Parapithecus

Parapithecus

 

a fossil anthropoid ape. In 1911 a fragment of a lower jaw with dentition was found in Lower Oligocene deposits near Cairo by the German scientist O. Schlosser. The fragment was found with remains of Propliopithecus, whose predecessor is considered to be Parapithecus. A number of dental features relate Parapithecus to modern anthropoid apes. At the same time, there is a similarity in dentition and jaw structure between Parapithecus and the Tarsiidae. Anthropologists suggest that Parapithecus was the initial stage in the evolution from anthropoid ape to man.