Graecopithecus

Graecopithecus freybergi
Temporal range: Late Miocene
Holotype jaw and premolar
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Mammalia
Order: Primates
Family: Hominidae
Subfamily: Homininae
Genus: Graecopithecus
von Koenigswald, 1972
Species: G. freybergi
Binomial name
Graecopithecus freybergi
von Koenigswald, 1972[1][2]

Graecopithecus freybergi is a hominin originally identified by a single mandible found in 1944. Since then, analysis of tooth specimens, dated to 7.2 million years ago, has led to suggestions that Graecopithecus may have been the oldest direct direct ancestor of humans excluding the chimpanzee lineage,[3][4] or alternatively the last common ancestor of both humans and chimpanzees.[5]

Graecopithecus tooth (Azmaka, Bulgaria[6])

The original Graecopithecus specimen mandible found in 1944, "reportedly unearthed as the occupying German forces were building a wartime bunker".[5] The mandible with a third molar that is very worn, the root of a second molar, and a fragment of a premolar is from a site called Pyrgos Vassilissis northwest of Athens[7][8] and is dated from the late Miocene. Excavation of the site is not possible (as of 1986) due to the owner having built a swimming pool on the location.[9]

G. freybergi is considered possibly the same as Ouranopithecus macedoniensis.[10][11][7] The hominid is the least well known of those found within Europe.[12]

An examination of the detailed morphology of molar teeth from two fossils of G. freybergi published in 2017[13] suggests that it was a hominin, that is sharing ancestry with Homo but not with the chimpanzees (Pan). This would call into question the prevailing belief that pre-human hominids originated in Africa, though others are sceptical of the claims.[5][14] The Trachilos footprints discovered by Gerard Gierliński in 2002 and researched[15] in 2010, together with Grzegorz Niedźwiedzki, in Crete may be related to Graecopithecus.[16]

See also

Notes

  1. ↑ Andrews & Franzen 1984
  2. ↑ Cameron 2004, p. 184
  3. ↑ "Europe was the birthplace of mankind, not Africa, scientists find". The Telegraph. Retrieved 2017-05-28.
  4. ↑ Fuss et al. 2017.
  5. 1 2 3 "Our common ancestor with chimps may be from Europe, not Africa". New Scientist. 2017-05-22. Retrieved 2017-05-24.
  6. ↑ Spassov et al. 2012.
  7. 1 2 Casanovas-Vilar et al. 2011.
  8. ↑ de Bonis & Koufos 1999, p. 230.
  9. ↑ de Bonis et al. 1986, p. 107.
  10. ↑ Koufos & de Bonis 2005.
  11. ↑ Smith et al. 2004.
  12. ↑ Begun 2002, p. 361.
  13. ↑ Fuss et al.
  14. ↑ "Scientists find 7.2-million-year-old pre-human remains in the Balkans". Phys.org. 22 May 2017. Retrieved 23 May 2017.
  15. ↑ Gierliński et al. 2017.
  16. ↑ http://www.news.com.au/technology/science/evolution/footprint-find-on-crete-may-push-back-date-humans-began-to-walk-upright/news-story/2e60cbd7386573dd2a45c5cc9d79297d%5Bfull+citation+needed%5D

References

  • Andrews, Peter; Franzen, Jens Lorenz, eds. (1984). The Early Evolution of Man: With Emphasis on Southeast Asia and Africa. Courier Forschungsinstitut Senckenberg, 0341-4116. 69. Senckenbergische Naturforschende Gesellschaft. ISBN 978-3-924500-05-4.
  • Begun, David R. (2002). "European Hominoids". In Hartwig, Walter. The Primate Fossil Record. Cambridge University Press. pp. 339–368. ISBN 978-0-521-66315-1.
  • Cameron, David W. (2004). Hominid adaptations and extinctions. UNSW Press. ISBN 978-0-86840-716-6.
  • Casanovas-Vilar, I; Alba, D. M; Garces, M; Robles, J. M; Moya-Sola, S (2011). "Updated chronology for the Miocene hominoid radiation in Western Eurasia". Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. 108 (14): 5554–9. Bibcode:2011PNAS..108.5554C. doi:10.1073/pnas.1018562108. PMC 3078397. PMID 21436034.
  • de Bonis, L.; Bouvrain, G.; Koufos, G.; Melentis, J. (1986). "Succession and dating of the late Miocene primates of Macedonia". In Lee, Phyllis C.; Else, James G. Primate Evolution. Proceedings of the Tenth Congress of the International Primatological Society: Held in Nairobi, Kenya, in July 1984, International Primatological Society. Congress. 1. CUP Archive. ISBN 978-0-521-32450-2.
  • de Bonis, Louis; Koufos, George D. (1999). "The Miocene large mammal succession in Greece". In Agustí, Jorge; Rook, Lorenzo; Andrews, Peter. Hominoid Evolution and Climatic Change in Europe: Volume 1, The Evolution of Neogene Terrestrial Ecosystems in Europe. Cambridge University Press. ISBN 978-0-521-64097-8.
  • Fuss, Jochen; Spassov, Nikolai; Begun, David R; Böhme, Madelaine (2017). "Potential hominin affinities of Graecopithecus from the Late Miocene of Europe". PLOS One. 12 (5): e0177127. Bibcode:2017PLoSO..1277127F. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0177127. PMC 5439669. PMID 28531170.
  • Koufos, George D; De Bonis, Louis (2005). "The Late Miocene hominoids Ouranopithecus and Graecopithecus. Implications about their relationships and taxonomy". Annales de Paléontologie. 91 (3): 227–40. doi:10.1016/j.annpal.2005.05.001.
  • Smith, Tanya M; Martin, Lawrence B; Reid, Donald J; De Bonis, Louis; Koufos, George D (2004). "An examination of the dental development in Graecopithecus freybergi (Ouranopithecus macedoniensis)". Journal of Human Evolution. 46 (5): 551–77. doi:10.1016/j.jhevol.2004.01.006. PMID 15120265.
  • Spassov, N; Geraads, D; Hristova, L; Markov, G.N; Merceron, G; Tzankov, T; Stoyanov, K; Böhme, M; Dimitrova, A (2012). "A hominid tooth from Bulgaria: The last pre-human hominid of continental Europe". Journal of Human Evolution. 62 (1): 138–45. doi:10.1016/j.jhevol.2011.10.008. PMID 22153571.
  • Gierliński, Gerard D; Niedźwiedzki, Grzegorz; Lockley, Martin G; Athanassiou, Athanassios; Fassoulas, Charalampos; Dubicka, Zofia; Boczarowski, Andrzej; Bennett, Matthew R; Ahlberg, Per Erik (2017). "Possible hominin footprints from the late Miocene (c. 5.7 Ma) of Crete?". Proceedings of the Geologists' Association. 128 (5–6): 697–710. doi:10.1016/j.pgeola.2017.07.006.
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