Tematica Animali preistorici

Mesopithecus pentelici Wagner 1839

Phylum: Chordata Haeckel, 1874

Subphylum: Vertebrata Cuvier, 1812

Classe: Mammalia Linnaeus, 1758

Ordine: Primates Linnaeus, 1758

Famiglia: Cercopithecidae Gray, 1821

Genere: Mesopithecus Wagner, 1839

Descrizione

Somigliava un moderno macaco , con una lunghezza del corpo di circa 40 centimetri. Come il macaco era un ottimo arrampicatore ma si ipotizza potesse avere anche una deambulazione semi eretta a terra, aveva un corpo snello con lunghe membra e dita flessibili. La sua dentatura suggerisce una dieta frugivora e vegetale in genere.

Diffusione

Genere estinto di scimmie del Vecchio Mondo che visse in Europa e in Asia occidentale 7 a 5 milioni di anni fa.

Bibliografia

–Xueping Ji, Dionisios Youlatos, Nina G. Jablonski, Ruliang Pan, Chunxia Zhang, Pei Li, Min Tang, Tengsong Yu, Wenqi Li, Chenglong Deng, Song Li (2020). "Oldest colobine calcaneus from East Asia (Zhaotong, Yunnan, China)". Journal of Human Evolution. 147 (102866).
–Jablonski, Nina G.; et al. (6 August 2020). "Mesopithecus pentelicus from Zhaotong, China, the easternmost representative of a widespread Miocene cercopithecoid species". Journal of Human Evolution. 145: 102851.
–Eronen, Jussi T.; Rook, Lorenzo (November 2004). "The Mio-Pliocene European primate fossil record: dynamics and habitat tracking". Journal of Human Evolution. 47 (5): 323-341.
–Palmer, D., ed. (1999). The Marshall Illustrated Encyclopedia of Dinosaurs and Prehistoric Animals. London: Marshall Editions. p. 289.
–Youlatos, Dionisios; Koufos, George D. (January 2010). "Locomotor evolution of Mesopithecus (Primates: Colobinae) from Greece: evidence from selected astragalar characters". Primates. 51 (1): 23-35.
–Bogdanova, Ralitsa; Youlatos, Dionisios; Spassov, Nikolai (July 2023). "Terrestriality as reflected in the humerus of Mesopithecus delsoni (Cercopithecidae, Colobinae) from Hadjidimovo, Bulgaria". Journal of Human Evolution. 180: 103383.
–Escarguel, Gilles (August 2005). "Mathematics and the Lifeway of Mesopithecus". International Journal of Primatology. 26 (4): 801-823.
–Merceron, Gildas; Scott, Jessica; Scott, Robert S.; Geraads, Denis; Spassov, Nikolai; Ungar, Peter S. (December 2009). "Folivory or fruit/seed predation for Mesopithecus, an earliest colobine from the late Miocene of Eurasia?". Journal of Human Evolution. 57 (6): 732-738.
–Thiery, Ghislain; Gillet, Geoffrey; Lazzari, Vincent; Merceron, Gildas; Guy, Franck (November 2017). "Was Mesopithecus a seed eating colobine? Assessment of cracking, grinding and shearing ability using dental topography". Journal of Human Evolution. 112: 79-92.
–Alba, David M.; Montoya, Plini; Pina, Marta; Rook, Lorenzo; Abella, Juan; Morales, Jorge; Delson, Eric (November 2015). "First record of Mesopithecus (Cercopithecidae, Colobinae) from the Miocene of the Iberian Peninsula". Journal of Human Evolution. 88: 1-14.

	Data: 17/09/1998 Emissione: Fossili Stato: Macedonia