| Oligopithecus Temporal range: Early Oligocene | |
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| An artist's illustration of Oligopithecus savagei | |
| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Mammalia |
| Order: | Primates |
| Superfamily: | †Propliopithecoidea |
| Family: | †Oligopithecidae |
| Genus: | †Oligopithecus Simons, 1962 |
| Species: | †O. savagei |
| Binomial name | |
| Oligopithecus savagei Simons, 1962 | |
Oligopithecus is a species that is surrounded by a certain feature. It has traits of both monkeys and apes, but does not seem to belong to any of these relatives. It is possible that it is related to modern gibbons, which it resembles, and which also seems to be a wholly own kind.
Oligopithecus had incredibly long arms, and swung himself up probably between treetops throughout life. The teeth show that it was an omnivore, mostly leaves and insects; today's gibbons eat almost only fruit. It was about 1 metre (3 feet) in length and was found in Oligocene rocks in Africa, (hence its name, Oligopithecus meaning "Oligocene Ape")