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The Africa/Greece connection likely was due to apes on the move, according to Kunimatsu. He said the oldest known ape fossil dates to 25 million years ago and was found in northern Kenya. "It is 16-17 million years ago that apes started to appear in the fossil record in Europe, and 13 million years ago in Asia," he said. "It is therefore natural to think that the ancestor of all apes originated in Africa and then, during the course of evolution, some apes went out of Africa and dispersed into Europe and Asia." Martin Pickford, a paleontologist at the National Museum of Natural History in Paris, believes the latest finds are extremely significant. "I can't overstress the importance of these fossils from the Late Miocene of Kenya," Pickford told Discovery News. "They are just what the doctor ordered for those of us interested in the divergence between the African apes and humans." He explained that some researchers previously theorized that the ancestor to African apes and primates may have originated in Eurasia, since so many early ape fossils come from Asia and southern Europe-primarily Greece, Turkey and Bulgaria. The hypothesis was "an offspring of the previous dearth of African fossils from the Late Miocene," he said. Pickford added, "But now, this tremendous black hole is being filled, and by fossils which show clear affinities with extant African apes and humans." While scientists continue to debate which ape may have been the actual "mother" of all living great apes, including humans, Africa now appears to have been its homeland, with related lineages that sprung up in Ethiopia, Greece and Turkey. The entire matter, Pickford said, is "very intriguing and food for thought...indeed, a feast for thought." Related Links: |
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