Abstract
In 1944 a single mandibular specimen was found in Pyrgos, southern Greece.von Koenigswald (1972) described this specimen and allocated it to a new taxon,Graecopithecus freybergi.de Bonis and colleagues later described new hominid specimens from northern Greece and allocated them to the new taxon,Ouranopithecus macedoniensis.Martin andAndrews (1984), however, argued that there was no reason for maintaining a generic or specific distinction between the northern and southern Greek fossil populations as suggested byde Bonis andMelentis. This paper reexamines the taxonomic status of the southern and northern Greek hominids in light of recent fossil discoveries and concludes that there is no evidence for recognizing two hominine genera from the Miocene of Greece. There is evidence, however, to suggest that the Macedonian hominid is specifically distinct from the southern Greek hominid. Thus, becauseGraecopithecus has taxonomic priority overOuranopithecus, it is concluded that the Macedonian specimens should be allocated to a separate species ofGraecopithecus.
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Cameron, D.W. The taxonomic status ofGraecopithecus . Primates 38, 293–302 (1997). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02381616
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02381616
