Sivapithecus indicus

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Sivapithecus indicus
Fossil range: Miocene
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Mammalia
Order: Primates
Family: Hominidae
Subfamily: Ponginae
Genus: Sivapithecus
Species: S. indicus
Binomial name
Sivapithecus indicus
Pilgrim, 1910

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 Pothowar 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] References

  • Szalay, F. S. & Delson, E. (1979) Evolutionary History of the Primates. New York: Academic Press.

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