A new ape fossil found at an 8.7-million-year-old site in Turkey challenges long-held views of human origin and the theory that the ancestors of African apes and humans evolved in Europe before migrating to Africa from the ninth to 19th centuries. adds weight. seven years. millions of years ago.

Analysis of the newly identified monkey, Anadolovius turkae, found at the Çorakıller fossil site near Çankırı and supported by the Ministry of Culture and Tourism, shows that Mediterranean fossil monkeys were very diverse and that early hominids were one of the first known radiation groups. It includes the great apes of Africa (chimpanzees, bonobos, and gorillas), humans, and their fossil ancestors.

The findings are described in a study published today. Communication Biology, He is the co-author of an international group of researchers led by Professor David Begun from the University of Toronto (U of T) and Professor Ayla Sevi Erol from Ankara University.

“Our findings also suggest that hominids not only evolved in Western and Central Europe, but also spent more than five million years evolving there and spreading to the eastern Mediterranean before spreading to Africa, possibly as a result of environmental change and deforestation.” said Begun, a professor in the Department of Anthropology at Telegraph University’s Faculty of Arts and Sciences. “Members of this radiation, to which Anatolia also belongs, are currently only detected in Europe and Anatolia.”

The result is based on an analysis of a partially well-preserved skull discovered at the site in 2015, containing most of the facial structure and the anterior part of the brain box.

“The completeness of the fossil record has allowed us to conduct a broader and more detailed analysis using many of the characters and attributes encoded in a program designed to calculate evolutionary relationships,” Bighun said. “After applying the mirror image, the face is mostly fuller. The new part is the forehead, the bone is preserved approximately up to the top of the skull. The fossils described earlier do not have such a large part of the brain.

The researchers say Anadoluvius lived and likely spent time in dry forest the size of a large male chimpanzee (50-60 kg) – too large for a chimpanzee and close to the average size of a female gorilla (75-80 kg). a lot of time on the ground..

“We don’t have any limb bones, but judging by its jaw and teeth, the animals in it, and the geological indications of its environment, Anadoluvius probably lived in relatively open conditions, unlike the forest conditions where great apes lived, “- said Sevim Erol. “This is more like what we think of the habitat of early humans in Africa. Strong jaws and large teeth covered with thick enamel suggest that the diet included hard or hard foods from terrestrial sources such as roots and rhizomes.”

Animals living with Anadoluvius; animals commonly associated with African grasslands and dry forests today, such as giraffes, wild boars, rhinoceroses, various antelopes, zebras, elephants, hedgehogs, hyenas, and lion-eaters. Research shows that the ecological community dispersed from the eastern Mediterranean to Africa about eight million years ago.

“The origin of modern African open space fauna in the eastern Mediterranean has been known for a long time, and we can now add new ancestors of African apes and humans to the list,” said Sevim Erol.

The findings show that Anadoluvius turkae is a branch of the evolutionary tree that gave birth to chimpanzees, bonobos, gorillas and humans. Although African great apes, like the earliest known humans, are only known today in Africa, the study’s authors, including colleagues from Ege University and Pamukkale University in Turkey and the Naturalis Center for Biodiversity in the Netherlands, believe that the ancestors of both He concluded that he came from Africa. Europe and the Eastern Mediterranean.

Anadoluvius and other fossil apes found in neighboring Greece (Ouranopithecus) and Bulgaria (Graecopithecus) form the group closest in many details to the earliest known hominids or humans in terms of anatomy and ecology. The new fossils are the best-preserved examples of this early hominid group, and are the strongest evidence yet that the group originated in Europe and then spread to Africa.

Detailed analysis of the research also shows that the Balkan and Anatolian great apes evolved from ancestors in Western and Central Europe. Working with more extensive data provides evidence that other great apes were also great apes; this suggests that the entire group evolved and diversified in Europe, rather than the alternative scenario where separate branches of the great apes had previously migrated independently to Europe. Europe. They came from Africa for several million years and then disappeared without any problems.

“Although it is a favorite suggestion among those who do not accept the European origin hypothesis, there is no evidence for the latter,” Bighun said. “These findings contradict the long-held view that African apes and humans evolved only in Africa. While the remains of early hominins were abundant in Europe and Anatolia, they were completely absent in Africa until the first hominins appeared there about seven million years ago.

“This new evidence supports the hypothesis that hominids originated in Europe and spread to Africa along with many other mammals between nine and seven million years ago, but it does not conclusively prove it. For that, we need to find more fossils from Europe and Africa. It took eight to seven million years to make the final link between the two.’ Source