Nacholapithecus

Nacholapithecus Temporal range: middle Miocene
Nacholapithecus kerioi
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Mammalia
Order:	Primates
Superfamily:	Hominoidea
Family:	Hominidae
Subfamily:	†Kenyapithecinae
Genus:	†Nacholapithecus
Species:	N. wickeri

Nacholapithecus is a Middle Miocene genus of hominoid found in the Nachola formation in northern Kenya, a key genus in early hominid evolution. Similar in body plan to Proconsul, it had a long vertebral column with six lumbar vertebrae, no tail, a narrow torso, large upper limbs with mobile shoulder joints, and long feet.

Together with other Kenyapithecinae such as Equatorius, Kenyapithecus, and Griphopithecus, Nacholapithecus displayed synapomorphies with Anoiapithecus.

Nacholapithecus was initially classified as belonging in Kenyapithecus (Ishida et al 1984), then attributed (Ward et al. 1999) to Equatorius (with Equatorius perhaps grouped into a sub-family Equatorinae, instead of both species in Afropithecini (Cameron 2004) ), finally recognised as a separate genus (Ishida et al 1999). Classified perhaps as a member of the family Proconsulidae (I. S. Zalmout et al. 2010).

Nacholapithecus kerioi is a hominoid known from the Aka Aiteputh Formation, in Nachola, Northern Kenya.

The formation is largely part of the north-western rift flank overlying the Nachola Formation, part of the Neogene system (Samburu).

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