Nacholapithecus

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Extinct genus of hominoids

title: "Nacholapithecus" type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public tags: ["human-evolution", "miocene", "anthropology", "prehistoric-kenya", "monotypic-prehistoric-primate-genera", "fossil-taxa-described-in-1999"] description: "Extinct genus of hominoids" topic_path: "science/biology" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nacholapithecus" license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0

::summary Extinct genus of hominoids ::

| fossil_range = 15–14 Million years ago | image = Nacholapithecus kerioi - Kyoto University Museum - DSC06428.JPG | image_alt = "Nacholapithecus kerioi" at the Kyoto University Museum | image_caption = Nacholapithecus kerioi at the Kyoto University Museum | taxon = Nacholapithecus | authority = Ishida, Kunimatsu, Nakatsukasa & Nakano, 1999 | synonyms = | synonyms_ref = | subdivision_ranks = Species | subdivision = *Nacholapithecus kerioi Ishida et al., 1999

Nacholapithecus kerioi was an ape that lived 15-14 million years ago during the Middle Miocene. Fossils have been found in the Nachola formation in northern Kenya. The only member of the genus Nacholapithecus, it is thought to be a key genus in early hominid evolution. Similar in body plan to Proconsul, it had a long vertebral column with six lumbar vertebrae, no tail, a narrow torso, large upper limbs with mobile shoulder joints, and long feet.

Together with other Kenyapithecinae such as Equatorius, Kenyapithecus, and Griphopithecus, Nacholapithecus displayed synapomorphies with Anoiapithecus.

Taxonomy

Nacholapithecus was initially classified as belonging in Kenyapithecus, then attributed to Equatorius (with Equatorius perhaps grouped into a subfamily Equatorinae, instead of both species in Afropithecini), finally recognised by Ishida et al. (1999) as a separate genus. Classified perhaps as a member of the family Proconsulidae.

Fossil finds

Nacholapithecus kerioi is known from the lowest part of the Aka Aiteputh Formation, one of five formations in the Neogene System in Nachola, Samburu District, northern Kenya. The formation is largely part of the north-western rift flank overlying the Nachola Formation.

Palaeobiology

Morphological evidence suggests arboreal quadrupedalism was for N. kerioi the primary method of locomotion.

Notes

References

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  • {{Cite journal | last1 = Ishida | first1 = H. | last2 = Pichford | first2 = M. | last3 = Nakaya | first3 = H. | last4 = Nakano | first4 = Y. | title = Fossil anthropoids from Nachola and Samburu Hills, Samburu District, Kenya | journal = African Study Monographs. Supplementary Issue | pages = 73–85 |issue = 2 | year = 1984 | volume = 2 | doi = 10.14989/68314
  • {{Cite journal | last1 = Ishida | first1 = H. | last2 = Kunimatsu | first2 = Y. | last3 = Nakatsukasa | first3 = M. | last4 = Nakano | first4 = Y. | title = New hominoid genus from the Middle Miocene of Nachola, Kenya | journal = Anthropological Science | year = 1999 | volume = 107 | issue = 2 | pages = 189–191 | doi = 10.1537/ase.107.189 | doi-access = free}}
  • {{Cite journal | last1 = Ishida | first1 = H. | last2 = Kunimatsu | first2 = Y. | last3 = Takano | first3 = T. | last4 = Nakano | first4 = Y. | last5 = Nakatsukasa | first5 = M. | title = Nacholapithecus skeleton from the Middle Miocene of Kenya | journal = Journal of Human Evolution | year = 2004 | volume = 46 | issue = 1 | pages = 69–103 | pmid = 14698685 | doi=10.1016/j.jhevol.2003.10.001 | bibcode = 2004JHumE..46...69I
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References

  1. {{Harvnb. Sawada. Saneyoshi. Nakayama. Sakai. 2006
  2. {{Harvnb. Henke. Hardt. 2007
  3. {{Harvnb. Moyà-Solà. Alba. Almécija. Casanovas-Vilar. 2009
  4. {{Harvnb. Ishida. Pichford. Nakaya. Nakano. 1984
  5. {{Harvnb. Ward. Brown. Hill. Kelley. 1999
  6. {{Harvnb. Cameron. 2004
  7. {{Harvnb. Cameron. 2004
  8. {{Harvnb. Ishida. Kunimatsu. Nakatsukasa. Nakano. 1999
  9. {{Harvnb. Russon. Begun. 2004
  10. {{Harvnb. Ishida. Kunimatsu. Takano. Nakano. 2004
  11. {{Harvnb. Zalmout. Sanders. MacLatchy. Gunnell. 2010
  12. {{Harvnb. Nakatsukasa. Kunimatsu. 2009
  13. {{Harvnb. Sawada. Saneyoshi. Nakayama. Sakai. 2006
  14. {{Harvnb. Ishida. Tuttle. Pickford. Ogihara. 2006
  15. (January 2025). "Femoral neck cortical bone distribution in Nacholapithecus from the Middle Miocene of Kenya". [[Journal of Human Evolution]].

::callout[type=info title="Wikipedia Source"] This article was imported from Wikipedia and is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Content has been adapted to SurfDoc format. Original contributors can be found on the article history page. ::

human-evolutionmioceneanthropologyprehistoric-kenyamonotypic-prehistoric-primate-generafossil-taxa-described-in-1999