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''Oreopithecus'' is an extinct hominoid primate from the Miocene epoch whose fossils have been found in today's Tuscany and Sardinia in Italy; (from the Greek ὄρος, oros and πίθηκος, pithekos, meaning "hill-ape"). It existed 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.〔In what remained of the Tethys Sea or what was becoming the Mediterranean Sea; see Geology and paleoclimatology of the Mediterranean Basin; see also Messinian salinity crisis〕 ''Oreopithecus'' was one of a large number of 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 Crisis. To date, dozens of individuals have been discovered at the Tuscan localities of Montebamboli, Montemassi, Casteani, Ribolla, and, most notably, in the fossil-rich lignite mine in the Baccinello Basin,〔 making it one of the best-represented fossil apes. ==Evolutionary history== ''Oreopithecus bambolii'' was first described by French paleontologist Paul Gervais in 1872. In the 1950s, Swiss paleontologist Johannes Hürzeler discovered a complete skeleton in Baccinello and claimed it was a true hominin—based on its short jaws and reduced canines, at the time considered diagnostic of the hominin family; and claimed it was a biped—because the short pelvis was closer to those of hominins than those of chimpanzees and gorillas. Hominin affinities claimed for ''Oreopithecus'' remained controversial for decades until new analyses in the 1990s reasserted that ''Oreopithecus'' was directly related to ''Dryopithecus''. The peculiar cranial and dental features were explained as consequences of insular isolation. These new evidences confirmed that ''Oreopithecus'' was bipedal but also revealed that its peculiar form of bipedalism was much different from that of ''Australopithecus''. The hallux formed a 100° angle with the other toes, which enabled the foot to act as a tripod in erect posture, but prevented ''Oreopithecus'' from developing a fast bipedal stride. When a land bridge broke the isolation of the Tusco-Sardinian area , large predators such as ''Machairodus'' and ''Metailurus'' were present among the new generation of European immigrants and ''Oreopithecus'' faced quick extinction together with other endemic genera. 〔 〔A parallel to the Great American Interchange two million years later〕 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Oreopithecus」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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