Abstract
IN view of attention recently directed to the taxonomic position of Oreopithecus among primates, as a result of new discoveries by Hürzeler1 and Butler and Mills2, a re-analysis of possible affinities of Oreopithecus with Apidium, from early Oligocene deposits of the Fayum, Egypt, seems desirable. Two fundamental points regarding this small Egyptian genus have been largely overlooked in recent literature on primate phylogeny. These are: first, that ranking Apidium as a primate is still justifiable, and second, that (among primates) its greatest resemblances are to Oreopithecus (Fig. 1). As both these assessments depend on partly qualitative taxonomic judgments, either may continue to be debated. In the following account the bases for these two conclusions are briefly outlined.
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References
Hürzeler, J., Abhandl. Schweizerischen Paläont. Gesell., 66, 3 (1949); Verhandl. Naturfor. Gesell. Basel, 69, No. 1, 1 (1958).
Butler, P. M., and Mills, J. R. E., Bull. Brit. Mus. (Nat. Hist.), 4, No. 1, 1 (1959).
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Schlosser, M., Beitr. Paläont. und Geol. Osterrëich-Ungarns, 24, 51 (1911).
Gregory, W. K., “The Origin and Evolution of the Human Dentition” (Williams and Wilkins Co., Baltimore, 1922).
Piveteau, J., “Primates, Paléontologie Humain”, in “Traité de paléontologie”, 7, 1 (Paris, 1957).
Simons, E. L., Amer. Mus. Novitates, No. 1976, 1 (1959).
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SIMONS, E. Apidium and Oreopithecus . Nature 186, 824–826 (1960). https://doi.org/10.1038/186824a0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/186824a0
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