Abstract
Three hominoid upper teeth collected prior to 1837 from late Miocene Bohnerz near Neuhausen, Swabian Alb (Germany) are described in detail for the first time and are attributed to Anoiapithecus brevirostris and Dryopithecus crusafonti (which shares morphological features with Udabnopithecus garedziensis ). Their discovery locus is not far from several other Bohnerz sites which have yielded dryopithecine teeth (Salmendingen, Melchingen, Trochtelfingen, Ebingen) of similar age (MN 7/8 – MN 9). These are the first ante-molar dryopithecine teeth recognised in Germany, and as such provide evidence concerning the affinities of the hominoids from the Swabian Alb. Previously described ape dento-gnathic samples from Germany comprised only molars, which are less diagnostic than the anterior dentition, a fact that has given rise to an extended debate about the affinities of these teeth. Detailed comparisons between the German hominoid fossils and those from Austria, Slovakia, Hungary, Georgia, Turkey and Spain, indicates that there may be five species of hominoids in the ensemble of Swabian Alb deposits ( Dryopithecus fontani, Neopithecus brancoi , possibly Griphopithecus sp., Anoiapithecus brevirostris, Udabnopithecus garedziensis (which could be a senior synonym of Dryopithecus crusafonti ) and Hispanopithecus laietanus ).
Highlights
In 1837, Herr Bergmeister Zobel (Ludwigsthal) donated a collection of fossils from Neuhausen (Fig. 1), which had been in his possession for an unknown period of time, to the State Museum of Natural History at Stuttgart (SMNS)
Three teeth from the site collected in 1837, were incorrectly identified as perissodactyls in 1839 (Jäger, 1839), two years after Lartet (1837) announced the discovery of the fossil that would eventually become known as Pliopithecus antiquus, and 17 years before Lartet (1856) described Dryopithecus fontani from St Gaudens, France
The fossils are curated at the State Museum of Natural History, Stuttgart, where they are stored with other material from the Bohnerz of the Swabian Alb, in the same cabinet as other ape fossils from Ebingen, Melchingen, Salmendingen and Trochtelfingen
Summary
In 1837, Herr Bergmeister Zobel (Ludwigsthal) donated a collection of fossils from Neuhausen (Fig. 1), which had been in his possession for an unknown period of time, to the State Museum of Natural History at Stuttgart (SMNS). The fossils featured in the 1839 publication by G.F. Jäger, who prepared a detailed illustrated catalogue of the fossil samples housed in the museum. If not all, of the fossils from Neuhausen listed by G.F. Jäger (1839) are still preserved in the SMNS, and can be positively identified thanks to the excellent quality of the illustrations published by him (Jäger, 1839, Pl. X) and to his hand-written labels which still accompany the fossils (Fig. 2)
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