is thought to be a sister taxon.[2][3]
Victoriapithecus | |
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Skull | |
Scientific classification | |
Domain: | Eukaryota |
Kingdom: | Animalia |
Phylum: | Chordata |
Class: | Mammalia |
Order: | Primates |
Suborder: | Haplorhini |
Infraorder: | Simiiformes |
Superfamily: | Cercopithecoidea |
Family: | †Victoriapithecidae |
Genus: | †Victoriapithecus von Koenigswald, 1969 |
Species: | †V. macinnesi |
Binomial name | |
†Victoriapithecus macinnesi | |