Sivapithecus Genus of early hominoid Primates, which probably includes the socalled Ramapithecus. They are known from E. Africa, south-eastern Europe, Turkey, Arabia, Pakistan, northern India, and southern China, from the Middle and Late Miocene 15–8 Ma ago. The genus may include ancestors of great apes and humans, but certainly early relatives of the orang-utan have been identified among species of the genus. Although there are similarities between the teeth of Sivapithecus and those of humans, these are probably misleading, and Sivapithecus is now regarded as an ape that was ancestral either to the orang-utan alone, or to all living great apes and humans.

Sivapithecus A genus of early Hominoidea which probably includes the so-called Ramapithecus. They and their relatives are known from south-eastern Europe, Turkey, Arabia, Pakistan, northern India, and southern China, from the Middle and late Miocene (16–5 Ma ago). The genus may include ancestors of great apes and humans, but certainly early relatives of the orang-utan have been identified among species of the genus. Although there are similarities with human teeth, these are probably misleading, and Sivapithecus is now regarded as an ape that was ancestral either to the orang-utan alone, or to all living great apes and humans.