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`!Parapithecidae`! is an now extinct family of `F33f`_`[primates`:/page/wikibook/entry.mu`zim=wikipedia_en_all_nopic_2025-08.zim|entry_path=Primates]`_`f which lived in the `F33f`_`[Eocene`:/page/wikibook/entry.mu`zim=wikipedia_en_all_nopic_2025-08.zim|entry_path=Eocene]`_`f and `F33f`_`[Oligocene`:/page/wikibook/entry.mu`zim=wikipedia_en_all_nopic_2025-08.zim|entry_path=Oligocene]`_`f periods in `F33f`_`[Egypt`:/page/wikibook/entry.mu`zim=wikipedia_en_all_nopic_2025-08.zim|entry_path=Egypt]`_`f. Eocene fossils from `F33f`_`[Myanmar`:/page/wikibook/entry.mu`zim=wikipedia_en_all_nopic_2025-08.zim|entry_path=Myanmar]`_`f are sometimes included in the family in addition. They showed certain similarities in dentition to `F33f`_`[Condylarthra`:/page/wikibook/entry.mu`zim=wikipedia_en_all_nopic_2025-08.zim|entry_path=Condylarthra]`_`f, but had short faces and jaws shaped like those of `F33f`_`[tarsiers`:/page/wikibook/entry.mu`zim=wikipedia_en_all_nopic_2025-08.zim|entry_path=Tarsier]`_`f. They are part of the superfamily `F33f`_`[Parapithecoidea`:/page/wikibook/entry.mu`zim=wikipedia_en_all_nopic_2025-08.zim|entry_path=Parapithecoidea]`_`f, perhaps equally related to `F33f`_`[Ceboidea`:/page/wikibook/entry.mu`zim=wikipedia_en_all_nopic_2025-08.zim|entry_path=Ceboidea]`_`f and `F33f`_`[Cercopithecoidea`:/page/wikibook/entry.mu`zim=wikipedia_en_all_nopic_2025-08.zim|entry_path=Cercopithecoidea]`_`f plus `F33f`_`[Hominoidea`:/page/wikibook/entry.mu`zim=wikipedia_en_all_nopic_2025-08.zim|entry_path=Hominoidea]`_`f - but the placement of Parapithecoidea is substantially uncertain.
The most commonly found fossil species of parapithecid is `*`F33f`_`[Apidium`:/page/wikibook/entry.mu`zim=wikipedia_en_all_nopic_2025-08.zim|entry_path=Apidium]`_`f phiomense`*, found like many of the species in the `F33f`_`[Jebel Qatrani Formation`:/page/wikibook/entry.mu`zim=wikipedia_en_all_nopic_2025-08.zim|entry_path=Jebel_Qatrani_Formation]`_`f in `F33f`_`[Egypt`:/page/wikibook/entry.mu`zim=wikipedia_en_all_nopic_2025-08.zim|entry_path=Egypt]`_`f. It appears to have been `F33f`_`[arboreal`:/page/wikibook/entry.mu`zim=wikipedia_en_all_nopic_2025-08.zim|entry_path=Arboreal]`_`f, `F33f`_`[diurnal`:/page/wikibook/entry.mu`zim=wikipedia_en_all_nopic_2025-08.zim|entry_path=Diurnality]`_`f and `F33f`_`[frugivorous`:/page/wikibook/entry.mu`zim=wikipedia_en_all_nopic_2025-08.zim|entry_path=Frugivore]`_`f and lived in social groups, and its `F33f`_`[postcranial`:/page/wikibook/entry.mu`zim=wikipedia_en_all_nopic_2025-08.zim|entry_path=Postcrania]`_`f skeleton is similar to that of extant species of `F33f`_`[pronograde`:/page/wikibook/entry.mu`zim=wikipedia_en_all_nopic_2025-08.zim|entry_path=Pronograde]`_`f leapers, indicating its likely form of locomotion.`:cite-ref-seiffert-1-0[`F5bf`_`[1`#cite-note-seiffert-1]`_`f]
Fossil evidence presented in 2020 suggests a parapithecid `F33f`_`[rafted`:/page/wikibook/entry.mu`zim=wikipedia_en_all_nopic_2025-08.zim|entry_path=Oceanic_dispersal]`_`f across the Atlantic in the Paleogene and at least briefly colonized South America. `*Ucayalipithecus`* remains dating from the Early Oligocene of Amazonian Peru are deeply nested within the Parapithecidae, and have dental features markedly different from those of `F33f`_`[platyrrhines`:/page/wikibook/entry.mu`zim=wikipedia_en_all_nopic_2025-08.zim|entry_path=Platyrrhine]`_`f. `*`F33f`_`[Qatrania`:/page/wikibook/entry.mu`zim=wikipedia_en_all_nopic_2025-08.zim|entry_path=Qatrania]`_`f wingi`* of lower Oligocene `F33f`_`[Fayum`:/page/wikibook/entry.mu`zim=wikipedia_en_all_nopic_2025-08.zim|entry_path=Faiyum_Oasis]`_`f deposits is considered the closest known relative of `*Ucayalipithecus`*.`:cite-ref-seiffert2020-2-0[`F5bf`_`[2`#cite-note-seiffert2020-2]`_`f] The absence of later finds from this group in South America indicates they were outcompeted by platyrrhines, which descend from a parallel anthropoid colonization of South America.
>>Contents
• `F0af`_`[Classification issues`#classification-issues]`_`f
• `F0af`_`[Genera`#genera]`_`f
• `F0af`_`[References`#references]`_`f
• `F0af`_`[External links`#external-links]`_`f
-─
>>Classification issues
Fleagle and Kay (1987) comment on the difficulty in adequately classifying Parapithecidae - they note various attempts over many years to classify them as a 'sister' `F33f`_`[taxon`:/page/wikibook/entry.mu`zim=wikipedia_en_all_nopic_2025-08.zim|entry_path=Taxon]`_`f of `F33f`_`[Old World monkeys`:/page/wikibook/entry.mu`zim=wikipedia_en_all_nopic_2025-08.zim|entry_path=Old_World_monkeys]`_`f, all other Old World `F33f`_`[anthropoids`:/page/wikibook/entry.mu`zim=wikipedia_en_all_nopic_2025-08.zim|entry_path=Simians]`_`f, `F33f`_`[platyrrhines`:/page/wikibook/entry.mu`zim=wikipedia_en_all_nopic_2025-08.zim|entry_path=Platyrrhines]`_`f or all other higher primates. They concluded that, given the number of features they lacked that anthropoids have, they should be considered 'the most primitive higher primates'.`:cite-ref-fleagle-3-0[`F5bf`_`[3`#cite-note-fleagle-3]`_`f]
Williams, Kay and Kirk (2010) note previous research by Jaeger et al. that placed Parapithecoidea as `F33f`_`[stem`:/page/wikibook/entry.mu`zim=wikipedia_en_all_nopic_2025-08.zim|entry_path=Stem_group]`_`f `F33f`_`[catarrhines`:/page/wikibook/entry.mu`zim=wikipedia_en_all_nopic_2025-08.zim|entry_path=Catarrhines]`_`f (i.e. `F33f`_`[simians`:/page/wikibook/entry.mu`zim=wikipedia_en_all_nopic_2025-08.zim|entry_path=Simians]`_`f (aka anthropoids) that are closely related to Old World Monkeys), but consider the evidence from Seiffert et al. (2005) that they are instead stem simians to be stronger.`:cite-ref-williams-4-0[`F5bf`_`[4`#cite-note-williams-4]`_`f]
Seiffert et al. (2010) propose that Parapithecoidea arose during the `F33f`_`[Bartonian`:/page/wikibook/entry.mu`zim=wikipedia_en_all_nopic_2025-08.zim|entry_path=Bartonian]`_`f (middle `F33f`_`[Eocene`:/page/wikibook/entry.mu`zim=wikipedia_en_all_nopic_2025-08.zim|entry_path=Eocene]`_`f), with a split between `*`F33f`_`[Biretia`:/page/wikibook/entry.mu`zim=wikipedia_en_all_nopic_2025-08.zim|entry_path=Biretia]`_`f`* and the Parapithecidae occurring early in the `F33f`_`[Priabonian`:/page/wikibook/entry.mu`zim=wikipedia_en_all_nopic_2025-08.zim|entry_path=Priabonian]`_`f (late Eocene). They note that Simons originally placed `*Serapia`* within the Parapithecidae, but in 2001 transferred `*Serapia`* to the `F33f`_`[Proteopithecidae`:/page/wikibook/entry.mu`zim=wikipedia_en_all_nopic_2025-08.zim|entry_path=Proteopithecidae]`_`f, a view supported by Gunnell and Miller (2001), Beard (2002) and Seiffert et al. (2004 & 2005a). The examination of the dentistry of `*`F33f`_`[Arsinoea`:/page/wikibook/entry.mu`zim=wikipedia_en_all_nopic_2025-08.zim|entry_path=Arsinoea]`_`f`* by Seiffert et al. led them to consider that `*Arsinoea`* may or may not be a parapithecid, although certainly parapithecoidal, and suggest that `*Arsinoea kallimos`* be treated as '`F33f`_`[incertae sedis`:/page/wikibook/entry.mu`zim=wikipedia_en_all_nopic_2025-08.zim|entry_path=Incertae_sedis]`_`f' within parapithecoidea. They separate the genus `*`F33f`_`[Qatrania`:/page/wikibook/entry.mu`zim=wikipedia_en_all_nopic_2025-08.zim|entry_path=Qatrania]`_`f`* into two, `*Abuqatrania`* for `*Qatrania basiodontos`* and `*Qatrania`* for the remaining species, and offer some support for Simons 2001 suggestion that `*Qatrania`*/`*Abuqatrania basiodontos`* may be ancestral to all other Parapithecidae, in particular noting that the fossils are 1 million years older than the next oldest parapithecid, `*Qatrania wingi`*.`:cite-ref-seiffert-1-1[`F5bf`_`[1`#cite-note-seiffert-1]`_`f]
Kay and Williams (2013, edited by Feagle and Kay), look at possible hypotheses about Parapithecidae:
\- that they and `F33f`_`[Propliopithecidae`:/page/wikibook/entry.mu`zim=wikipedia_en_all_nopic_2025-08.zim|entry_path=Propliopithecoidea]`_`f are closely related, with their common ancestor being related to `*`F33f`_`[Oligopithecus`:/page/wikibook/entry.mu`zim=wikipedia_en_all_nopic_2025-08.zim|entry_path=Oligopithecus]`_`f`* and the common ancestor of all three being related to the `F33f`_`[platyrrhines`:/page/wikibook/entry.mu`zim=wikipedia_en_all_nopic_2025-08.zim|entry_path=Platyrrhines]`_`f, and that more recent `F33f`_`[catarrhines`:/page/wikibook/entry.mu`zim=wikipedia_en_all_nopic_2025-08.zim|entry_path=Catarrhines]`_`f (i.e. `F33f`_`[Cercopithecoidea`:/page/wikibook/entry.mu`zim=wikipedia_en_all_nopic_2025-08.zim|entry_path=Cercopithecoidea]`_`f and `F33f`_`[Hominoidea`:/page/wikibook/entry.mu`zim=wikipedia_en_all_nopic_2025-08.zim|entry_path=Hominoidea]`_`f) are descended from the Propliopithecidae;
\- or that Parapithecidae and Propliopithecidae are closely related but their common ancestor is closely related to the platyrrhines and the common ancestor of all three being related to `*Oligopithecus`* with more recent catarrhines again being descended from the Propliopithecidae;
\- or that Propliopithecidae and `*Oligopithecus`* are closely related, and Parapithecicae are related to the common ancestor of both and the common ancestor of all three is related to the `F33f`_`[platyrrhines`:/page/wikibook/entry.mu`zim=wikipedia_en_all_nopic_2025-08.zim|entry_path=Platyrrhines]`_`f, with Cercopithecoidea being descended from the Parapithecidae and Hominoidea being descended from Propliopithecidae.`:cite-ref-kay1-5-0[`F5bf`_`[5`#cite-note-kay1-5]`_`f]
Kay and Williams recognise two subfamilies within Parapithecidae - Parapithcinae (`*Apidium`*, `*Parapithecus`* and `*Simonsius`*), which have dental features that indicate they are related, and Qatraniinae (`*Arsinoea`*, `*Qatrania`*, `*Serapia`*), which also share similar dental features to each other, but they are more primitive and the similarity may be because of shared lineage rather than being closely related.`:cite-ref-kay2-6-0[`F5bf`_`[6`#cite-note-kay2-6]`_`f]
>>Genera
• †`*`F33f`_`[Apidium`:/page/wikibook/entry.mu`zim=wikipedia_en_all_nopic_2025-08.zim|entry_path=Apidium]`_`f`* Osborn, 1908
• †`*`F33f`_`[Arsinoea`:/page/wikibook/entry.mu`zim=wikipedia_en_all_nopic_2025-08.zim|entry_path=Arsinoea]`_`f`* Simons, 1992
• †`*`F33f`_`[Biretia`:/page/wikibook/entry.mu`zim=wikipedia_en_all_nopic_2025-08.zim|entry_path=Biretia]`_`f`* Bonis et al., 1988
• †`*`F33f`_`[Parapithecus`:/page/wikibook/entry.mu`zim=wikipedia_en_all_nopic_2025-08.zim|entry_path=Parapithecus]`_`f`* Schlosser, 1910
• †`*`F33f`_`[Qatrania`:/page/wikibook/entry.mu`zim=wikipedia_en_all_nopic_2025-08.zim|entry_path=Qatrania]`_`f`* (including `*Abuqatrania`*) Simons & Kay, 1983
• †`*Serapia`* Simons, 1992
• †`*Simonsius`* Gingerich, 1978
• †`*Ucayalipithecus`* Seiffert et al., 2020
>>References
`:cite-note-seiffert-1`!1.`! `F0af`_`[↑`#cite-ref-seiffert-1-0]`_`f Seiffert, Erik & Simons, Elwyn & Fleagle, John & Godinot, Marc. (2010). Paleogene Anthropoids. pages 369-392. In 'Cenozoic Mammals of Africa' (editors Lars Wardelin and William Sanders) University of California Press 6 August 2010 `F33f`_`[ISBN`:/page/wikibook/entry.mu`zim=wikipedia_en_all_nopic_2025-08.zim|entry_path=ISBN_(identifier)]`_`f 978-0520257214
`:cite-note-seiffert2020-2`!2.`! `F0af`_`[↑`#cite-ref-seiffert2020-2-0]`_`f `:citerefseifferttejedorfleaglenovo2020`aSeiffert, E.R.; Tejedor, M.F.; Fleagle, J.G.; Novo, N.M.; Cornejo, F.M.; Bond, M.; de Vries, D.; Campbell, K.E. (2020). "A parapithecid stem anthropoid of African origin in the Paleogene of South America". `*Science`*. `!368`! (6487): 194–197. `F33f`_`[Bibcode`:/page/wikibook/entry.mu`zim=wikipedia_en_all_nopic_2025-08.zim|entry_path=Bibcode_(identifier)]`_`f:2020Sci...368..194S. `F33f`_`[doi`:/page/wikibook/entry.mu`zim=wikipedia_en_all_nopic_2025-08.zim|entry_path=Doi_(identifier)]`_`f:10.1126/science.aba1135. `F33f`_`[PMID`:/page/wikibook/entry.mu`zim=wikipedia_en_all_nopic_2025-08.zim|entry_path=PMID_(identifier)]`_`f 32273470. `F33f`_`[S2CID`:/page/wikibook/entry.mu`zim=wikipedia_en_all_nopic_2025-08.zim|entry_path=S2CID_(identifier)]`_`f 215550773.
`:cite-note-fleagle-3`!3.`! `F0af`_`[↑`#cite-ref-fleagle-3-0]`_`f `:citereffleaglekay1987`aFleagle, John G; Kay, Richard F (September 1987). "The phyletic position of the Parapithecidae". `*Journal of Human Evolution`*. `!16`! (6): 483–532. `F33f`_`[doi`:/page/wikibook/entry.mu`zim=wikipedia_en_all_nopic_2025-08.zim|entry_path=Doi_(identifier)]`_`f:10.1016/0047-2484(87)90036-4.
`:cite-note-williams-4`!4.`! `F0af`_`[↑`#cite-ref-williams-4-0]`_`f `:citerefwilliamskaykirk2010`aWilliams, Blythe A; Kay, Richard F; Kirk, E Christopher (January 2010). Walker, Alan (ed.). "New perspectives on anthropoid origins". `*`F33f`_`[PNAS`:/page/wikibook/entry.mu`zim=wikipedia_en_all_nopic_2025-08.zim|entry_path=PNAS]`_`f`*. `!107`! (11): 4797–4804. `F33f`_`[Bibcode`:/page/wikibook/entry.mu`zim=wikipedia_en_all_nopic_2025-08.zim|entry_path=Bibcode_(identifier)]`_`f:2010PNAS..107.4797W. `F33f`_`[doi`:/page/wikibook/entry.mu`zim=wikipedia_en_all_nopic_2025-08.zim|entry_path=Doi_(identifier)]`_`f:10.1073/pnas.0908320107. `F33f`_`[PMC`:/page/wikibook/entry.mu`zim=wikipedia_en_all_nopic_2025-08.zim|entry_path=PMC_(identifier)]`_`f 2841917. `F33f`_`[PMID`:/page/wikibook/entry.mu`zim=wikipedia_en_all_nopic_2025-08.zim|entry_path=PMID_(identifier)]`_`f 20212104.
`:cite-note-kay1-5`!5.`! `F0af`_`[↑`#cite-ref-kay1-5-0]`_`f Richard F. Kay, Blythe A Williams `*Anthropoid Origins: New Visions (Developments in Primatology: Progress and Prospects)`*, Springer, 2013, `F33f`_`[ISBN`:/page/wikibook/entry.mu`zim=wikipedia_en_all_nopic_2025-08.zim|entry_path=ISBN_(identifier)]`_`f 978-1461347002 page=365
`:cite-note-kay2-6`!6.`! `F0af`_`[↑`#cite-ref-kay2-6-0]`_`f Richard F. Kay, Blythe A Williams `*Anthropoid Origins: New Visions (Developments in Primatology: Progress and Prospects)`*, Springer, 2013, `F33f`_`[ISBN`:/page/wikibook/entry.mu`zim=wikipedia_en_all_nopic_2025-08.zim|entry_path=ISBN_(identifier)]`_`f 978-1461347002 page=409
>>External links
• biolib.cz
• encyclopedia.com
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