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Ponginae

Orangutan subfamily of apes

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Evolutionary history

The first pongine genera appear in the Miocene, Sivapithecus and Khoratpithecus, six or seven million years before evidence of orangutans was found from Pleistocene southeast Asia and southern China. Ponginae may also include the genera Lufengpithecus, Ankarapithecus, and Gigantopithecus. However, phylogenetic analysis in 2004, which originally found Lufengpithecus and Ankarapithecus to be most closely related to the orangutan, gave different results "under an analytical method that attempted to reduce stratigraphic incongruence", instead placing them on the base of the stem of the African ape-human clade.

Meganthropus was considered by the majority of paleoanthropologists as falling within the variation of Homo erectus. However, a study from 2019 of tooth morphology found Meganthropus a valid genus of non-hominin hominid ape, most closely related to Lufengpithecus

The most well-known fossil genus of Ponginae is Sivapithecus, consisting of several species from 12.5 million to 8.5 million years ago. It differs from orangutans in dentition and postcranial morphology.

The largest fossil species of Ponginae is Gigantopithecus blacki, being the largest known member of the family Hominidae.

Taxonomy

Ponginae

  • †Lufengpithecini
    • †Lufengpithecus
      • Lufengpithecus lufengensis
      • Lufengpithecus keiyuanensis
      • Lufengpithecus hudienensis
    • †Meganthropus
      • Meganthropus palaeojavanicus
  • †Sivapithecini
    • †Ankarapithecus
      • Ankarapithecus meteai
    • †Sivapithecus
      • Sivapithecus parvada
      • Sivapithecus sivalensis
      • Sivapithecus indicus
    • †Gigantopithecus
      • Gigantopithecus bilaspurensis
      • Gigantopithecus blacki
    • †Indopithecus
      • Indopithecus giganteus
  • Pongini

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Monotypic taxonTaxonomic group with only one subordinate taxonSpecies descriptionFormal description of a discovered speciesParaphylyType of taxonomic groupIUCN Red ListInventory of the global conservation status of biological speciesSubtropicsGeographic and climate zoneCommon nameName generally used for a taxon, group of taxa or organism(s)