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Noropithecus

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Noropithecus
Temporal range: Early Miocene
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Mammalia
Order: Primates
Suborder: Haplorhini
Infraorder: Simiiformes
Family: Victoriapithecidae
Genus: Noropithecus
Miller et al. 2009
Type species
Noropithecus bulukensis
Miller et al. 2009

Noropithecus is an extinct Old World monkey uncovered from the Early Miocene formations of Buluk, Kenya. It is known from a fragment of a right mandible. It is believed to have been arboreal and omnivorous.[1]

Palaeoecology

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The dental microwear of N. bulukensis indicates it ate grass and leaves, in contrast with its bunodont dentition and previous conclusions based on its dental morphology that it was a frugivore. This discrepancy can potentially be explained by the fact that dental microwear only reflects the diet in the last few days to weeks of an animal's life, and the studied individual may have predominantly eaten fruit in its life while happening to have mainly eaten leaves and grass in the last days of its life.[2]

References

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  1. ^ Miller, E.R.; B.R. Benefit; M.L. McCrossin; J.M. Plavcan; M.G. Leakey; A.N. El-Barkooky; M.A. Hamdan; M.K. Abdel Gawad; S.M. Hassan & E.L. Simons (2009). "Systematics of early and middle Miocene Old World monkeys". J Hum Evol. 57 (3): 195–211. Bibcode:2009JHumE..57..195M. doi:10.1016/j.jhevol.2009.06.006. PMID 19640562.
  2. ^ Fehringer, Leah K.; Beck, Catherine C.; Leakey, Louise N.; Princehouse, Patricia; Rowan, John; Russo, Gabrielle A.; Teaford, Mark F.; Uno, Kevin T.; Ungar, Peter S. (April 2025). "Dental microwear of Neogene cercopithecoids from the Turkana Basin, Kenya". Journal of Human Evolution. 201: 103646. doi:10.1016/j.jhevol.2024.103646. Retrieved 11 April 2025 – via Elsevier Science Direct.