Affiliation:
1. Institut de Paleontologia M. Crusafont, Escola Industrial 23, Sabadell, Barcelona 08201, Spain.
2. Palaeotheria, S.C.P. Provençals 5, 2°, 1a, Barcelona 08019, Spain.
Abstract
We describe a partial skeleton with facial cranium of
Pierolapithecus catalaunicus
gen. et sp. nov., a new Middle Miocene (12.5 to 13 million years ago) ape from Barranc de Can Vila 1 (Barcelona, Spain). It is the first known individual of this age that combines well-preserved cranial, dental, and postcranial material. The thorax, lumbar region, and wrist provide evidence of modern ape–like orthograde body design, and the facial morphology includes the basic derived great ape features. The new skeleton reveals that early great apes retained primitive monkeylike characters associated with a derived body structure that permits upright postures of the trunk.
Pierolapithecus
, hence, does not fit the theoretical model that predicts that all characters shared by extant great apes were present in their last common ancestor, but instead points to a large amount of homoplasy in ape evolution. The overall pattern suggests that
Pierolapithecus
is probably close to the last common ancestor of great apes and humans.
Publisher
American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS)
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