Ouranopithecus

Name: Ouranopithecus ‭(‬Brave ape‭)‬.
Phonetic: Or-an-o-pif-e-cus.
Named By: de Bonis and Melentis‭ ‬-‭ ‬1977.
Synonyms: Graecopithecus freybergi,‭ ‬Sivapithecus macedoniensis.
Classification: Chordata,‭ ‬Mammalia,‭ ‬Primates,‭ ‬Hominidae.
Species: O.‭ ‬macedoniensi (type),‭ ‬O.‭ ‬freybergi.
Diet: Herbivore.
Size: Unavailable.
Known locations: Greece.
Time period: Tortonian of the Miocene.
Fossil representation: Few specimens.

       Ouranopithecus is often considered to be a dryopithecine ape‭ (‬similar to Dryopithecus‭); ‬however there are others who consider Ouranopithecus to be a member of the Ponginae‭ (‬orangutan-like apes‭)‬.‭ ‬Usually however Ouranopithecus is placed within the Hominidae due to the shape and form of the sinuses,‭ ‬although it may also be a late surviving ancestor of apes and humans.
       Ouranopithecus had low molar teeth which had a thick covering of enamel.‭ ‬In depth analysis of the teeth has led palaeontologists to conclude that Ouranopithecus had diet heavy in hard foods items such as nuts and/or tubers.‭ ‬Like with most primates,‭ ‬the teeth exhibit clear signs of sexual dimorphism with males have much larger canine teeth than females.

Further reading
- Les primates hominoides du Vall�sien de Mac�doine (Gr�ce). �tude de la machoire inf�rieure. - Geobios. 10 (6): 849–855. - Louis de Bonis & J. Melentis - 1977.
- Dental metric variation in early Hominids comparison between Australopithecus afarensis and Ouranopithecus macedoniensis. - Comptes Rendus des S�ances de l'Acad�mie des Sciences. Serie III Sciences de la Vie. 292: 263–266. - Louis de Bonis et al. - 1981.
- Ouranopithecus and dating the splitting of extant hominoids. - Comptes Rendus Palevol. 3 (4): 257–264. - Louis de Bonis & George D. Koufos - 2004.
- A new great ape from the lower Miocene of Turkey. - Anthropological Science. 115 (2): 153–158. - Erksin Savas G�le�, Ayla Sevim, Cesur Pehlevan & Ferhat Kaya - 2007.

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