The Mystery of the Missing Apes Who Came Before Humans
From around 16.5 million to 7 to 9 million years ago, there is a significant gap in the fossil record for African apes. During this period, known as the Miocene epoch, fossils of apes are abundant in Europe and Asia, but not in Africa. This raises the question: how did the current ape species in Africa evolve?
Paleoanthropologists have two main theories. One theory suggests that apes originated in Africa, then migrated to Eurasia where they evolved new traits. These evolved apes might have returned to Africa, where human ancestors eventually developed. The other theory proposes that the lack of fossil evidence in Africa is due to environmental factors, such as acidic soils that might have destroyed the fossils, or that paleontologists haven’t searched the right areas.
Researchers are using genomic evidence from modern apes to infer what might have happened during this missing period. University of Cambridge scientists Robert A. Foley and Marta Mirazón Lahr discuss “ghost lineages,” which are hypothetical species that existed based on genetic data but have no direct fossil evidence. They propose two models: a low-divergence model where apes evolved slowly and a high-extinction model where many earlier lineages became extinct.
A few fossil finds, such as Nakalipithecus nakayamai from Kenya and Chororapithecus abyssinicus from Ethiopia, suggest that some large apes did survive in Africa during the Miocene. However, there is still debate over whether apes migrated to Eurasia and then returned to Africa or if the lack of African fossils is due to other factors. The puzzle of missing ape fossils remains unsolved, and future discoveries will be crucial for understanding ape evolution.
🔭 This summary was human-edited with AI-assist.
