Proconsul africanus

Proconsul is one of the best represented Miocene hominoid in the fossil record. It lived from approximately 23 to 14 million years ago. From the full arrray of remains it has been shown that there was considerable variation in this genus. Body sizes ranged from that of a small monkey (10 pounds) to that of a female gorilla (150 pounds). They also inhabited a wide range of environmental niches. This included open woodlands as well as dense rain forests and it is believed that perhaps some were partially terrestrial. They exhibit the typical Old World anthropoid dental pattern of 2-1-2-3. Proconsul also has the typical 5-Y pattern of cusps seen in the lower molars of hominoids. Their teeth also consist of a thin layer of enamel which suggests that they were probably fruit eaters. Brain size estimates show that their brains were as large or larger than contemporary Old World monkeys though probably not as large as contemporary hominoids.