Oreopithecus, a late rniocene primate had very close resemblances to those of gibbons, although the tooth structure showed that the animal was only a monkey and not a hominoid. Another group of hominoids that were present in moiocene in Europe, Africa and Asia were Pongids.

The oldest of the Pongids was the genus Proconsul. This fossil was dated at 17 to 21 million years before the present. Several species of Proconsul weighed between twenty kilograms (20 kg) to hundred kilograms (100 kg), had premolars and molars similar to those of hominoids but lacked the tusk like canines of modern Pongids.
The next major fossil and a descendent of Proconsul was Dryopithecus. This fossil had teeth like those of living apes, and long limb bones. The long limb bones were suggestive of beginnings of brachiation. Dryopithecus belongs to the subfamily Dryopithecinae and family Pongidae which included chimpanzees gorillas and orangutans.