Griphopithecus alpani

Griphopithecus alpani is an extinct ape of the Miocene, described by Tekkaya in 1974 from fossils found in Turkey. It belongs to Griphopithecus, a prehistoric ape genus of Turkey and Central Europe whose material has been grouped with stem hominoids, so it shows the range of ape anatomy in the middle Miocene rather than a living great ape body plan. The best known sample comes from the Paşalar site in north-western Turkey, about 15 million years old. A 1999 study of microscopic wear on its molar teeth found patterns closest to the orangutan, which eats mainly fruit and sometimes hard, unripe fruit and nuts, and unlike those of the chimpanzee and gorilla.