13 million year fossils of human ancestors

Scientists found the oldest fossil of human ancestors who lived 13 million years ago in Africa.

US scientists in the study published in Nature published the discovery of the oldest fossil of human ancestors living in Africa, National Geographic on 9/8 reported.

N alesi's skull.(Photo: Isaiah Nengo).

The skull of a well-preserved humanoid monkey in northern Kenya was discovered in 2014. The body of a 16-month-old animal was erupted from a nearby volcano in the forest. Sediment shows the skull bones about 13 million years ago.

The initial investigation could not determine the location of this species on the evolution of primates. However, high-power X-ray scanning in France allows scientists to place the animal in Nyanzapithecus alesi , extinct relatives of gibbons, large- sized monkeys and humans.

"This is the first time we have discovered the complete skull of ape monkey after years of searching for fossils," said Isaiah Nengo, an anthropologist at De Anza University in the US. "The discovery of N. alesi indicates the African origins of humans".

The skull is approximately the size of an orange, contains teeth that have not sprouted and have some similarities to the old gibbons and monkeys of the world today. The brain compartment of N. alesi is twice as large as the brain of the world-old monkey. The intact part of the skull preserves the surface of the brain.

Fossils are about the size of an orange.(Photo: NG).

After separating from the ancestors of the old monkeys about 25-28 million years ago, human monkeys varied in the middle of the Middle East (Miocene) but gradually disappeared about 7 million years ago due to climate change. . Modern large humanoid monkeys and humans are descendants of one of these neo-Chinese monkeys.

This evolutionary process has not been clarified due to the early humanoid monkeys living in the rainforest, where conditions are not suitable for fossil formation. Further research by the scientists will focus on traces of the brain on the inside of the skull bone and reproduce the shape of N. alesi.