What are some derived traits of the Rangwapithecus ape?

Question

What are some derived traits of the Rangwapithecus ape?

Answer 1

This is among the most primitive of Apes... maybe 16 Myrs ago.  Found in Kenya, It seems to have weighed between 30 & 40 lbs.

"Recent paleontological collections at the middle Miocene locality of Maboko Island in Kenya, dated at 15-16 million years, have yielded numerous new specimens belonging to at least five species of fossil anthropoids. The most common species of ape at the site, a medium-sized primate with a very distinctive dental morphology, clearly represents a previously undescribed taxon. When compared with other Miocene anthropoids from East Africa, it has its closest affinities with the poorly known species Rangwapithecus vancouveringi from the early Miocene locality of Rusinga Island. The species from Maboko Island is described here as belonging to a new genus of fossil anthropoid, to which Rangwapithecus vancouveringi is also referred. The new genus has a highly distinctive suite of derived characters of its molars and premolars, which it shares with Oreopithecus bambolii from the late Miocene of Europe. These synapomorphies indicate a close phyletic relationship between the East African species and Oreopithecus and form the basis for the inclusion of these taxa in a single family, the Oreopithecidae Schwalbe, 1915. In many respects, however, the East African forms are more conservative than Oreopithecus, and in a general sense they can be regarded as an intermediate grade between Oreopithecus and the more generalized early Miocene catarrhines, the proconsuloids. There is, therefore, good fossil evidence to indicate that the origins of the Oreopithecidae can be traced back to the early Miocene of Africa."

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TAXONOMY:

suborder: Haplorrhini

infraorder: Catarrhini

superfamily: Hominoidea

family: Proconsulidae

MORPHOLOGY:

Rangwapithecus gordoni had a dental formula of 2:1:2:3 on both the upper and lower jaw (Fleagle, 1988). The lower incisors of this species were narrow and high-crowned (Conroy, 1990). The upper canines of this species were high-crowned and bilaterally compressed (Conroy, 1990). The lower third premolar was also bilaterally compressed and the fourth premolar was elongated (Conroy, 1990). The molars of this species were long and narrow and had numerous shearing crests (Kay, 1977; cited in Fleagle, 1988). This species had lower dentition with poorly defined occlusal ridges and buccal cingula (Conroy, 1990). This species had an extensive maxillary sinus system (Conroy, 1990). The mandible of this species was deep (Hill and Odhiambo, 1987; cited in Fleagle, 1988). The superior transverse torus was well-developed in this species (Conroy, 1990). This species had an average body mass of around 15.0 kilograms (Fleagle, 1988).

RANGE:

Rangwapithecus gordoni lived on the continent of Africa and occurred during the early Miocene (Fleagle, 1988).

DIET:

Based upon dental morphology this was a folivorous species (Fleagle, 1988).

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