A new papionin molar (Primates, Cercopithecidae) from the Pliocene of Serbia

The fossil record of non-human primates in Serbia remains limited, with only one site—Ridjake (Riđake) in northwestern Serbia—yielding remains of fossil monkeys so far: two molars attributed to cf. Paradolichopithecus sp. discovered within a Late Pliocene assemblage. Adding to this sparse collection, we present a newly identified primate specimen from Ridjake: a well-preserved crown of a mandibular third molar (m3) designated NHMBEO 042503. The molar exhibits morphology typical of Papionini (excluding Theropithecus) but larger dimensions than Macaca. Based solely on dental size, this new specimen could belong to either of the two Eurasian Plio-Pleistocene large-bodied papionin genera—Procynocephalus and Paradolichopithecus. However, since Procynocephalus fossils are found exclusively in South and East Asia, the new molar from Ridjake is assigned to cf. Paradolichopithecus sp. in this paper. While sexual dimorphism could explain the size difference between NHMBEO 042503 and the previously described m3 from Ridjake (NHMBEO 042502), the somewhat smaller size of the Ridjake molars compared to other Paradolichopithecus records suggests they might belong to an as-yet-unknown species within this genus. Further research is needed to test this hypothesis.