| The Columbia Encyclopedia, Sixth Edition. 2001-07. |
| |
| Dryopithecus |
| |
| |
(dr ´´ p th ´ks, –p th´ks) (KEY) , an extinct group of apes. Fossils about 20 million years old have been found in Africa, Asia, and Europe. Dryopithecus had a semierect posture and is generally believed to be ancestral to modern apes and man. Proconsul, a group of fossil apes that may have been the ancestor of the chimpanzee, is considered by some authorities to be a subgroup of Dryopithecus. |
| |
| | | The Columbia Encyclopedia, Sixth Edition. Copyright © 2007 Columbia University Press. |
|
|
