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The relationships of Sivapithecus and Ramapithecus and the evolution of the orang-utan

Nature volume 297, pages 541–546 (1982)Cite this article

Abstract

We review here the molecular data that bear on and provide a framework for interpreting hominoid relationships. Man is shown to be most closely related to chimpanzees and gorillas among extant hominoids, with the orang-utan more distantly related to them and the gibbons more distantly still. A fossil ape, Sivapithecus meteai, shares several characters with the orang-utan and is thus probably related to it. S. meteai is part of the Middle Miocene Sivapithecus–Ramapithecus species complex, and if this group forms a valid clade then Ramapithecus must also be considered as being more closely related to the orang-utan than to man. The date of divergence of the orang-utan from the African apes and man is suggested by fossil and molecular evidence to be 10±3Myr ago.

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Author information

Author notes

  1. J. E. Cronin

    Present address: Department of Anthropology, University of California, Berkeley, California, 94720, USA

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Palaeontology, British Museum (Natural History), Cromwell Road, London, SW7 5BD, UK

    Peter Andrews

  2. Department of Anthropology, Harvard University, Cambridge, Massachusetts, 02138, USA

    J. E. Cronin

Authors
  1. Peter Andrews
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  2. J. E. Cronin
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Andrews, P., Cronin, J. The relationships of Sivapithecus and Ramapithecus and the evolution of the orang-utan. Nature 297, 541–546 (1982). https://doi.org/10.1038/297541a0

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