DRYOPITHECUS

genus of extinct apelike animals that is representative of a group of small, generalized apes that contains the ancestors of both the modern apes and humans. Although Dryopithecus has been known by a variety of names based upon fragmentary material found over a widespread area including Europe, Africa, and Asia, it appears probable that only a single genus is represented. Dryopithecus is found as fossils in Miocene and Pliocene deposits (23.7 to 1.6 million years old) and apparently originated in Africa. Several distinct forms of Dryopithecus are known, including small, medium, and large, gorilla-sized animals. In many ways, as might be expected, Dryopithecus is rather generalized in structure and lacks most of the specializations that distinguish the modern apes from modern humans. The canine teeth are larger than those in humans but not as strongly developed as those in modern apes. The limbs were not excessively longan adaptation in the apes for swinging through the trees. The skull lacked the well-developed crests and massive brow ridges found in modern apes. Dryopithecus proper likely gave rise to the modern gorillas and chimpanzees. Sometime during the Miocene Epoch, the dryopithecines gave rise to a derivative that eventually led to the earliest humanlike forms and finally to humans. A form close to this branching of the dryopithecine stock is represented by the genus Ramapithecus, distinguished by its more advanced dentition. The dryopithecines probably inhabited forested areas.