Sivapithecus

Sivapithecus indicus
Sivapithecus sivalensis
Sivapithecus parvada

Sivapithecus is a genus of extinct primates. Fossil remains of animals now assigned to this genus, dated from 12.5 million to 8.5 million years old, have been found since the 19th century in the Siwaliks in what is now India and Pakistan. Any one of the species in this genus may have been the ancestor to the modern orangutans.

Currently three species are generally recognized. Sivapithecus indicus fossils date from about 12.5 million to 10.5 million years ago. S. sivalensis lived from 9.5 million to 8.5 million years ago. In 1988 a third, significantly larger species was described and named S. parvada (dated at about 10 million years ago).

Siwalik specimens once assigned to the genus Ramapithecus are now considered by most researchers to belong to one or more species of Sivapithecus.

In 1982 David Pilbeam published a description of a very interesting fossil find — a large part of the face and jaw of a Sivapithecus. The specimen bore many similarities to orangutans and strengthened the theory (which had been suggested in the several years prior) that Sivapithecus was closely related to orangutans.

References

Kelley, Jay. 2002. The hominoid radiation in Asia. In Hartwig, W. (ed.) The Primate Fossil Record, Cambridge University Press, pp. 369-384.

External link

Photo of the 1982 Sivapithecus skull ("GSP 15000")