Ramapithecus

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Ramapithecus A genus of extinct primates that lived about 12–14 million years ago. Fossil remains of ramapithecines have been found in India and Pakistan, the Near East, and East Africa. Early discoveries of jaw fragments suggested that they chewed from side to side and had fairly short muzzles, both of which are humanoid features. However, subsequent finds, including a complete jaw, were not hominoid, and ramapithecines are now regarded by many authorities as ancestral to the Asian great apes (e.g. orang-utans), not the hominids. See also Dryopithecus; Australopithecus.

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