Detects animals they are 12 million years old with many modern facial features

Scientists in Spain discovered the jaw bone and fossil face bone of a gibbon breed that lived in the Middle Miocene, about 12 million years ago. Set for the nickname 'Lluc', the male member of this breed features a prominent face of a modern person, a straight face rather than a protruding front. This finding has helped to understand the evolution of human animals, including orangutans (orangutans), chimpanzees, dwarf chimpanzees (bonobo monkeys), gorillas and humans.

In a study that appeared in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, Salvador Moyà-Solà, the Institut Català de Paleontologia (ICP) director of Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona University and colleagues gave evidence of a variety New species called Anoiapithecus brevirostris. The scientific name of this species is taken from the name of the fossil detection area (l'Anoia) as well as from the short face form - similar to the modern person characteristics.

The ICP research team also includes members: collaborator David M. Alba, PhD student Sergio Almécija, Dr. Isaac Casanovas, Meike Köhler researcher, Dr. Soledad De Esteban, Josep collaborator M. Robles, in charge of Jordi Galindo, and PhD student Josep Fortuny.

Their findings are based on the skull surrounding most of the face and lower jaw respectively. This skull was excavated in 2004 in the fossilized area of ​​Abocador de Can Mata (Hostalets de Pierola, l'Anoia, Barcelona), where fossils of other animal species were also discovered. Preparing fossils ready for research is a complex process, because fossils are very fragile. But after the study, the results were surprising: this fossil (IPS43000) incorporates an unprecedented set of features in fossils in previous research history.

Anoiapithecus has a very modern face morphology, with little jaws protruding forward so that only the Hominidae (Family) only have similar characteristics, while all the remaining apes have protruding jaws. much more out. However, the scientists noted, this strange resemblance is not evidence that Anoiapithecus is related to him. The similarity may be an evolutionary case, when two distinct evolutionary species have the same evolutionary trait.

Lluc restore. (Photo: Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona provided)

Finding Lluc is also an important clue about the geographical origin of the animal family. Some scientists suspect that kenyapithecines, the group of primitive human animals (appearing in the Central African and Asian-European Miocene) may be the ancestral group of all human animals. The detailed morphological study of the obtained skull samples shows that, along with the modern anatomical characteristics of human relatives (enlarged nostrils, high cheekbones, deep palate), it There are a variety of primitive characteristics, such as thick enamel, sharp teeth, rough lower jaw and incomplete front jaw. These features characterize a group of primitive human animals from the Middle Miocene Africa, otherwise known as afropithecid.

Interestingly, while there are characteristics of both the original family and afropithecid, Lluc also has other characteristics, such as the forward cheekbones, very strong lower jaw line, and especially concave lower jaw area. These are the same characteristics as the Kenapithecine that once moved out of Africa and settled in the Mediterranean region 15 million years ago.

In other words, the researchers speculate that the human family probably went to the Eurasian continent from the kenyapithecine ancestors living in Africa. After that, the ancestors of the large, non-tailed monkeys and humans came back to Africa - this is the 'into Africa' theory, which is still controversial.

Research at the Hostalets de Pierola els is still ongoing, and researchers hope to discover more fossils to get more important information to test their hypothesis.

References:
Salvador Moyà-Solà, David M. Alba, Sergio Almécija, Isaac Casanovas-Vilar, Meike Köhler, Soledad De Esteban-Trivigno, Josep M. Robles, Jordi Galindo, and Josep Fortuny.A unique Middle Miocene European hominoid and the origins of the great ape and human clade.Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 2009;DOI: 10.1073 / pnas.0811730106