Pliobates

Pliobates cataloniae Temporal range: Miocene PreЄ Є O S D C P T J K Pg N ↓
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 Alba et al. 2015
Type species
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.