Sivapithecus(lit. 'Shiva's Ape') (syn:Ramapithecus)is agenusofextinctapes.Fossil remains of animals now assigned to this genus, dated from 12.2 million years old[1]in theMiocene,have been found since the 19th century in theSivalik Hillsof theIndian subcontinentas well as inKutch.Any one of the species in this genus may have been the ancestor to the modernorangutans.
| Sivapithecus Temporal range:Miocene
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| S. indicusGSP 15000, on loan at theNatural History Museum, London | |
Scientific classification
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| Domain: | Eukaryota |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Mammalia |
| Order: | Primates |
| Suborder: | Haplorhini |
| Infraorder: | Simiiformes |
| Family: | Hominidae |
| Subfamily: | Ponginae |
| Tribe: | †Sivapithecini |
| Genus: | †Sivapithecus Pilgrim, 1910 |
| Species | |
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| Synonyms | |
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Brahmapithecus | |
Some early discoveries were given the separate namesRamapithecus(Rama's Ape) andBramapithecus(Brahma's Ape), and were thought to be possible ancestors of humans.
Discovery
edit
The first incomplete specimens ofSivapithecuswere found in northern India in the late 19th century.
Another find was made inNepalon the bank of theTinau Riversituated inPalpa District;a western part of the country in 1932. This find was named "Ramapithecus".The discoverer, G. Edward Lewis, claimed that it was distinct fromSivapithecus,as the jaw was more like a human's than any other fossil ape then known,[2]a claim revived in the 1960s. At that time, it was believed that the ancestors of humans had diverged from other apes 14 million years ago. Biochemical studies upset this view, suggesting that there was an early split betweenorangutanancestors and the common ancestors ofchimpanzees,gorillasandhumans.
Meanwhile, more complete specimens ofRamapithecuswere found in 1975 and 1976, which showed that it was less human-like than had been thought. It began to look more and more likeSivapithecus,meaning that the older name must take priority. It is also possible that fossils assigned toRamapithecusbelonged to the female form ofSivapithecus.[3]They were definitely members of the same genus. It is also likely that they were already separate from the common ancestor ofchimpanzees,gorillasand humans, which may be represented by the prehistoricgreat apeNakalipithecus nakayamai.Siwalik specimens once assigned to the genusRamapithecusare now considered by most researchers to belong to one or more species ofSivapithecus.Ramapithecusis no longer regarded as a likely ancestor of humans.
In 1982,David Pilbeampublished a description of a significant fossil find fromPotwar Plateau,Pakistan,formed by a large part of the face and jaw of aSivapithecus.The partial skull was likely scavenged after death. The specimen (GSP 15000) bore many similarities to theorangutanskull and strengthened the theory (previously suggested by others) thatSivapithecuswas closely related to orangutans.[4]
In 2011, a 10.8 million-year old (Neogeneperiod) upper jawbone ofSivapithecuswas found inKutch districtofGujarat,India. The find also extendedSivapithecus'southern range in Indian subcontinent significantly. The species can not be identified.[5][6]
Description
editSivapithecuswas about 1.5 metres (5 ft) in body length, similar in size to a modern orangutan. In most respects, it would have resembled a chimpanzee, but its face was closer to that of an orangutan. The shape of its wrists and general body proportions suggest that it spent a significant amount of its time on the ground, as well as in trees.[7]It had largecanine teeth,and heavymolars,suggesting a diet of relatively tough food, such as seeds andsavannahgrasses.[7]
Similarities to orangutans in what are chiefly jaw and partial skull fossils are a concave face with largezygomatic archbones, narrow setting of eyes from each other, smoothness of nasal floor, and central incisor enlargement.[8][7]However Sivapithecus' "dental characteristics and postcranial skeleton do not confirm this phylogenetic position" say Yaowalak Chaimanee of the Paleontology section of Thailand'sDepartment of Mineral Resourcesand colleagues, while reporting a find in 2003, so neat affinities are not the state of finding to date.[9]
Species
editCurrently three species are generally recognized:
- Sivapithecus indicusfossils date from about 12.5 million to 10.5 million years ago.[10]
- Sivapithecus sivalensislived from 9.5 million to 8.5 million years ago. It was found at thePothwar plateauin Pakistan as well as in parts of India. The animal was about the size of a chimpanzee but had the facial morphology of an orangutan; it ate soft fruit (detected in the toothwear pattern) and was probably mainly arboreal.
- Sivapithecus parvadadescribed in 1988, this species is significantly larger and dated to about 10 million years ago.
See also
editNotes
edit- ^Sharma 2007,p. 52
- ^Gibbons 2006,p. 64
- ^Gibbons 2006,pp. 76–77
- ^Pilbeam, David (January 1982)."New hominoid skull material from the Miocene of Pakistan".Nature.295(5846):232–234.Bibcode:1982Natur.295..232P.doi:10.1038/295232a0.ISSN0028-0836.PMID6799831.
- ^"Extinct ape evidence from Kutch".telegraphindia.Retrieved2020-09-07.
- ^Bhandari, Ansuya; Kay, Richard F.; Williams, Blythe A.; Tiwari, Brahma Nand; Bajpai, Sunil; Hieronymus, Tobin (2018-11-14). Charles, Cyril (ed.)."First record of the Miocene hominoid Sivapithecus from Kutch, Gujarat state, western India".PLOS ONE.13(11): e0206314.Bibcode:2018PLoSO..1306314B.doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0206314.ISSN1932-6203.PMC6235281.PMID30427876.
- ^abcPalmer 1999,pp. 292–3
- ^"Sivapithecus".Britannica.Encyclopedia Britannica.Retrieved30 December2022.
- ^Chaimanee, Yaowalak (2003)."A Middle Miocene hominoid from Thailand and orangutan origins".Nature.422(6927):61–65.Bibcode:2003Natur.422...61C.doi:10.1038/nature01449.PMID12621432.S2CID4422882.Retrieved30 December2022.
- ^Morgan, Michèle E.; Lewton, Kristi L.; Kelley, Jay; Otárola-Castillo, Erik; Barry, John C.; Flynn, Lawrence J.; Pilbeam, David (8 December 2014)."A partial hominoid innominate from the Miocene of Pakistan: Description and preliminary analyses".Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.112(1):82–87.doi:10.1073/pnas.1420275111.PMC4291661.PMID25489095.
References
edit- Gibbons, Ann (2006).The first human.Doubleday.ISBN978-0-385-51226-8.
- Kelley, Jay (2002). "The hominoid radiation in Asia". InHartwig, W(ed.).The Primate Fossil Record.Cambridge University Press. pp.369–384.ISBN978-0-521-66315-1.
- Palmer, Douglas (1999).The Marshall Illustrated Encyclopedia of Dinosaurs and Prehistoric Animals.London: Marshall Editions. pp.292–293.ISBN1-84028-152-9.
- Sharma, R.S. (2007).India's Ancient Past.Oxford University Press. p. 52.ISBN978-0-19-568785-9.
- Szalay, Frederick S.; Delson, Eric (1979).Evolutionary History of the Primates.New York: Academic Press.
External links
edit- Photo[usurped]of the 1982Sivapithecusskull ( "GSP 15000" )
- Human Timeline (Interactive)–Smithsonian,National Museum of Natural History(August 2016).
