Aegyptopithecus

[ ih-jip-toh-pith-i-kuhs, -puh-thee-kuhs ]

noun

1. a presumed genus of extinct primate, known from remains of a single species, A. zeuxis, 33–35 million years old and thought to have resembled modern New World monkeys: most fossils originate in Egypt, the first having been discovered in central Egypt in 1965.

Word History and Origins

Origin of Aegyptopithecus¹

First recorded in 1960–65; from New Latin, equivalent to Latin Aegypt(us) “Egypt” + New Latin -o- + pithēcus “ape,” from Greek píthēkos; -o- ( def )