Fossils Suggest Earliest Anthropoids Colonized Africa (IMAGE)
Caption
A new discovery described by a team of international scientists, including Carnegie Museum of Natural History paleontologist Christopher Beard, suggests that anthropoids -- the primate group that includes humans, apes, and monkeys -- "colonized" Africa, rather than originally evolving in Africa as has been widely accepted. According to this paper, what is exceptional about these new fossils -- discovered at the Dur At-Talah escarpment in central Libya -- is the diversity of species present: the site includes three distinct families of anthropoid primates that lived in North Africa at approximately the same time. This suggests that anthropoids underwent diversification, through evolution, previous to the time of these newly discovered fossils, which date to 39 million years ago.
Credit
Mark A. Klingler/Carnegie Museum of Natural History, Pittsburgh, Pa.
Usage Restrictions
Credit must be included.
License
Licensed content