# Theropithecus oswaldi > Mediated Wiki article. Canonical URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Theropithecus_oswaldi > Markdown URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Theropithecus_oswaldi.md > Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Theropithecus_oswaldi > Source revision: 1344162118 > License: Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/) {{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 = * [†](/source/Extinction)''T. o. delsoni'' *† ''T. o. ecki'' *† ''T. o. oswaldi'' | synonyms = *''Theropithecus atlanticus'' *''Simopithecus oswaldi'' Andrews, 1916 *''Simopithecus jonathoni'' }} '''''Theropithecus oswaldi''''' is an [extinct](/source/Extinction) [species](/source/species) of ''[Theropithecus](/source/Theropithecus)'' from the [Early](/source/Early_Pleistocene) to [Middle Pleistocene](/source/Middle_Pleistocene) of [Kenya](/source/Kenya), [Ethiopia](/source/Ethiopia), [Tanzania](/source/Tanzania), [South Africa](/source/South_Africa), [Spain](/source/Spain), [Morocco](/source/Morocco), [Algeria](/source/Algeria), and [India](/source/India).{{cite web |url=https://paleobiodb.org/classic/checkTaxonInfo?taxon_no=133587 |title=The Paleobiology Database |access-date=11 August 2013}}{{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](/source/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}} The species went extinct in South Africa around 1 million years ago.Faith, J.T., 2014. "Late Pleistocene and Holocene mammal extinctions on continental Africa". ''Earth-Science Reviews'' 128: 105–121 Having existed alongside [hominins](/source/Hominini) like ''[Homo erectus](/source/Homo_erectus)'', conflict with early humans likely played a role in their extinction, as a site has been found with many juveniles butchered.{{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](/source/Current_Anthropology)|volume=22|pages=257–288|doi=10.1086/202663 |jstor=2742201 |s2cid=87006937}} == Description == It is remarkable for its large size compared to other [Old World monkey](/source/Old_World_monkey)s. One source projects a [specimen](/source/Biological_specimen) of ''Theropithecus oswaldi'' to have weighed {{cvt|72|kg}}.{{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}} [Postcranial](/source/postcranium) [fossil](/source/fossil)s found of this species are much greater in size than extant [papionins](/source/Papionini), including the [mandrill](/source/mandrill).{{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](/source/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 }} == Palaeoecology == According to [δ13C](/source/%CE%9413C) values from fossils of the species from [Swartkrans](/source/Swartkrans), ''T. oswaldi'' was a specialised [grazer](/source/Grazing).{{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](/source/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 }} A [dental microwear](/source/dental_microwear) study of ''T. oswaldi'' specimens from Swartkrans found that their dietary patterns were similar to [gelada](/source/gelada)s, [yellow baboon](/source/yellow_baboon)s, and [mantled guereza](/source/mantled_guereza)s and would have included [leaves](/source/Leaf) and [grass](/source/grass)es in addition to [fruit](/source/fruit)s.{{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](/source/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}} A different dental microwear study based on fossils from the [Omo Valley](/source/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](/source/Monocotyledon) and [dicots](/source/Dicotyledon).{{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](/source/Palaeogeography%2C_Palaeoclimatology%2C_Palaeoecology) |language=en |volume=572 |article-number=110414 |doi=10.1016/j.palaeo.2021.110414 |access-date=7 September 2024 |via=Elsevier Science Direct}} Yet another dental microwear study of ''T. oswaldi'' from [Ahl al Oughlam](/source/Ahl_al_Oughlam) in Morocco also evidenced that it primarily ate grasses.{{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](/source/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}} ''T. oswaldi'' fossils are also known from Elandsfontein,{{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](/source/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}} where they subsided on diets mainly composed of [C3 plants](/source/C3_plants) as both [browsers](/source/Browsing_(herbivory)) and grazers.{{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](/source/Palaeogeography%2C_Palaeoclimatology%2C_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}} ==References== {{Reflist}} {{Taxonbar|from=Q14762458}} 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 {{paleo-primate-stub}} --- Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Theropithecus oswaldi](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Theropithecus_oswaldi) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Theropithecus_oswaldi?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.