LUFENGPITHECUS AND ITS POTENTIAL RELATIONSHIP TO AN ORANGUTAN CLADE

Further study of the late Miocene hominoid material from Lufeng, China, substantiates the recognition of the genusLufengpithecus to distinguish this hominoid fromSivapithecus of Indo-Pakistan and Turkey. A broader comparison indicates thatLufengpithecus, and evenOuranopithecus andRudapithecus, share withSivapithecus andPongo some of the derived features previously used to argue that the latter two hominoids are sister taxa. A reinterpretation of the distribution of these more broadly shared derived features leads to the conclusion that these five hominoids are members of the same clade, within whichLufengpithecus may be most closely related to theSivapithecus-Pongo sister group. © 1990 Academic Press Limited.