Askur (and Paul),
I've changed the topic title (and maybe should change the board to human paleontology) since you fellows seem curious to know more about Oreopithecus. You can discuss Oreo and its "bipedalism" (remember gibbons also are bipedal on the ground) here as much as you want (but please don't wade into the AAT swamp).
You can read the primary literature on which the above news articles by Bower (1997, 1999) and Discover (1997) are based at:
CLICK HEREand
CLICK HEREas well as a follow-up to the 1997 article at:
CLICK HEREThese are all available full text online (no Adobe Reader required although there are optional icons available to download the pdf free). I'd be remiss if I failed to mention that the article describing the "hominid-like precision grip capabilty" (Moya-Sola et al. 1999) has been challenged by:
Susman, R.L. (2004). Oreopithecus bambolii: an unlikely case of hominidlike grip capability in a Miocene ape. Journal of Human Evolution
Volume 46, Issue 1 , January 2004, Pages 105-117
Abstract
CLICK HERE"Oreopithecus bambolii, an ape from the late Miocene of Italy, is said to possess a hand capable of a precision grip like that of humans. Relative hand length, proportions of the thumb, and morphological features of the thumb and wrist were adduced to support the idea that Oreopithecus had a hand that closely matched the pattern in Australopithecus. A reappraisal of earlier arguments and comparisons of Oreopithecus with humans, apes, and Old World monkeys, reveals that Oreopithecus had an essentially apelike hand that emphasized apelike power grasping over humanlike precision grasping" (Susman 2004:105).
Oreopithecus is a strange creature, possibly bipedal when foraging short distances on the ground, generally considered a specialized hominoid side-branch, but not considered to be a hominin, nor even a hominid by most experts (regardless of what Marcel Williams says).
Dar
