Discovery of 18-Million-Year-Old Creature Could Change Human Origins
A mysterious 18-million-year-can ape fossil has been discovered in Africa by scientists, potentially providing answers to the puzzle of human origins.
The ape fossil was found in Egypt. This discovery differs from previous assumptions that modern apes originated from East Africa, as fossils from a new genus and species have emerged in the northern region.
“The discovery of ape fossils in this region is very significant and somewhat surprising. However, it also highlights how incomplete our picture has been until now,” said Shorouq Al-Ashqar, the lead author of the study from Mansoura University, Egypt, as quoted by Live Science on Wednesday.
The findings by Al-Ashqar and her team between 2023 and 2024 are incomplete, consisting only of several fragments of the jaw and a number of worn teeth. However, researchers believe these fragments do not belong to any previously known species. Consequently, they have classified them into a new genus and species named Masripithecus moghraensis.
The genus name is translated from Arabic and Greek as ‘Egyptian monkey’ or ‘deceiver’, while the species name refers to the location where the fossils were found, Wadi Moghra.
Researchers also conducted age and anatomical studies on various ape fossils alongside evolutionary information from the DNA of living apes. This step was taken to determine the place of M. moghraensis within the primate evolutionary tree.
The results indicate that M. moghraensis belongs to a group of living apes, specifically predating the separation of the great ape group and the gibbon-siamang or small ape group. This means the ancient ape had a close relationship with the last common ancestor of living apes. This ancestor is also recorded to have lived in the same region as M. moghraensis.
“It most likely lived in the northern part of the Afro-Arabian landmass,” said Erik Seiffert, a study author from the University of Southern California.
However, not everyone agrees with this analysis. Sergio Almecija, a biological anthropologist from the Miquel Crusafont Institute of Paleontology, explained that complete fossils are necessary before updating theories regarding ape ancestors.
David Alba, a paleontologist from the Miquel Crusafont Institute of Paleontology, stated that the idea of modern apes originating from North Africa and Arabia around 17 million years ago is already known evidence. For example, non-human great apes have been found in Africa and Southeast Asia. Fossils found also suggest that great apes once lived in West Asia.
Based on this information and the fact that small apes are found in South and Southeast Asia, he noted that apes certainly passed through northeastern Afro-Arabia, but this does not necessarily mean they originated from that region.