Samburupithecus

Samburupithecus
Temporal range: late Miocene
"Samburupithecus kiptalami" fossils, Muséum national d'histoire naturelle, Paris
Samburupithecus kiptalami fossils, Muséum national d'histoire naturelle, Paris
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Mammalia
Order: Primates
Suborder: Haplorhini
Infraorder: Simiiformes
Superfamily: Hominoidea
Family: incertae sedis
Genus: Samburupithecus
Ishida & Pickford 1997
Species:
S. kiptalami
Binomial name
Samburupithecus kiptalami

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[1] and formally described by Ishida & Pickford 1997.[2] The type specimen KNM-SH 8531 was discovered by the Joint Japan-Kenya Expedition at the SH22 fossil site in the Samburu District,[1] a locality where several other researchers found no ape fossils.[3]

Samburupithecus lived during the so-called "African ape gap" 14 to 7 Ma, a period from which very few hominoid fossils have been found in Africa until relatively recently.[3] This apparent gap, however, is now populated by a diversity of apes such as Nakalipithecus, Chororapithecus abyssinicus,[3] Otavipithecus,[4] and Nacholapithecus.[5]

  1. ^ a b Yasui, Nakano & Ishida 1987
  2. ^ Ward & Duren 2002, p. 395
  3. ^ a b c Bernor 2007
  4. ^ Ward & Duren 2002, p. 386
  5. ^ 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.