A new cranium of Dryopithecus from Rudabánya, Hungary.

Late Miocene great ape crania are rare, mostly fragmentary, and the focus of much debate on great ape and human origins (Brown & Ward, 1988; Bonis et al., 1990; Moyà-Solà & Köhler, 1993, 1995; Begun, 1994; Kordos & Begun, 1997; Schwartz, 1997). Due to poor preservation, information on important features of cranial anatomy (facial angulation, prognathism, relative and absolute brain size) must be estimated from incomplete or reconstructed specimens. This has led to disagreement on the evolutionary history of hominid cranial morphology and contributes to uncertainty with regard to the origin and composition of the clades of living hominids (pongines and hominines). In this preliminary communication we report on the discovery of a new cranium of Dryopithecus brancoi from Rudabánya, Hungary. It is the most complete cranium of this taxon ever recovered. The specimen, RUD 197–200, includes a nearly complete dentition and, for the first time in Dryopithecus, a neurocranium with a complete glabella to inion chord with direct bony contact to the maxilla. Standard anatomical landmarks are lacking, preventing unambiguous measurement of facial hafting, and the neurocranium is not complete