A new dryopithecine mandibular fragment from the middle Miocene of Abocador de Can Mata and the taxonomic status of ‘Sivapithecus’ occidentalis from Can Vila (Vallès-Penedès Basin, NE Iberian Peninsula)

Abstract

The Miocene vertebrate record from the Vallès-Penedes Basin differs from that of inner Iberian basins by the presence of fossil hominoids as a result of moister and more forested environments during the late Aragonian and Vallesian. However, until a couple of decades ago, the Aragonian hominoid remains from this basin were very scarce, including a molar crown fragment from Trinxera del Ferrocarril-Sant Quirze, an M2 from Can Mata s.l., a C1 of a female individual from Can Mata 1, and a left mandibular fragment with M2–M3 and a lower molar germ fragment from Can Vila. Villalta Comella and Crusafont Pairó first attributed the Can Vila specimen to Dryopithecus fontani Lartet, 1856. However, soon thereafter the same authors erected Sivapithecus occidentalis Villalta Comella and Crusafont Pairó, 1944 based on distinctive features such as “the buccolingual convergence of the cusps,” the “elongate and narrow lower molars,” and the presence of “secondary cusps on the lingual crest [ = postmetacristid]” This species has been considered a junior subjective synonym of Hispanopithecus laietanus Villalta Comella and Crusafont Pairó, 1944 (formerly also in Dryopithecus) by many authors, or most recently a nomen dubium, only with few exceptions.