Dolichopithecus balcanicus sp. nov., a new Colobinae (Primates, Cercopithecidae) from the early Pliocene of southeastern Europe, with a discussion on the taxonomy of the genus

We describe a new species of Dolichopithecus, D. balcanicus sp. nov., from the Pliocene (late Ruscinian) of the Balkans. Although known by mandibular remains only, it is readily distinguished from the common European species, D. ruscinensis, by its smaller size, much shallower mandibular corpus, and crowding of the premolars. Ukrainian finds of “Adelopithecus” can be accommodated within D. ruscinensis as a separate, smaller subspecies, D. ruscinensis hypsilophus, but the specimens reported from Asia are more distinct, and they probably represent a separate subgenus of Dolichopithecus, the valid name of which is D. (Parapresbytis) Kalmykov and Mashchenko.