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New fossil found in Myanmar challenges 'Out of Africa' theory
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Mark A. Klingler/Carnegie Museum of Natural History
38-million-year-old primate fossils discovered in Myanmar challenges the theory that humans' and apes' common ancestor evolved in Africa.
The fossil fragments, jawbones and teeth that came from a new species researchers dubbed Ganlea megacinana, were discovered by a team including paleontologist Dr. Chris Beard of the Carnegie Museum of National History in Pittsburgh.
Ganlea's teeth, detailed in a paper published in the Proceedings of the Royal Society B on July 1 showed a specific type of wear typical to primates that cracked open tropical fruit to get at the flesh and seeds--something seen in modern monkeys in South America.
""Not only does Ganlea look like an anthropoid[the primate group that includes extinct species as well as modern humans], but it was acting like an anthropoid 38 million years ago by having this feeding ecology that was quite specialized," Beard told the Associated Press.
Beard and his team argue that Ganlea's discovery shows that primates evolved in Asia, not Africa, where the famous Lucy skeleton (a 40% complete Australopithecus afarensis) was discovered in 1974. Beard also argues that Ganlea is "more closely related to our ancestors than Ida ever was," referring to the nearly intact 47-million-year-old primate skeleton discovered in May that news media dubbed "the missing link."
Other scientists are less convinced. "This doesn't add anything new about whether anthropoids came from Africa or Asia or the broader evolutionary relationships of these particular primates ," Stony Brook University Prof. John G. Fleagle, a paleontologist, told the Associated Press.
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