Nacholapithecus
Extinct genus of hominoids
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Nacholapithecus kerioi was an ape that lived 15-14 million years ago[1] during the Middle Miocene. Fossils have been found in the Nachola formation in northern Kenya. The only member of the genus Nacholapithecus, it is thought to be a key genus in early hominid evolution. Similar in body plan to Proconsul, it had a long vertebral column with six lumbar vertebrae, no tail, a narrow torso, large upper limbs with mobile shoulder joints, and long feet.[2]
| Nacholapithecus Temporal range: 15–14 Million years ago | |
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| Nacholapithecus kerioi at the Kyoto University Museum | |
Scientific classification  | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Mammalia |
| Order: | Primates |
| Suborder: | Haplorhini |
| Family: | †Proconsulidae |
| Genus: | †Nacholapithecus Ishida, Kunimatsu, Nakatsukasa & Nakano, 1999 |
| Species | |
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Together with other Kenyapithecinae such as Equatorius, Kenyapithecus, and Griphopithecus, Nacholapithecus displayed synapomorphies with Anoiapithecus.[3]
Taxonomy
Nacholapithecus was initially classified as belonging in Kenyapithecus,[4] then attributed[5] to Equatorius (with Equatorius perhaps grouped into a subfamily Equatorinae, instead of both species in Afropithecini),[6][7] finally recognised by Ishida et al. (1999) as a separate genus.[8][9][10] Classified perhaps as a member of the family Proconsulidae.[11]
Fossil finds
Nacholapithecus kerioi is known from the lowest part of the Aka Aiteputh Formation, one of five formations in the Neogene System in Nachola, Samburu District, northern Kenya.[12][13] The formation is largely part of the north-western rift flank overlying the Nachola Formation.[14]
Palaeobiology
Morphological evidence suggests arboreal quadrupedalism was for N. kerioi the primary method of locomotion.[15]
