Palaeontological evidence for an Oligocene divergence between Old World monkeys and apes
- Nature
- doi:10.1038/nature12161
- Received
- Accepted
- Published online
Apes and
Old World monkeys are prominent components of modern African and Asian
ecosystems, yet the earliest phases of their evolutionary history have
remained largely undocumented1. The absence of crown catarrhine fossils older than ~20 million years (Myr) has stood in stark contrast to molecular divergence estimates of ~25–30 Myr
for the split between Cercopithecoidea (Old World monkeys) and
Hominoidea (apes), implying long ghost lineages for both clades2, 3, 4.
Here we describe the oldest known fossil ‘ape’, represented by a
partial mandible preserving dental features that place it with
‘nyanzapithecine’ stem hominoids. Additionally, we report the oldest
stem member of the Old World monkey clade, represented by a lower third
molar. Both specimens were recovered from a precisely dated 25.2-Myr-old
stratum in the Rukwa Rift, a segment of the western branch of the East
African Rift in Tanzania. These finds extend the fossil record of apes
and Old World monkeys well into the Oligocene epoch of Africa,
suggesting a possible link between diversification of crown catarrhines
and changes in the African landscape brought about by previously
unrecognized tectonic activity5 in the East African rift system.
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