Primates

The primates recognized in the fossiliferous sites of Nikiti include hominoids and cercopithecoids. On the one hand, a mandible and a maxilla of a hominoid primate were discovered in the terminal Vallesian (terminal MN 10) locality of Nikiti 1 (NKT). Their morphology and size fit well with the Greek hominoid Ouranopithecus macedoniensis known from the Axios Valley (Macedonia, Greece), an area located ∼130 km northwestern to Nikiti. On the other hand, some metapodials found during the last field campaigns (2004–2009) in the early Turolian (MN 11) locality of Nikiti 2 (NIK) belong to a cercopithecoid. When compared to the known material from Greece, they appear to be morphologically and metrically similar to Mesopithecus. The NIK metapodials are larger than the male and female ones from the well-known M. pentelicus from Pikermi. Their size indicates that they might belong either to the large-sized M. delsoni or to an intermediate form between M. delsoni and M. pentelicus, named here Mesopithecus form-A. The limited NIK material and the poorly-known metapodial samples of Mesopithecus from various localities do not allow any detailed comparison and specific determination; therefore, the NIK cercopithecoid is referred to as Mesopithecus sp. Finally, the replacement of the hominoids by cercopithecoids at the Vallesian/Turolian boundary is discussed on the basis of new findings in a wider area.