Oreopithecus bambolii

Oreopithecus bambolii is an extinct Miocene ape whose fossils come from Tuscany and Sardinia in Italy; the genus name means hill ape. It lived 9 to 7 million years ago, when that region was an isolated island in a chain stretching from central Europe to northern Africa as the Mediterranean was forming. It was one of many European immigrants of the Vallesian-Turolian transition and one of few hominoids, with Sivapithecus in Asia, to survive the Vallesian Crisis. Dozens of individuals have been found at Montebamboli, Montemassi, Casteani, Ribolla and above all in the lignite mine of the Baccinello Basin, so it is one of the best-represented fossil apes.