Macaca majori explained

Macaca majori, commonly known as the dwarf macaque, is a prehistoric macaque from the Early Pleistocene of Sardinia, Italy.^[1] It descended from the Barbary macaque.^[2] Its temporal range spans from about 2 million to 0.8 million years ago, during the Nesogoral faunal complex, alongside the goat-antelope Nesogoral, the pig Sus sondaari, the hyena Chasmaporthetes, the pika Prolagus, the shrew Asoriculus, the mole Talpa tyrrhenica, the mustelid Pannonictis, and the dormouse Tyrrhenoglis.^[3]

The tooth microwear in Macaca majori indicates that M. majori likely fed on harder foods and occupied a different dietary niche compared to its mainland fossil relatives.^[4]

Notes and References

1. Book: Fleagle, John G.. Primate adaptation and evolution. 2013 . Academic Press . 9780123786333. 3rd.
2. Elton . Sarah . O'Regan . Hannah J. . 15 July 2014 . Macaques at the margins: the biogeography and extinction of Macaca sylvanus in Europe . Quaternary Science Reviews . en . 96 . 117–130 . 10.1016/j.quascirev.2014.04.025. 2014QSRv...96..117E .
3. Palombo . Maria Rita . Rozzi . Roberto . 10 April 2014 . How correct is any chronological ordering of the Quaternary Sardinian mammalian assemblages? . Quaternary International . en . 328-329 . 136–155 . 10.1016/j.quaint.2013.09.046. 2014QuInt.328..136P .
4. Plastiras . C. A. . Thiery . G. . Guy . F. . Alba . D. M. . Nishimura . T. . Kostopoulos . D. S. . Merceron . G. . 2023 . Investigating the dietary niches of fossil Plio-Pleistocene European macaques: The case of Macaca majori Azzaroli, 1946 from Sardinia . Journal of Human Evolution . 185 . 103454 . 10.1016/j.jhevol.2023.103454 . 37977021 . 2023JHumE.18503454P . 265260157 .