Editing Sivapithecus

{{Short description|Genus of extinct Asian ape}}
{{Automatic taxobox
| fossil_range = {{Fossil range|12.5|8.5}}<small>[[Miocene]]</small>
| image = Sivapithecus sivalensis.JPG
| image_caption = ''S. indicus'' GSP 15000, on loan at the [[Natural History Museum, London]]
| display_parents = 2
| taxon = Sivapithecus
| authority = Pilgrim, 1910
| subdivision_ranks = Species
| subdivision = * ''S. sivalensis''
* ''S. parvada''
* ''S. indicus''
| synonyms = ''Brahmapithecus''<br />''Ramapithecus''<br />''Palaeopithecus sivalensis''
}}

'''''Sivapithecus''''' ({{lit|[[Shiva]]'s Ape}}) (syn: ''Ramapithecus)'' is a [[genus]] of [[extinct]] [[ape]]s. Fossil remains of animals now assigned to this genus, dated from 12.2 million years old<ref>{{harvnb|Sharma|2007|p=52}}</ref> in the [[Miocene]], have been found since the 19th century in the [[Sivalik Hills]] of the [[Indian subcontinent]] as well as in  [[Kutch]]. Any one of the species in this genus may have been the ancestor to the modern [[orangutan]]s.

Some early discoveries were given the separate names ''Ramapithecus'' ([[Rama]]'s Ape) and ''Bramapithecus'' ([[Brahma]]'s Ape), and were thought to be possible ancestors of humans.

==Discovery==
[[File:Palaeopithecus sivalensis Teylers.JPG|thumb|left|150px|Jaw fragments of ''S. sivalensis''.]] 
[[File:Sivapithecus punjabicus.JPG|thumb|left|150px|''S. punjabicus'' jaw]]

The first incomplete specimens of ''Sivapithecus'' were found in northern India in the late 19th century.

Another find was made in [[Nepal]] on the bank of the [[Tinau River]] situated in [[Palpa District]]; a western part of the country in 1932. This find was named "''Ramapithecus''". The discoverer, G. Edward Lewis, claimed that it was distinct from ''Sivapithecus'', as the jaw was more like a human's than any other fossil ape then known,<ref>{{harvnb|Gibbons|2006| p=64}}</ref> a claim revived in the 1960s. At that time, it was believed that the ancestors of humans had diverged from other apes 14 million years ago. Biochemical studies upset this view, suggesting that there was an early split between [[orangutan]] ancestors and the common ancestors of [[chimpanzee]]s, [[gorilla]]s and [[human]]s.
[[File:Sivapithecus indicus 3 (cropped).jpg|left|thumb|''S. indicus'' skull cast of GSP 15000. At the [[American Museum of Natural History|AMNH]].|252x252px]]
Meanwhile, more complete specimens of ''Ramapithecus'' were found in 1975 and 1976, which showed that it was less human-like than had been thought. It began to look more and more like ''Sivapithecus'', meaning that the older name must take priority. It is also possible that fossils assigned to ''Ramapithecus'' belonged to the female form of ''Sivapithecus''.<ref>{{harvnb|Gibbons|2006| pp=76–77}}</ref> They were definitely members of the same genus. It is also likely that they were already separate from the common ancestor of [[chimpanzee]]s, [[gorilla]]s and humans, which may be represented by the prehistoric [[great ape]] ''[[Nakalipithecus nakayamai]]''. Siwalik specimens once assigned to the genus ''Ramapithecus'' are now considered by most researchers to belong to one or more species of ''Sivapithecus''. ''Ramapithecus'' is no longer regarded as a likely ancestor of humans.

In 1982, [[David Pilbeam]] published a description of a significant fossil find from [[Pothohar Plateau|Potwar Plateau]], [[Pakistan]], formed by a large part of the face and jaw of a ''Sivapithecus''. The partial skull was likely scavenged after death. The specimen (GSP 15000) bore many similarities to the [[orangutan]] skull and strengthened the theory (previously suggested by others) that ''Sivapithecus'' was closely related to orangutans.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Pilbeam |first=David |date=January 1982 |title=New hominoid skull material from the Miocene of Pakistan |url=https://www.nature.com/articles/295232a0 |journal=Nature |language=en |volume=295 |issue=5846 |pages=232–234 |doi=10.1038/295232a0 |pmid=6799831 |bibcode=1982Natur.295..232P |issn=0028-0836|url-access=subscription }}</ref>

In 2011, a 10.8 million-year old ([[Neogene]] period) upper jawbone of ''Sivapithecus'' was found in [[Kutch district]] of [[Gujarat]], India. The find also extended ''Sivapithecus''' southern range in Indian subcontinent significantly. The species can not be identified.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Extinct ape evidence from Kutch|url=https://www.telegraphindia.com/science-tech/extinct-ape-evidence-from-kutch/cid/1675584|access-date=2020-09-07|website=www.telegraphindia.com|language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal|last1=Bhandari|first1=Ansuya|last2=Kay|first2=Richard F.|last3=Williams|first3=Blythe A.|last4=Tiwari|first4=Brahma Nand|last5=Bajpai|first5=Sunil|last6=Hieronymus|first6=Tobin|date=2018-11-14|editor-last=Charles|editor-first=Cyril|title=First record of the Miocene hominoid Sivapithecus from Kutch, Gujarat state, western India|journal=PLOS ONE|language=en|volume=13|issue=11|pages=e0206314|doi=10.1371/journal.pone.0206314|issn=1932-6203|pmc=6235281|pmid=30427876|bibcode=2018PLoSO..1306314B|doi-access=free}}</ref>

==Description==
''Sivapithecus'' was about {{convert|1.5|m|ft|0}} in body length, similar in size to a modern orangutan. In most respects, it would have resembled a chimpanzee, but its face was closer to that of an orangutan. The shape of its wrists and general body proportions suggest that it spent a significant amount of its time on the ground, as well as in trees.<ref name=EoDP>{{harvnb|Palmer|1999| pp=292–3}}</ref> It had large [[canine teeth]], and heavy [[molar (tooth)|molar]]s, suggesting a diet of relatively tough food, such as seeds and [[savannah]] grasses.<ref name=EoDP/>

Similarities to orangutans in what are chiefly jaw and partial skull fossils are a concave face with large [[zygomatic arch]] bones, narrow setting of eyes from each other, smoothness of nasal floor, and central incisor enlargement.<ref>{{cite web |title=Sivapithecus |url=https://www.britannica.com/topic/Sivapithecus |website=Britannica |publisher=Encyclopedia Britannica |access-date=30 December 2022}}</ref><ref name=EoDP/> However Sivapithecus' "dental characteristics and postcranial skeleton do not confirm this phylogenetic position" say Yaowalak Chaimanee of the Paleontology section of Thailand's [[Department of Mineral Resources (Thailand)|Department of Mineral Resources]] and colleagues, while reporting a find in 2003, so neat affinities are not the state of finding to date.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Chaimanee |first1=Yaowalak |title=A Middle Miocene hominoid from Thailand and orangutan origins |url=https://doi.org/10.1038/nature01449 |journal=Nature |year=2003 |volume=422 |issue=6927 |pages=61–65 |doi=10.1038/nature01449 |pmid=12621432 |bibcode=2003Natur.422...61C |s2cid=4422882 |access-date=30 December 2022|url-access=subscription }}</ref>

==Species==
Currently three species are generally recognized:
*'''''Sivapithecus indicus''''' fossils date from about 12.5 million to 10.5 million years ago.<ref>{{cite journal |first1=Michèle E. |last1=Morgan |first2=Kristi L. |last2=Lewton |first3=Jay |last3=Kelley |first4=Erik |last4=Otárola-Castillo |first5=John C. |last5=Barry |first6=Lawrence J. |last6=Flynn |first7=David |last7=Pilbeam |title=A partial hominoid innominate from the Miocene of Pakistan: Description and preliminary analyses |journal= Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences| date=8 December 2014 |volume=112 |issue=1 |pages=82–87 |doi=10.1073/pnas.1420275111|pmid=25489095 |pmc=4291661 |doi-access=free }}</ref>
*'''''Sivapithecus sivalensis''''' lived from 9.5 million to 8.5 million years ago. It was found at the [[Pothohar Plateau|Pothwar plateau]] in Pakistan as well as in parts of India. The animal was about the size of a chimpanzee but had the facial morphology of an orangutan; it ate soft fruit (detected in the toothwear pattern) and was probably mainly arboreal.
*'''''Sivapithecus parvada''''' described in 1988, this species is significantly larger and dated to about 10 million years ago.

==See also==
{{Div col}}
* ''[[Ankarapithecus]]''
* ''[[Griphopithecus]]''
* [[Ape#History of hominoid taxonomy|History of hominoid taxonomy]]
* [[Human evolutionary genetics]]
* ''[[Khoratpithecus]]''
* ''[[Lufengpithecus]]''
{{div col end}}

==Notes==
{{Reflist}}

==References==
{{Refbegin}}
* {{cite book
 | last = Gibbons
 | first = Ann
 | title = The first human
 | publisher = [[Doubleday (publisher)|Doubleday]]
 | year = 2006
 | isbn = 978-0-385-51226-8
 | url-access = registration
 | url = https://archive.org/details/firsthumanraceto00gibb
 }}
* {{cite book
 | last = Kelley | first = Jay
 | chapter = The hominoid radiation in Asia
 | title = The Primate Fossil Record | pages = 369–384
 | editor-last = Hartwig | editor-first = W | editor-link = Walter Hartwig
 | publisher = Cambridge University Press | year = 2002
 | isbn = 978-0-521-66315-1
}}
* {{cite book | last=Palmer | first=Douglas
 | title= The Marshall Illustrated Encyclopedia of Dinosaurs and Prehistoric Animals
 | publisher= Marshall Editions |year=1999 |location=London |pages= 292–293
 | isbn= 1-84028-152-9
}}
*{{cite book |page=52 |isbn=978-0-19-568785-9 |title=India's Ancient Past |first1=R.S. |last1=Sharma |year=2007|publisher=Oxford University Press }}
* {{cite book
 | last1 = Szalay | first1 = Frederick S.
 | last2 = Delson | first2 = Eric
 | title = Evolutionary History of the Primates
 | publisher = Academic Press | year = 1979 | location = New York
}}
{{Refend}}

==External links==
*{{usurped|1=[https://web.archive.org/web/20060119002803/http://www.modernhumanorigins.net/sivapithecus.html Photo]}} of the 1982 ''Sivapithecus'' skull ("GSP 15000")
* [http://humanorigins.si.edu/evidence/human-evolution-timeline-interactive Human Timeline (Interactive)] – [[Smithsonian Institution|Smithsonian]], [[National Museum of Natural History]] (August 2016).

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[[Category:Ponginae]]
[[Category:Prehistoric apes]]
[[Category:Miocene primates of Asia]]
[[Category:Fossil taxa described in 1910]]
[[Category:Prehistoric primate genera]]