Dryopithecus ( Proconsul ) major
Once thought ancestral to gorilla.
Miocene
synonym: Proconsul major
The genus Dryopithecus includes a widespread group of Miocene, fossil
pongids from Africa and Europe. There are both large and small forms in the
genus, which was first described by Lartet in 1856. The cast available is of a
well researched reconstruction of D. major, an important species
recovered from Kenya and Tanganyika in East Africa. D. major was a large
species with a typically pongid-like cranium. The face is quite strongly
protruding (prognathic), the dentiton substantial and the canine teeth pointed
and projecting well above the general tooth line.
Proconsul major
CUBA
UZBEQUISTAN
10.May.2002
