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dryopithecine

(drī′ō pit̸h′ə sēn′, -sīn′, -sin)

adjective

of or belonging to a genus (Dryopithecus) of fossil apelike animals

Origin: < ModL Dryopithecinae, name of the subfamily < Dryopithecus, type genus < Gr drys, tree + ModL -pithecus, ape (see Pithecanthropus erectus) + -inae, suffix for members of a subfamily < L, fem. pl. of -inus, -ine

noun

a dryopithecine ape

See dryopithecine in American Heritage Dictionary 4

noun

An extinct ape of the genus Dryopithecus, known from Old World fossil remains of the Miocene and Pliocene epochs and believed to be an ancestor of the anthropoid apes and humans.

adjective

Of or belonging to the genus Dryopithecus.

Origin:

Origin: From New Latin Dryopithēcus, genus name

Origin: : Greek drūs, oak; see deru- in Indo-European roots

Origin: + Greek pithēkos, ape

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