| Pliobates | |
|---|---|
| |
| An artist's illustration of a Pliobates cataloniae face compared with its skull | |
| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Mammalia |
| Order: | Primates |
| Suborder: | Haplorhini |
| Superfamily: | Hominoidea |
| Family: | †Pliobatidae Alba et al. 2015 |
| Genus: | †Pliobates Alba et al. 2015 |
| Species: | †P. cataloniae |
| Binomial name | |
| Pliobates cataloniae Alba et al. 2015 | |
Pliobates cataloniae is a species of stem-ape that was found to be the sister taxon to gibbons and great apes and humans. Its anatomy is gibbon-like; prior to this discovery, it was assumed that the ancestral ape bauplan was robust like Proconsul. This species has mosaic characteristics of primitive, monkey-like features and the more derived ape characteristics; it was, however, not a direct ancestor of modern apes but rather a side-branch that retained the ancestral morphotype and was thus placed in its own family Pliobatidae.