Aegyptopithecus
Name:
Aegyptopithecus
(Egypt age).
Phonetic: Ay-gyp-toe-pif-e-kus.
Named By: E. Simons - 1965.
Classification: Chordata, Mammalia, Primates,
Haplorrhini, Propliopithecoidea, Propliopithecidae.
Species: A. zeuxis (type).
Diet: Frugivore.
Size: Weight estimated at around 6.7 kilograms.
Known locations: Egypt, Fayum Province - Jebel
Qatrani Formation.
Time period: Rupelian of the Oligocene.
Fossil representation: Many specimens.
Although
usually regarded as its own genus, there is on-going debate over how
Aegyptopithecus might actually be the same primate
as Propliopithecus.
If this eventually does happen then material that has been named
Aegyptopithecus will be re-named Propliopithecus.
Aegyptopithecus
is thought to have been a frugivore, a herbivorous creature that
specialises in eating fruit. However there is also evidence to
suggest that Aegyptopithecus would also
occasionally eat tougher plant
parts, perhaps as a result of a lack of its preferred food. As is
common in primates, the canine teeth of male Aegyptopithecus
are
larger than those of females, a clear sign of sexual dimorphism with
the enlarged canines serving as display and potential weapons between
competing males. Due to its dietary preference and size,
Aegyptopithecus is seen to have been an arboreal
creature that lived
in the tree canopies of Oligocene era Egypt. It might be hard to
imagine this kind of habitat in Egypt today, but the desertification
of this country and other regions of North Africa is actually a very
recent occurrence when go you by a geological time scale.
Further reading
- New fossil apes from Egypt and the initial differentiation of
Hominoidea. - Nature 205:135-139. - E. L. Simons - 1965.
- The Humerus of Aegyptopithecus zeuxis: A Primitive Anthropoid. -
American Journal of Physical Anthropology. 59 (2): 175–193. - John G.
Fleagle & Elwyn L. Simons - 1982.
- Dental Microwear and Microstructure in Early Oligocene Primates From
the Fayum, Egypt: Implications for Diet. - American Journal of Physical
Anthropology. 101 (4): 527–543. - Mark F. Telford, Mary C. Maas
& Elwyn L. Simons - 1996.
- Femoral Anatomy of Aegyptopithecus zeuxis, An Early Oligocene
Anthropoid. - American Journal of Physical Anthropology. 106 (4):
413–424. - Ankel-Simons, Friderun; John G. Fleagle & Prithijit
S. Chatrath - 1998.
- Revised age estimates for the later Paleogene mammal faunas of Egypt
and Oman. - Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the
United States of America. 103 (13): 5000–5005. - Erik R. Seiffert -
2006.
- A remarkable female cranium of the early Oligocene anthropoid
Aegyptopithecus zeuxis (Catarrhini, Propliopithecidae). - PNAS. 104
(21): 8731–8736. - A remarkable female cranium of the early Oligocene
anthropoid Aegyptopithecus zeuxis (Catarrhini, Propliopithecidae)".
PNAS. 104 (21): 8731–8736. Simons, Erik R. Seiffert, Timothy M. Ryan
& Yousry Attia - 2007.
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