Sivapithecus indicus
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iSivapithecus indicus | ||||||||||||||||
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Conservation status: Fossil Miocene
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Sivapithecus indicus Szalay & Delson, 1979 |
Sivapithecus indicus is an extinct primate and a possible ancestor to the modern orangutan.
Specimens of Sivapithecus indicus, roughly 12.5 million to 10.5 million years old (Miocene), have been found at the Petwar plateau in Pakistan as well as in parts of India.
The animal was about the size of a chimpanzee but had the facial morphology of an orangutan; it ate soft fruit (detected in the toothwear pattern) and was probably mainly arboreal.
[edit] Reference
- Szalay, F. S. & Delson, E. (1979) Evolutionary History of the Primates. New York: Academic Press.