Editing Pierolapithecus (section)

== Classification ==
''Pierolapithecus'' demonstrates derived facial features and apelike skeletal adaptations that suggest that it is an early member of the ape [[clade]]. This genus, 12.5-13 mya in age, postdates the hylobatid-[[Hominidae|hominid]] split, which occurred anywhere from 14.9±2 or 14.6±2.6 mya. Much of the skeleton is derived, but the shortened phalanges are indicative of palmigrade adaptations that are primitive. This mosaic is important in ape evolution.<ref name="MoyaSola2004" /> The large amount of homoplasy in ape locomotion creates considerable [[Taxonomy (biology)|taxonomic]] confusion. The late [[Middle Miocene]] is the farthest trace of a ''Pierolapithecus''-like character group, and assuming that this identifies the earliest apes, is the farthest trace of hominids. As well, early hominids are substantially more primitive than estimated, which may explain why no early great apes were previously reported.<ref name="MoyaSola2004" /> These early traits would have been maintained, overlaid, and modified to suite new adaptations that occurred independently.<ref name="Almécija-2009" />

''Pierolapithecus'' and ''[[Anoiapithecus]]'' may be synonymous with ''Dryopithecus'',<ref name="Begun2015"/> but both have enough craniofacial differences to justify separation.<ref name="Alba-2010"/> Placement as a basal hominid is supported by the comparison of the thick enamel from the [[Afropithecidae|afropithecids]], which may be ancestral to apes.<ref name="Alba-2010">{{Cite journal |last1=Alba |first1=D. M. |last2=Fortuny |first2=J. |last3=Moyà-Solà |first3=S. |date=2010 |title=Enamel thickness in the Middle Miocene great apes Anoiapithecus , Pierolapithecus and Dryopithecus |journal=Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences |language=en |volume=277 |issue=1691 |pages=2237–2245 |doi=10.1098/rspb.2010.0218 |issn=0962-8452 |pmc=2880156 |pmid=20335211}}</ref> Other hypotheses are that the taxon represents a stem pongine.<ref name="Pérez de los Ríos-2012">{{Cite journal |last1=Pérez de los Ríos |first1=Miriam |last2=Moyà-Solà |first2=Salvador |last3=Alba |first3=David M. |date=2012-09-01 |title=The nasal and paranasal architecture of the Middle Miocene ape Pierolapithecus catalaunicus (primates: Hominidae): Phylogenetic implications |url=https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0047248412000978 |journal=Journal of Human Evolution |volume=63 |issue=3 |pages=497–506 |doi=10.1016/j.jhevol.2012.05.012 |pmid=22819226 |bibcode=2012JHumE..63..497P |issn=0047-2484|url-access=subscription }}</ref> Rather than a full common ancestor, it has been suggested that the species may be ancestral to humans, chimpanzees and [[gorilla]]s but not [[orangutan]]s, given certain facial characteristics.<ref name="Begun2015">{{cite book |last1=Begun |first1=D. R. |title=Fossil record of Miocene hominoids. |date=2015 |publisher=Springer |isbn=978-3-642-39980-0 |edition=2nd |location=Berlin |pages=1304–1306 |ref=3}}</ref> This genus is distinguished from pongines and share traits with extant [[Homininae|hominines]], suggesting a sister relationship with ''Dryopithecus'' (possibly in a tribe called Dryopithecini, having thick and thin enamel much like ''[[Ardipithecus]]''/[[Australopithecine|australopiths]] and ''[[Pan (genus)|Pan]]''/hominins).<ref name="Sevim-Erol-2023">{{Cite journal |last1=Sevim-Erol |first1=Ayla |last2=Begun |first2=D. R. |last3=Sözer |first3=Ç Sönmez |last4=Mayda |first4=S. |last5=van den Hoek Ostende |first5=L. W. |last6=Martin |first6=R. M. G. |last7=Alçiçek |first7=M. Cihat |date=2023-08-23 |title=A new ape from Türkiye and the radiation of late Miocene hominines |journal=Communications Biology |language=en |volume=6 |issue=1 |page=842 |doi=10.1038/s42003-023-05210-5 |issn=2399-3642 |pmc=10447513 |pmid=37612372}}</ref> A reconstruction of the face of ''Pierolapithecus catalaunicus'' indicates its morphology as most consistent with a phylogenetic placement as a [[Crown group#Stem groups|stem]] [[Hominidae|hominid]].<ref>{{Cite journal|last1=Pugh |first1=K. D. |last2=Catalano |first2=S. A. |last3=Pérez de los Ríos |first3=M. |last4=Fortuny |first4=J. |last5=Shearer |first5=B. M. |last6=Vecino Gazabón |first6=A. |last7=Hammond |first7=A. S. |last8=Moyà-Solà |first8=S. |last9=Alba |first9=D. M. |last10=Almécija |first10=S. |year=2023 |title=The reconstructed cranium of ''Pierolapithecus'' and the evolution of the great ape face |journal=Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America |volume=120 |issue=44 |at=e2218778120 |doi=10.1073/pnas.2218778120 |pmid=37844214 |pmc=10622906 |bibcode=2023PNAS..12018778P }}</ref>