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Preferred term

Kenyapithecus wickeri  

Definition

  • Long recognized as an important genus for understanding the ancestry of great apes and humans, Kenyapithecus has been the subject of fierce taxonomic debate since its original discovery by noted paleoanthropologist Louis Leakey in 1961. Once seen as a direct ancestor of modern humans, Kenyapithecus is currently viewed as lying close to the origin of the great ape-human clade; however, controversy over the taxonomy and phylogeny of this genus continues, with researchers commonly arguing over the proper relationships of the two included species, K.wickeri and K. africanus. [Source: Encyclopedia of Anthropology; Kenyapithecus Wickeri]

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URI

https://concepts.sagepub.com/social-science/concept/Kenyapithecus_wickeri

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