Theropithecus oswaldi

{{Short description|Extinct species of Old World monkey}} {{Speciesbox | image = Theropithecus NMNH.jpg | image_caption = Fragmented jaw | fossil_range = Early to Middle Pleistocene 1 Million years ago | genus = Theropithecus | species = oswaldi | authority = (Andrews, 1916) | extinct = yes | subdivision_ranks = Subspecies | subdivision = * †''T. o. delsoni'' *† ''T. o. ecki'' *† ''T. o. oswaldi'' | synonyms = *''Theropithecus atlanticus''<ref name="ReviewOfOswaldGelada" /> *''Simopithecus oswaldi'' Andrews, 1916 *''Simopithecus jonathoni'' }}

'''''Theropithecus oswaldi''''' is an extinct species of ''Theropithecus'' from the Early to Middle Pleistocene of Kenya, Ethiopia, Tanzania, South Africa, Spain, Morocco, Algeria, and India.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://paleobiodb.org/classic/checkTaxonInfo?taxon_no=133587 |title=The Paleobiology Database |access-date=11 August 2013}}</ref><ref name="ReviewOfOswaldGelada">{{Cite journal |last1=Getahun |first1=Dagmawit Abebe |last2=Delson |first2=Eric |last3=Seyoum |first3=Chalachew Mesfin |date=July 2023 |title=A review of Theropithecus oswaldi with the proposal of a new subspecies |url=https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0047248423000520 |journal=Journal of Human Evolution |language=en |volume=180 |article-number=103373 |doi=10.1016/j.jhevol.2023.103373 |access-date=5 March 2026 |via=Elsevier Science Direct}}</ref> The species went extinct in South Africa around 1 million years ago.<ref>Faith, J.T., 2014. "Late Pleistocene and Holocene mammal extinctions on continental Africa". ''Earth-Science Reviews'' 128: 105–121</ref> Having existed alongside hominins like ''Homo erectus'', conflict with early humans likely played a role in their extinction, as a site has been found with many juveniles butchered.<ref>{{Cite journal|last1=Shipman|first1=Pat|last2=Bosler|first2=Wendy|date=June 1981|title=Butchering of Giant Geladas at an Acheulian Site|journal=Current Anthropology|volume=22|pages=257–288|doi=10.1086/202663 |jstor=2742201 |s2cid=87006937}}</ref><ref name="ReviewOfOswaldGelada" />

== Description == It is remarkable for its large size compared to other Old World monkeys. One source projects a specimen of ''Theropithecus oswaldi'' to have weighed {{cvt|72|kg}}.<ref>{{Citation|last1=Jablonski|first1=Nina|title=Jablonski, N.G. Leakey, M.G. and Anton, M. (2008) Systematic "Paleontology of the Cercopithecines". In: Jablonski, N.G. and Leakey, M.G. (eds.) ''Koobi Fora Research Project''. Vol. 6. "The Fossil Monkeys". California Academy of Sciences, San Francisco, pp. 103–300|date=1 January 2008|url=https://www.researchgate.net/publication/236259998|pages=103–300|access-date=3 May 2020|last2=Leakey|first2=Meave|last3=Anton|first3=Mauricio}}</ref> Postcranial fossils found of this species are much greater in size than extant papionins, including the mandrill.<ref>{{Cite journal|last1=Geraads|first1=Denis|last2=de Bonis|first2=Louis|date=6 Feb 2020|title=First record of Theropithecus (Cercopithecidae) from the Republic of Djibouti.|url=https://hal.sorbonne-universite.fr/hal-02468836/document|journal=Journal of Human Evolution|volume=138|article-number=102686 |doi=10.1016/j.jhevol.2019.102686 |pmid=31759254 |s2cid=208254366 |doi-access=free|bibcode=2020JHumE.13802686G }}</ref>

== Palaeoecology == According to δ13C values from fossils of the species from Swartkrans, ''T. oswaldi'' was a specialised grazer.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=van der Merwe |first1=Nikolaas J. |last2=Thackeray |first2=J.Francis |last3=Lee-Thorp |first3=Julia A. |last4=Luyt |first4=Julie |date=May 2003 |title=The carbon isotope ecology and diet of Australopithecus africanus at Sterkfontein, South Africa |url=https://linkinghub.elsevier.com/retrieve/pii/S0047248403000502 |journal=Journal of Human Evolution |language=en |volume=44 |issue=5 |pages=581–597 |doi=10.1016/S0047-2484(03)00050-2 |access-date=7 September 2024 |via=Elsevier Science Direct|url-access=subscription }}</ref> A dental microwear study of ''T. oswaldi'' specimens from Swartkrans found that their dietary patterns were similar to geladas, yellow baboons, and mantled guerezas and would have included leaves and grasses in addition to fruits.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=El-Zaatari |first1=Sireen |last2=Grine |first2=Frederick E. |last3=Teaford |first3=Mark F. |last4=Smith |first4=Heather F. |date=August 2005 |title=Molar microwear and dietary reconstructions of fossil cercopithecoidea from the Plio-Pleistocene deposits of South Africa |url=https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0047248405000497 |journal=Journal of Human Evolution |language=en |volume=49 |issue=2 |pages=180–205 |doi=10.1016/j.jhevol.2005.03.005 |access-date=4 November 2025 |via=Elsevier Science Direct}}</ref> A different dental microwear study based on fossils from the Omo Valley suggests that the diet of ''T. oswaldi'', like that of the modern day gelada, consisted primarily of the aerial parts of herbaceous monocots and dicots.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Merceron |first1=Gildas |last2=Kallend |first2=Auria |last3=Francisco |first3=Arthur |last4=Louail |first4=Margot |last5=Martin |first5=Florian |last6=Plastiras |first6=Christos-Alexandros |last7=Thiery |first7=Ghislain |last8=Boisserie |first8=Jean-Renaud |date=15 June 2021 |title=Further away with dental microwear analysis: Food resource partitioning among Plio-Pleistocene monkeys from the Shungura Formation, Ethiopia |url=https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0031018221001991 |journal=Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology |language=en |volume=572 |article-number=110414 |doi=10.1016/j.palaeo.2021.110414 |access-date=7 September 2024 |via=Elsevier Science Direct}}</ref> Yet another dental microwear study of ''T. oswaldi'' from Ahl al Oughlam in Morocco also evidenced that it primarily ate grasses.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Louail |first1=Margot |last2=Geraads |first2=Denis |last3=Daujeard |first3=Camille |last4=Gallotti |first4=Rosalia |last5=Lefèvre |first5=David |last6=Mohib |first6=Abderrahim |last7=Raynal |first7=Jean-Paul |last8=Merceron |first8=Gildas |date=January 2026 |title=A close-up at the paleoecology of the most western gelada relatives: Insights from dental microwear texture analysis |url=https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S004724842500137X |journal=Journal of Human Evolution |language=en |volume=210 |article-number=103784 |doi=10.1016/j.jhevol.2025.103784 |access-date=5 March 2026 |via=Elsevier Science Direct}}</ref> ''T. oswaldi'' fossils are also known from Elandsfontein,<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Forrest |first1=Frances L. |last2=Stynder |first2=Deano D. |last3=Bishop |first3=Laura C. |last4=Levin |first4=Naomi E. |last5=Lehmann |first5=Sophie B. |last6=Patterson |first6=David B. |last7=Matthews |first7=Thalassa |last8=Braun |first8=David R. |date=February 2018 |title=Zooarchaeological reconstruction of newly excavated Middle Pleistocene deposits from Elandsfontein, South Africa |url=https://linkinghub.elsevier.com/retrieve/pii/S2352409X1630801X |journal=Journal of Archaeological Science |language=en |volume=17 |pages=19–29 |doi=10.1016/j.jasrep.2017.10.034 |access-date=10 September 2024 |via=Elsevier Science Direct}}</ref> where they subsided on diets mainly composed of C3 plants as both browsers and grazers.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Lehmann |first1=Sophie B. |last2=Braun |first2=David R. |last3=Dennis |first3=Kate J. |last4=Patterson |first4=David B. |last5=Stynder |first5=Deano D. |last6=Bishop |first6=Laura C. |last7=Forrest |first7=Frances |last8=Levin |first8=Naomi E. |date=1 September 2016 |title=Stable isotopic composition of fossil mammal teeth and environmental change in southwestern South Africa during the Pliocene and Pleistocene |url=https://linkinghub.elsevier.com/retrieve/pii/S0031018216301249 |journal=Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology |language=en |volume=457 |pages=396–408 |doi=10.1016/j.palaeo.2016.04.042 |access-date=10 September 2024 |via=Elsevier Science Direct}}</ref>

==References== {{Reflist}}

Category:Papionini Category:Pleistocene mammals of Africa Category:Pleistocene mammals of Europe Category:Pleistocene mammals of Asia Category:Prehistoric monkeys Category:Pleistocene primates Category:Fossil taxa described in 1916 Category:Fossils of India