A REINTERPRETATION OF THE TAXONOMY OF DRYOPITHECUS FROM VALLES-PENEDES, CATALONIA (SPAIN)

The aim of this paper is to present a critical review of the morpholog ical evidence that has been advanced to support the recognition of two species of Dryopithecus-Dryopithecus laietanus and Dryopithecus crusa fonti-in the collections of fossil hominoids from the Valles-Penedes b asin in northeastern Spain. Based on a study of the morphological deta ils of the dentition in the fossils, and comparisons with the ranges a nd patterns of variation seen in extant hominoids, an alternative inte rpretation of the taxonomy of Dryopithecus from Spain is presented. Th e main results of this analysis can be summarized as follows: (1) ther e is no convincing morphological or metrical evidence to support the r ecognition of more than one species of Dryopithecus in the collections from Valles-Penedes; (2) all of the material from Valles-Penedes can be attributed to D. laietanus (Villalta & Crusafont, 1944); (3) the sp ecies D. crusafonti Begun, 1992 is considered to be insufficiently dis tinct from D. laietanus, and is recognized here as a junior synonym of the latter; and (4) the El Firal mandible from the Spanish Pyrenees i s best attributed to Dryopithecus fontani. (C) 1996 Academic Press Lim ited