| Kamoyapithecus Temporal range: 27.5–24.2 Million years ago | |
|---|---|
Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Mammalia |
| Order: | Primates |
| Suborder: | Haplorhini |
| Parvorder: | Catarrhini |
| Family: | incertae sedis |
| Genus: | †Kamoyapithecus M.G. Leakey et al.,1995 |
| Type species | |
| †Kamoyapithecus hamiltoni Madden, 1980 | |
Kamoyapithecus ('Kamoya' + Greek -pithekos “ape”) was a primate that lived inAfrica during the lateOligocene period, about 27.5-24.2 million years ago.[1][2][3][4][5][6] First found in 1948 as part of aUniversity of California, Berkeley expedition, it was at first thought to be under a form ofProconsul by C.T. Madden in 1980, but after a re-examination byMeave Leakey and associates later, the fossils were moved under a new genusKamoyapithecus, named after the renowned fossil finderKamoya Kimeu. The genus is represented by only one species,K. hamiltoni.[4]
Kamoyapithecus is known exclusively by its teeth and jaws. The type specimen, KNM-LS 7, was a rightmaxillary jaw fragment found during the expedition in 1948. Through this fossil as well as more recent fragments ofmandibles and teeth, it has been found thatKamoyapithecus had very large and robust canines. The canines appear to have a distinctive tip that linksKamoyapithecus with hominoid genusProconsul.[7]
Its teeth also have been found through plane film X-ray to not be thicklyenamelled. This suggests thatKamoyapithecus had more emphasis on foods that did not involve heavy wearing, such as soft fruits, nuts and seeds. This would have been well-placed in the Late-Oligocene in Africa, when forests covered a lot of the land.
Similar affinities with the jaw fragments have been seen withAfropithecus,Proconsul, and theMorotopithecus,[citation needed] but nothing definitive can be stated as to the relationship between these genera andKamoyapithecus as the fossil material is very fragmentary.
