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Afropithecus was a primate that lived in Africa and Saudi Arabia during the early to middle Miocene.
Morphology
A. turkanensis teeth had a thick enamel cover. This cover may have been needed for the diet of Afropithecus, which might have consisted of nuts and other foods protected by a hard, durable husk. This innovation might have played a key role in establishing a foothold in the forests of Eurasia by giving A. turkanensis access to resources not available to Proconsul and other earlier apes.
A. turkanensis may have certain affinities with Heliopithecus, Kenyapithecus, and the large hominoid from Moroto and Napak, but nothing definite can be said as few common anatomical parts are preserved.
External links
- http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?cmd=Retrieve&db=PubMed&list_uids=3137824&dopt=Abstract
- http://www.primates.com/history/
- http://www.mc.maricopa.edu/~reffland/anthropology/anthro2003/origins/primates/primate_evol/miocene.html
- Mikko's Phylogeny archives
"Afropithecus"