Editing Oreopithecus (section)

{{Short description|Extinct genus of hominid from the Miocene}}
{{Automatic taxobox
| fossil_range = <br/>9–7 Million years ago
| image = Oreopithecus bambolii 1.JPG
| image_caption = ''Oreopithecus bambolii'' fossil
| taxon = Oreopithecus
| authority = [[Paul Gervais|Gervais]], 1872
| type_species = '''''Oreopithecus bambolii'''''
| type_species_authority = Gervais, 1872
}}

'''''Oreopithecus''''' (from the Greek {{lang|grc|[[wikt:ὄρος|ὄρος]]}}, {{transliteration|grc|oros}} and {{lang|grc|[[wikt:πίθηκος|πίθηκος]]}}, {{transliteration|grc|pithekos}}, meaning "hill-ape") is an [[extinction|extinct]]  genus of [[ape]] from the [[Miocene]] epoch whose [[fossil]]s have been found in today's [[Tuscany]] and [[Sardinia]] in [[Italy]].<ref name="NSW-20191223">{{cite news |last=Osbourne |first=Hannah |title=Strange swamp-dwelling prehistroic ape that counldn't walk on two legs or climb trees poses evolutionary puzzle |url=https://www.newsweek.com/strange-swamp-dwelling-prehistoric-ape-that-couldnt-walk-two-legs-climb-trees-poses-evolutionary-1478852 |date=December 23, 2019 |magazine=[[Newsweek]] |access-date=December 23, 2019 |df=dmy-all}}</ref> It existed 9–7 million years ago in the Tusco-Sardinian area when this region was an isolated island in a chain of islands stretching from [[central Europe]] to [[northern Africa]] in what was becoming the [[Mediterranean Sea]].{{efn|In what remained of the [[Tethys Sea]], or what was becoming the [[Mediterranean Sea]]; see [[Mediterranean Basin#Geology and paleoclimatology|Geology and paleoclimatology of the Mediterranean Basin]]; see also [[Messinian salinity crisis]].}}

''Oreopithecus'' was one of many European immigrants that settled this area in the [[Vallesian]]–[[Turolian]] transition and one of few hominoids, together with ''[[Sivapithecus]]'' in Asia, to survive the so-called [[Vallesian|Vallesian Crisis]].<ref name="Agustí">{{harvnb|Agustí|Antón|2002| pp=Prefix ''ix'', 174–175, 193, 197–199}}</ref> To date, dozens of individuals have been discovered at the [[Tuscany|Tuscan]] localities of <!-- ref for localities -->[[Montebamboli]], [[Montemassi]], Casteani, [[Ribolla]], and, most notably, in the fossil-rich lignite mine in the [[Baccinello|Baccinello Basin]],<ref name="Agustí" /> making it one of the best-represented fossil [[ape]]s.