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Oreopithecus
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<p><i>Oreopithecus</i> (from the Greek ὄρος, <i>oros</i> and πίθηκος, <i>pithekos</i>, meaning "hill-ape") is an <a href="/facts/Extinction/24p5NP2q">extinct</a> genus of <a href="/facts/Ape/qDPGhTII">ape</a> from the <a href="/facts/Miocene/cBRRzq4g">Miocene</a> epoch whose <a href="/facts/Fossil/by7NzIA1">fossils</a> have been found in today's <a href="/facts/Tuscany/Ivw1ogrE">Tuscany</a> and <a href="/facts/Sardinia/7GGJNHCx">Sardinia</a> in <a href="/facts/Italy/tUf0PDYF">Italy</a>. It existed 9–7 million years ago in the Tusco-Sardinian area when this region was an isolated island in a chain of islands stretching from <a href="/facts/Central_Europe/VdxzSbJz">central Europe</a> to <a href="/facts/Northern_Africa/ItxQAfs7">northern Africa</a> in what was becoming the <a href="/facts/Mediterranean_Sea/Vr2pzVbM">Mediterranean Sea</a>. </p><p><i>Oreopithecus</i> was one of many European immigrants that settled this area in the <a href="/facts/Vallesian/F0ooKzR5">Vallesian</a>–<a href="/facts/Turolian/zRMGf2Kw">Turolian</a> transition and one of few hominoids, together with <i><a href="/facts/Sivapithecus/oNX6KTrM">Sivapithecus</a></i> in Asia, to survive the so-called <a href="/facts/Vallesian/F0ooKzR5">Vallesian Crisis</a>. To date, dozens of individuals have been discovered at the <a href="/facts/Tuscany/Ivw1ogrE">Tuscan</a> localities of <a href="/facts/Montebamboli/dC5cjnV6">Montebamboli</a>, <a href="/facts/Montemassi/SmU7pTv9">Montemassi</a>, Casteani, <a href="/facts/Ribolla/0Eb2SUXj">Ribolla</a>, and, most notably, in the fossil-rich lignite mine in the <a href="/facts/Baccinello/GLhLlMeF">Baccinello Basin</a>, making it one of the best-represented fossil <a href="/facts/Ape/qDPGhTII">apes</a>. </p>