Postcranial functional morphology of Morotopithecus bishopi, with implications for the evolution of modern ape locomotion

MUZM 60 and MUZM 80 preserve separate early Miocene shoulder and femoral anatomies used to reconstruct a mixed arboreal locomotor repertoire; they are not one individual or direct crown-hominoid ancestor.

Morotopithecus is bounded by separate Moroto I and II postcranial specimens MUZM 60 and MUZM 80 in an approximately 21–20.6 Ma locality interval; they are not one skeleton, and locomotor or crown-hominoid placement remains comparative.

MacLatchy and colleagues attribute the separately described Moroto postcranial specimens MUZM 60 and MUZM 80 to Morotopithecus bishopi for functional comparison, without making them an associated skeleton or a demonstrated direct crown-hominoid ancestor.

The profiled Morotopithecus material is bounded to Moroto I and Moroto II in Uganda's Karamoja District; the two locality records do not demonstrate a species-wide distribution or an ape dispersal route.

Comparative functional analysis of the separate Moroto shoulder and femoral specimens supports a mixed arboreal locomotor interpretation, while diet, habitual habitat and ecological guild are not directly observed.

MUZM 60 and MUZM 80 preserve separate shoulder and femoral anatomies described and measured in the Moroto study; the material is not one complete skeleton.