Buronius manfredschmidi november. gene. and sp. photos. Top panel: upper left holotype M2 (GPIT/MA/13005), A – occlusal, B – buccal, C – lingual, D – mesial, E – distal. Lower panel: lower left paratype P4 (GPIT/MA/13004), F – occlusal, G – buccal, H – lingual, I – mesial, J – distal. Scale bars are equal to 10 mm. Credit: Böhme et al., 2024, PLOS ONECC-BY 4.0 (creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/)
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Buronius manfredschmidi november. gene. and sp. photos. Top panel: upper left holotype M2 (GPIT/MA/13005), A – occlusal, B – buccal, C – lingual, D – mesial, E – distal. Lower panel: lower left paratype P4 (GPIT/MA/13004), F – occlusal, G – buccal, H – lingual, I – mesial, J – distal. Scale bars are equal to 10 mm. Credit: Böhme et al., 2024, PLOS ONECC-BY 4.0 (creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/)
Ancient apes in Germany were able to coexist by sharing resources in their environment, according to a study published June 7, 2024 in the open access journal PLOS ONE by Madelaine Böhme from the Eberhard Karls University of Tübingen, Germany and David R. Begun, from the University of Toronto, Canada and colleagues.
The Hammerschmiede fossil site in Bavaria, Germany, is best known for the exceptional remains of the ancient great ape Danuvius dating back to the late Miocene, 11.6 million years ago. Other experts dispute the strength of the evidence supporting whether Danuvius is a hominid and whether it is a new genus or not.
No Miocene site in Europe is known to have more than one species of fossil monkey, and Hammerschmiede has been no exception so far. In this study, Böhme and colleagues identify a second species of great apes from the same stratigraphic layer as Danuvius.
This new monkey is represented by partial remains of two teeth and one patella, the size and shape of which differ from those of Danuvius and all other known monkeys. The authors call this new species Buronius manfredschmidi.
Based on the structure of the teeth and kneecap, the authors conclude that Buronius was an adept climber who ate a diet of soft foods such as leaves. Based on the size of the fossils, the authors estimate a full body size of about 10 kg, making Buronius the smallest known great ape.
These features suggest that Buronius had a different lifestyle than Danuvius, a species with a larger body and a diet of harder foods. These differences likely allowed these two species to share a habitat without competing for resources, similar to modern gibbons and orangutans that share habitats in Borneo and Sumatra.
This is the first known example of a European Miocene fossil site with multiple ancient monkey species, although the authors suggest that re-examination of other similar sites could reveal more examples of this cohabitation behavior.
The authors add: ‘The new Hammerschmiede great ape, Buronius manfredschmidi, with a body weight of approximately 10 kg, is not only the smallest known crown monkey, but also the first confirmed case of hominid syntopia for Europe. the habitat with the omnivorous bipedal monkey Danuvius guggenmosi.”
More information:
Buronius manfredschmidi – A new small hominid from the Early Late Miocene of Hammerschmiede (Bavaria, Germany), PLoS ONE (2024). DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0301002
Magazine information:
PLoS ONE