AsianScientist (Nov. 23, 2018) – Scientists in India have found the upper jaw of an ancient ape and traced its origins to the Late Miocene period, 11 million years ago. Their findings are published in PLOS ONE.
Apes, or hominoids, are a group of primates from Africa and Southeast Asia that includes the gibbons and the great apes: chimps, orangutans, gorillas and humans. Ancient ape remains from Miocene deposits in India and Pakistan have been critical to our understanding of the evolution of great apes and humans.
In this study, researchers led by Dr. Ansuya Bhandari from the Birbal Sahni Institute of Palaeosciences, India, examined an ape jaw fragment excavated from the Kutch basin in the Gujarat state of western India. X-ray computed-tomography revealed details of the preserved canine and cheek teeth, such as the tooth enamel and root structure.
The ape mandible belonged to an adult individual of the Sivapithecus genus, but the species could not be identified. The authors dated the specimen to the basal Late Miocene, around 11 to 10 million years ago, based on previous mammalian fossil findings at the site. This is the first Miocene ape fossil to be discovered so far south in the Indian peninsula, the researchers said.
The article can be found at: Bhandari et al. (2018) First Record of the Miocene Hominoid Sivapithecus From Kutch, Gujarat State, Western India.
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Source: PLOS.
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