Jawbone of pre-human ape found

HONG KONG: Researchers have found a 10-million-year-old jaw bone in Africa they believe belonged to a new species of great ape that was close to the last common ancestor of gorillas, chimpanzees and humans.

The fragment was found along with 11 teeth in volcanic mud flow deposits in the Nakali region of Kenya, and suggested the creature was somewhere between the size of a female gorilla and a female orangutan, and fed on nuts, seeds and fruit.

"The teeth were covered in thick enamel and the caps were low and voluminous, suggesting that the diet of this ape consisted of a considerable amount of hard objects, like nuts or seeds, and fruit," Yutaka Kunimatsu at Kyoto University's Primate Research Institute said. "It could be positioned before the split between gorillas, chimps and humans," he added.

Kunimatsu said it was hard to determine what the new species, Nakalipithecus nakayamai, looked like. "We only have some jaw fragments and some teeth ... but we hope to find other parts in our future research. We plan to go back next year. We will try to find bones below the neck to tell us how the animal moved," he said.

Source: timesofindia.indiatimes.com