Dr. T. Tóth szerk.: Studia historico-anthropologica (Anthropologia Hungarica 21. Budapest, 1990)

Out of the above 8 morphotype features 5 may be suitable for the joint morphological characterization of the tooth. Code numbers have the following meaning from left to right: cingulum - fovea anterior - Med-End conulus - End-Hid conulus - fovea posterior (Fig. 2). Accordingly, the morphotype code of the right lower third molar of the holotype of Proconsul africanus is 12112 where cingulum is present (1), the fovea anterior is developed (2), there is extraconulus between the meta- and entaconid (1), and also between the entaconid and hypoconulid (1), and the fovea posterior is missing (2). When analyzing the morphotypes the following objective criteria were kept in mind: 1. The finds studied are only samples. 2. The selection of the 8 morphological characters was carried out in an empirical manner, thus it may be subjective. 3. The variation of the five characters chosen for further evaluation is objective. 4. When creating the code describing one single item the cingulum, the presentation (showing) of one phylogenetically most charcateristic change was placed to the first position and the others followed in anatomical order. In other words, the teeth described by identical codes belong to the same morphological structure. 72 lower third molar morphotypes were analyzed. They are chronologically ranging from the Oligocène Aegyptopithecus till the Pleistocene Homo habilis (Table 1, Fig. 1). Only a part of the total number of finds could be studied. Especially the Proconsul, and certain Asian Hominoids of the last ten years are missing. However, the data indicate trends that make the preliminary publication of the results necessary. THE MORPHOTYPES OF HOMINOIDS AND HOMINIDS The morphotype codes of the finds summarized according to their chronology in Table 1 are presented by the taxa in Fig. 3. The lower third teeth of the taxa show the following features. The Oligocène Aegyptopithecus zexius with its primitive cone system strongly differs from the M

3 of the Miocene African Hominoids, though, at the same time it already agrees with Turkanopithecus and certain Dryopithecus morphotypes. Morphotype 12222 of Aegyptopitl^ecus cannot be found among the Proconsuls according to the data obtained so far. The lower third molar morphotypes of Proconsul africanus and Proconsul major differ only in the presence (Pr. africanus) or in the absence (Pr. major) of the fovea anterior. At the same time, the morphotypes of the other studied items indicate an overlapping between the two species. The morphotype of the single Pr. nyanzae tooth can be well distinguished from the other two species due to the lack of extra conulus. The cingulum is present in all three cases. Though morphotypes of the Afropithecus and Turkanopithecus have cingula, they are different because the Afropithecus does not have extra cones. Morphotype similarity can be found among Afropithecus, Proconsul africanus and Pr. major based on these features, while it can also be established between Turkanopithecus and Pr. nyanzae. The morphotype of the 'Sivapithecus africanus' sharply differs from the other African Miocene Hominoids. No cingulum is present and a character combination occurs that could not be ascertained in the Proconsul, Afropithecus and Turkanopithecus finds. At the same time, the morphotype 22122 of 'Sivapithecus africanus' also appears in the material from Pasalar, and with Dryopithecus rhenanus, Rudapithecus, and the apes from Sivalik. The European Middle Miocene Dryopithecus belongs to the same morphotype range as the majority of the African Hominoids with cingulum on each teeth. Difference of the two groups is manifested in the pattern of the tooth crown. The Lartet type and the Lerida specimen of Dryopithecus fontani is more complicated, and the Dryopithecus darwini also belongs to this group. The morphology of the lower third molar of Harle's Dryopithecus fontani of St. Gaudens and the Sivapithecus occidentalis from the Can Vila locality is simpler. Extremely broad and independent morphotype variations are observed in the Pasalar material (ANDREWS & TOBIEN 1977). The most frequent is the morphotype 13112 that could not be found in case of any other taxa. Its unique characteristics can be seen in the development of the double fovea anterior. The Pasalar morphotypes with cingulum but without fovea anterior, though having extra conulus, as well as specimens without cingulum being identical morphotype with the 'Sivapithecus africanus' variations