Lufengpithecus

• Yunnan (China)
• Chiang Muan Basin ( Thailand)

Lufengpithecus is an extinct genus of primates that occurred during the middle Miocene in Asia. In China discovered fossils, which are made to this genus, were mostly dated to the time millions of years ago around 9-8. In Thailand salvaged fossils, which also Lufengpithecus were attributed in 2003 to be 12-11 million years old.

The morphological features of the teeth and the bone below the head of Lufengpithecus resemble to some extent the characteristics of the extant orang- utans, which is why the genus Lufengpithecus is classified in the family of Ponginae and as a sister group of the genus Pongo ( = Orangutans ) Sivapithecus and Ankarapithecus applies.

The genus consists of the following ways:

• Lufengpithecus lufengensis: fossils from Shihuiba, Lufeng County, Yunnan Province, People's Republic of China
• Lufengpithecus yuanmouensis: fossils of Yuanmou, Yunnan Province, People's Republic of China
• Lufengpithecus chiangmuanensis: fossils from the Chiang Muan Basin in the north of Thailand.

The independence of Lufengpithecus chiangmuanensis is controversial; it has been proposed to interpret the findings as a local northern Thai variant of the type Lufengpithecus keiyuanensis.

Historical

The now united in the genus Lufengpithecus finds were originally assigned to various other genres. So the Xiaolongtan Coal Mine of Kaiyuan example, were discovered in 1956 in the area around five 10-8 million year old teeth and first as Dryopithecus keiyuanensis the genus Dryopithecus, but was later assigned as Ramapithecus keiyuanensis the genus Ramapithecus. In 1987, she was then run as an independent genus and since then called Lufengpithecus keiyuanensis; some findings had previously been referred to as Sivapithecus keiyuanensis.

Similarly confusing has long been the variety of names for the recovered since 1975 and dated to an age of 9 and 8 million years finds from Shihuiba; the same applies to the discovered since 1986, around 9 million year old finds from the Yuanmou Basin, for 1987 even include the names Homo habilis zhupengensis, Homo erectus and Homo zhupengensis orientalis had been proposed.

Today's standard, clear assignment of the finds from Yunnan to three species of a genus goes back to a review article published in 2002 by Terry Harrison.

Lufengpithecus is a portmanteau formed from the name of the circle in Lufeng County, Chuxiong Yi Autonomous in the Chinese province of Yunnan, and from the Greek word πίθηκος ( ancient Greek pronounced píthēkos: "Monkey " ), and thus means " ape of Lufeng ".