Anapithecus

Anapithecus (pronounced Ana-PITH-i-kuhs; from Greek πίθηκος pithekos "ape") is a late Miocene primate (10 million years old) known from fossil locations in Hungary and Austria. Many Anapithecus fossils come from the site of Rudabánya, in northern Hungary, where Anapithecus lived alongside the ape Rudapithecus. The only species in the genus, Anapithecus hernyaki, is named after Gabor Hernyák, chief geologist of the Iron Ore Works of Rudabánya.

==Classification and phylogeny== Anapithecus belongs to the clade Pliopithecoidea, an extinct group of primates that inhabited Eurasia during the Miocene epoch (17-7 million years ago). Pliopithecoids are catarrhine primates, sharing a common ancestor, and many physical characteristics, with both apes and Old World monkeys. Evolutionarily speaking pliopithecoids are considered to be a primitive side-branch of the catarrhine family tree, which diverged over 20 million years ago, prior to the split between apes and Old World monkeys. Among the pliopithecoids, Anapithecus is classified as a crouzeliine. The crouzeliines are characterized by having molars with high, sharp crests and deep occlusal basins. These crests have been suggested to be indicative of folivory.