Propliopithecus

Name: Propliopithecus ‭(‬Before Pliopithecus‭).
Phonetic: Pro-ply-o-pif-r-kus.
Named By: Schlosser‭ ‬-‭ ‬1911.
Synonyms: Aeolopithecus,‭ ‬Moeripithecus.
Classification: Chordata,‭ ‬Mammalia,‭ ‬Primates,‭ ‬Hominoidea,‭ ‬Pliopithecidae.
Species: P.‭ ‬haeckeli‭ (‬type‭)‬,‭ ‬P.‭ ‬ankeli,‭ ‬P.‭ ‬chirobates.
Diet: Frugivore.
Size: 40‭ ‬centimetres long.
Known locations: Egypt,‭ ‬Fayum Province‭ ‬-‭ ‬Jebel Qatrani Formation.
Time period: Rupelian of the Oligocene.
Fossil representation: Several specimens.

       Like with Pliopithecus,‭ ‬the genus after which it was named,‭ ‬Propliopithecus was a gibbon-like ape that lived in Northeast Africa during the early Oligocene‭ (‬back in this time Egypt had an extensive covering of vegetation unlike the arid desert conditions that we know today‭)‬.‭ ‬Propliopithecus would have lived in the tree canopy where its stereoscopic vision‭ (‬granted by both eyes facing forwards‭) ‬would have allowed it to travel and reach and across for food with ease.‭ ‬The teeth which have a light enamel covering are most suited to a diet of fruits that would not require strong teeth or jaws to process.
       There is speculation that another primate called Aegyptopithecus is actually the same as Propliopithecus.‭ ‬Both are known from the same Formation of Egypt,‭ ‬from the same time period and both are similar in form,‭ ‬yet‭ ‬there is no universally accepted decision‭ ‬about whether they are the same or not.‭ ‬Should a decision be made that confirms they are the same‭; ‬Aegyptopithecus will become another synonym to Propliopithecus since this genus was named several decades before Aegyptopithecus.

Further reading
- New fossil apes from Egypt and the initial differentiation of Hominoidea. - Nature 205:135-139. - E. L. Simons - 1965.
- A new species of Propliopithecus from the Fayum, Egypt. - American Journal of Physical Anthropology 73(2):139-147. - E. L. Simons, D. T. Rasmussen & D. L. Gebo - 1987.



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