Pliopithecids are a primitive group of catarrhines (also known as apes of the Old World), which apparently originated before the divergence between the monkeys of the Old World (cercopitecoids) and the group of the anthropomorphs and humans (hominoids). Relations between pliopithecids and the rest of catarrhines are still not completely clear, and the same can be said about relations between the diverse genera of pliopithecids. They are characterised by the presence of only two premolars, as other catarrhines, as well as a particular dentary morphology, with some crests of the enamel that constitute the so called "pliopithecine triangle" in the lower molars. Up to now, most of the pliopithecid recovered fossils are, in fact, dental remains.

Pliopithecis are an exclusively Euro Asiatic group, although originated from African ancestors still to be determined. In fact, pliopithecis would be the first catarrhines to disperse from Africa towards Eurasia, where they experienced an evolutionary radiation within an until then continent empty of other apes. After the initial radiation of the group in Asia during the Lower Miocene, pliotihecids have later dispersed to Europe durint the Middle Miocene.

The oldest pliopithecid in the Iberian Peninsula found at the site of Abocador de Can Mata

Pliopithecid remains have been found in various Catalan sites of the Vallès-Penedès Basin. In fact, another article published by ICP researchers in the same issue of the journal documents the discovery of a tooth, which happens to be the oldest fossil remains of this primate group in the Iberian Peninsula. It has been dated as 12 million years old, and has been found in Abocador de Can Mata.

Apart from some isolated remains of several sites that could not be attributed to any particular genus, pliopithecids represented in Catalonia also include Pliopithecus canmatensis, in various localities of Abocador de Can Mata, and with a slightly earlier age around 11.5 million years old; and Egarapithecus narcisoi recovered at Torrent de Febulines, near the Catalan city of Terrassa, with an age closer to 9 million years. Both species have been described in the last ten years by the same researchers who have now described  the new genus Barberapithecus. Egarapithecus is the later record of this group, suggesting that the same paleoenvironmental changes that determined the extinction of hominoids, ultimately, also broght  the local disappearance of pliopithecids.

Pliopithecis in Castell de Barberà, from Crusafont to the present

The discovery of pliopithecid remains at Castell de Barberà goes back to the 70s of last century. Miquel Crusafont Pairó, in collaboration with paleontologist Juana Maria Golpe-Posse, preliminary described these remains, together with an isolated tooth recovered at the nearby site of Can Feliu (Sant Quirze del Vallès, Catalonia). Crusafont and Golpe identified the remains as pliopithecids, and even suggested that it was probably a new form, stating that a detailed study of the upper teeth would clarify whether or not the taxon corresponded to a new species. But this study was never published, until recently, when researchers at the ICP Salvador Moya and David M. Alba resumed the study of this material.

Castellde Barbera, a site rich in primates

The paleontological site of Castell de Barberà is relatively close to Can Llobateres (Sabadell), and although the forner is older, it has not been possible to accurately determine its age. For a long time, it has been assumed that Castell de Barberà dates back over more than 11 million years, comparable to several sites in the Abocador de Can Mata series. However, there are reasons to believe that it might be a little more modern, about 10 million years old, i.e. from the Vallesian.

The importance of this site lies both in the amount of remains provided, showing an entire panoply of mammalian fossils of this age, as well as in the fact that it is one of the few sites around the world recording in the same locality the simultaneous presence of hominoids and pliopithecoids.

The fauna of fossil mammals from Castell de Barberà includes taxa typical of the late Middle Miocene or early Late Miocene, including many artiodactyles, perissodactyles, proboscideans and, in addition to carnivorans and small mammals –such us rodents, insectivores, and others. Among the ariodactyles the presence of the suid (pig) Albanohyus castellensis shoud be highlighted, since is one of the smallest suids ever known, while among the carnivores the false saber-tooth barbourofelid Sansanosmilus jourdani should be mentioned.

Last year, David M. Alba and Salvador Moyà also published a partial humerus of a large hominoid size from this locality, on the bases of classical material excavated by Crusafont and collaborators. We look forward to the new surprises that this site will deliver in the future.

Alba, D.M. & Moyà-Solà, S. (2012). A new pliopithecid genus (Primates: Pliopithecoidea) from Castell de Barberà (Vallès-Penedès Basin, Catalonia, Spain). American Journal of Physical Anthropology 147: 88–112.

Alba, D.M., Moyà-Solà, S., Robles, J. & Galindo, J. (2012). The oldest pliopithecid record in the Iberian Peninsula based on new material from the Vallès-Penedès Basin. American Journal of Physical Anthropology 147:135–140.