Brief communication: Cranial reconstruction of Dryopithecus

Abstract

This paper presents the first three-dimensional reconstruction of the cranium of the European Miocene ape, Dryopithecus. The reconstruction is based on remains collected from Can Llobateres, Spain (CLI 18000; Dryopithecus laietanus), D. fontani (St. Gaudens), and D. brancoi (Kordos and Begun [1997] Am. J. Phys. Anthropol. 103:277-294). Previously unrecognized facial fragments from CLI 18000 were included in the reconstruction. The result shows that Dryopithecus had a relatively short face, with a rather short and well-rounded neurocranium. From the lateral perspective, the face is concave at midface, and on the cranium the temporal lines run parallel to each other without forming a sagittal crest.