Samburupithecus

Name: Samburupithecus ‭(‬Samburu ape‭)‬.
Phonetic: Sam-bu-ru-pif-e-kus.
Named By: Hidemi Ishida and Martin Pickford‭ ‬-‭ ‬1997.
Classification: Chordata,‭ ‬Mammalia,‭ ‬Primates,‭ ‬Hominoidea,‭ ‬Hominidae.
Species: S.‭ ‬kiptalami (type‭)‬.
Diet: Herbivore.
Size: Weight estimated to be around‭ ‬60‭ ‬kilograms.
Known locations: Kenya.
Time period: Tortonian of the Miocene.
Fossil representation: Teeth and Maxilla.

       Samburupithecus is known to have low and broad cheek bones that housed a large maxillary sinus.‭ ‬The alveolar process‭ (‬the bone that holds the teeth‭) ‬is straight and houses teeth that are elongated back to front,‭ ‬similar to some great apes.‭ ‬The teeth have a thick coating of enamel and have cusps that are more rounded rather than pointed.‭ ‬These teeth suggest that Samburupithecus had a diet that incorporated tougher vegetation or at least was more of a generalist herbivore rather than a dedicated frugivore‭ (‬fruit eater‭) ‬since primates that are frugivores typically have thin tooth enamel because of the reduced wear from eating softer food.

Further reading
- A new late Miocene hominoid from Kenya: Samburupithecus kiptalami gen. et sp. nov. - Comptes Rendus de l'Academie des Sciences, Serie II 325(10):823-829. - H. Ishida & M. Pickford - 1997.

Random favourites