Dolichopithecus balcanicus sp. nov., a new Colobinae (Primates, Cercopithecidae) from the early Pliocene of southeastern Europe, with a discussion on the taxonomy of the genus

Nikolaï Spassov (1) , Denis Geraads (2)

1 National Museum of Natural History
2 DEHIPE - Dynamique de l'évolution humaine : individus, populations, espèces [Paris]

We describe here a new species of Dolichopithecus, D. balcanicus n. sp., from the Pliocene (late Ruscinian) of the Balkans. Although known by mandibular remains only, it is readily distinguished from the common European species, D. ruscinensis, by its smaller size, much shallower mandibular corpus, and crowding of the premolars. Ukrainian finds of "Adelopithecus" can be accommodated into D. ruscinensis, as a separate, smaller subspecies, D. ruscinensis hypsilophus, but the specimens reported from Asia are more distant, and they probably represent a separate subgenus of Dolichopithecus, the valid name of which is D. (Parapresbytis) Kalmykov & Mashchenko.

Mots clés: Dolichopithecus balcanicus sp. nov.; Cercopithecidae; Pliocene; Europe; Bulgaria; Dolichopithecus balcanicus sp. nov

Domaines: Etudes de l'environnement; Paléontologie

Nikolaï Spassov, Denis Geraads. Dolichopithecus balcanicus sp. nov., a new Colobinae (Primates, Cercopithecidae) from the early Pliocene of southeastern Europe, with a discussion on the taxonomy of the genus. Journal of Human Evolution, 2007, 52, pp.434-442. ⟨halshs-00157610⟩