VOOZH about

URL: https://www.mindat.org/taxon-3239599.html

⇱ Pliopithecidae


👁 Image
Now Featuring: The Bruce Carter Collection at Heritage Auctions, Live May 16th
Log InRegister
AboutSupport UsPhotosDiscussionsSearchLearnMore

👁 Image
Pliopithecidae ✝

This page is currently not sponsored. Click here to sponsor this page.
Photos
Description

The family Pliopithecidae is an extinct family of fossil catarrhines and members of the Pliopithecoidea superfamily. Their anatomy combined primitive features such as a small braincase, a long snout, and a tail. At the same time, they possessed more advanced features such as stereoscopic vision and ape-like teeth and jaws, clearly distinguishing them from monkeys.


Source Data
SourceIDLink
Global Biodiversity Information Facility ID (GBIF)3239599https://www.gbif.org/species/3239599
PaleoBioDB ID (PBDB)40884https://paleobiodb.org/classic/checkTaxonInfo?taxon_no=40884
Rankfamily
Taxonomy (GBIF,PBDB)Life : Animalia : Chordata : Mammalia : Primates : Pliopithecidae
Taxonomic Status (GBIF)accepted
Classification
(PBDB,GBIF)
RankNameAuthor
-Eukaryota
-OpisthokontaCavalier-Smith 1987
kingdomAnimalia
-TriploblasticaLankester 1877
-NephrozoaJondelius et al. 2002
-DeuterostomiaGrobben 1908
phylumChordataHaeckel 1847
subphylumVertebrataLamarck 1801
superclassGnathostomataGegenbauer 1874
-Osteichthyes
-SarcopterygiiRomer 1955
subclassDipnotetrapodomorpha
subclassTetrapodomorpha
-Tetrapoda
-ReptiliomorphaSäve-Söderbergh 1934
-AnthracosauriaSäve-Söderbergh 1934
-Batrachosauria
-Cotylosauria
-AmniotaHaeckel 1866
-SynapsidaOsborn 1903
-Therapsida
infraorderCynodontia
-EpicynodontiaHopson and Kitching 2001
infraorderEucynodontiaKemp 1982
-ProbainognathiaHopson 1990
-MammaliamorphaRowe 1988
-MammaliaformesRowe 1988
classMammaliaLinnaeus 1758
orderPrimatesLinnaeus 1758
infraorderHaplorhini
-Anthropoidea
infraorderCatarrhiniGeoffroy Saint-Hilaire 1812
superfamilyPliopithecoideaZapfe 1961
familyPliopithecidaeZapfe 1961
Scientific NamePliopithecidae
Opinions (PBDB)
NameRankOpinionEvidenceAuthor
Pliopithecidaefamilybelongs to Catarrhinistated with evidenceCiochon and Corruccini, 1977
Pliopithecidaefamilybelongs to HominoideaimpliedCarroll, 1988
Pliopithecidaefamilybelongs to Pliopithecoideastated without evidenceHarrison et al., 1991
Pliopithecidaefamilybelongs to Pliopithecoideastated with evidenceRossie and MacLatchy, 2006
Pliopithecidaefamilybelongs to Pliopithecoideastated without evidenceAlba and Moyà-Solà, 2012
Status (PBDB)extinct
Taxon Size (PBDB)30
First Recorded Appearance23.0 - 16.0 Ma
Miocene
Last Recorded Appearance8.70 - 5.33 Ma
Miocene
Environmentterrestrial (based on Mammalia)
Motilityactively mobile (based on Osteichthyes)
Dietomnivore (based on Primates)
Taphonomyphosphatic (based on Vertebrata)
Primary Reference (PBDB)R. L. Carroll. 1988. Vertebrate Paleontology and Evolution
Wikipediahttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pliopithecidae

Fossil Distribution

Subtaxa

NameStatusCommon Name(s)Fossil OccurrencesOldestYoungest
👁 Image
Dionysopithecinae
subfamily
listed (PBDB)220.4 Ma
Miocene
20.4 Ma
Miocene
👁 Image
Pliopithecinae
subfamily
listed (PBDB)2623.0 Ma
Miocene
8.70 Ma
Miocene
👁 Image
Aegyptopithecus
genus
accepted (GBIF)
listed (PBDB)
233.9 Ma
Oligocene
33.9 Ma
Oligocene
👁 Image
Algeripithecus
genus
accepted (GBIF)
listed (PBDB)
456.0 Ma
Paleocene
56.0 Ma
Paleocene
👁 Image
Branisella
genus
accepted (GBIF)
listed (PBDB)
429.0 Ma
Oligocene
29.0 Ma
Oligocene
👁 Image
Laccopithecus
genus
accepted (GBIF)
listed (PBDB)
78.70 Ma
Miocene
8.70 Ma
Miocene
👁 Image
Pliopithecus
genus
accepted (GBIF)
listed (PBDB)
1520.4 Ma
Miocene
12.8 Ma
Miocene
👁 Image
Propliopithecus
genus
accepted (GBIF)
listed (PBDB)
733.9 Ma
Oligocene
33.9 Ma
Oligocene
👁 Image
Simiolus
genus
accepted (GBIF)
listed (PBDB)
120.4 Ma
Miocene
20.4 Ma
Miocene

Synonymy List

YearName and Author
1961Pliopithecidae Zapfe
1977Pliopithecidae Ciochon and Corruccini p. 297
1988Pliopithecidae Carroll
1991Pliopithecidae Harrison et al. p. 332
1999Pliopithecidae Harrison and Gu p. 231
2001Pliopithecidae Moyà?Solà et al.
2006Pliopithecidae Rossie and MacLatchy p. 577
2012Pliopithecidae Alba and Moyà-Solà

References

Carroll R. L. (1988) , Vertebrate Paleontology and Evolution, 1-698
Harrison T., Delson E., et al (1991) A new species of Pliopithecus from the middle Miocene of China and its implications for early catarrhine zoogeography, Journal of Human Evolution 21 5, 329-361
Harrison T., Gu Y. (1999) Taxonomy and phylogenetic relationships of early Miocene catarrhines from Sihong, China 37 2, 225-277
Moyà‐Solà S., Köhler M., et al (2001) Egarapithecus narcisoi, a new genus of Pliopithecidae (Primates, Catarrhini) from the Late Miocene of Spain, American Journal of Physical Anthropology 114, 312-324
Rossie J. B., MacLatchy L. (2006) A new pliopithecoid genus from the early Miocene of Uganda, Journal of Human Evolution 50 5, 568-586
Alba D.M., Moyà-Solà S. (2012) A New Pliopithecid Genus (Primates: Pliopithecoidea) From Castell de Barberà (Vallès‐Penedès Basin, Catalonia, Spain), American Journal of Physical Anthropology 147 1, 88-112
Benton, M.J. (ed). (1993). The Fossil Record 2. Chapman & Hall, London, 845 pp. - via The Interim Register of Marine and Nonmarine Genera
SN2000: Brands, S. J. (compiler) 1989-2005. Systema Naturae 2000. Amsterdam, The Netherlands (2006 version). Available online at http://sn2000.taxonomy.nl/. - via The Interim Register of Marine and Nonmarine Genera
Data courtesy of: PBDB: The Paleobiology Database, Creative Commons CC-BY licenced. , GBIF: the Global Biodiversity Information Facility, various licences, iDigBio, various licences, and EOL: The Encyclopedia of Life (Open Data Public Domain). Because fossils are made of minerals too!
Mindat.org® is an outreach project of the Hudson Institute of Mineralogy, a 501(c)(3) not-for-profit organization. Mindat® and mindat.org® are registered trademarks of the Hudson Institute of Mineralogy.
Copyright © mindat.org and the Hudson Institute of Mineralogy 1993-2026, except where stated. Most political location boundaries are © OpenStreetMap contributors. Mindat.org relies on the contributions of thousands of members and supporters. Founded in 2000 by Jolyon Ralph and Ida Chau.
To cite: Ralph, J., Von Bargen, D., Martynov, P., Zhang, J., Que, X., Prabhu, A., Morrison, S. M., Li, W., Chen, W., & Ma, X. (2025). Mindat.org: The open access mineralogy database to accelerate data-intensive geoscience research. American Mineralogist, 110(6), 833–844. doi:10.2138/am-2024-9486.
Privacy Policy - Terms & Conditions - Contact Us / DMCA issues - Report a bug/vulnerability Current server date and time: April 4, 2026 19:57:02 Page updated: July 30, 2025 08:03:56
Go to top of page