Theropithecus oswaldi is ancestral to the modern day Gelada babooon confined today to the Ethiopian highlands. Theropithecus oswaldi replaced Theropithecus brumpti in the fossil record in the Turkana Basin at around 2.5 million years. This large monkey is well adapted a grass rich diet and males were larger and heavier than the females. The molars are high crowned and have thick enamel. Body weight estimates show that the body size of this species increased over time and that just before it became extinct around 500,000 years ago that the males were equivalent in size to a female gorilla and may have weighed as much as 100 kilograms. This skull belonged to a juvenile individual as seen by its dentition. This specimen was found in 2007 by Habiba Chichir in Area 130 of East Turkana.
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Theropithecus oswaldi
KNMER 60609 Age approx. 1.80 Million Years
Digital Capture: Structured Light Scanner f8030-07 0 Comments 
Forum Order: Primates Family: Cercopithecidae Genus: Theropithecus Species: oswaldi Element: Skull Locality: Area 130 Year of Discovery: 2007 Other Fossils to View |
