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Palaeontological evidence for an Oligocene divergence between Old World monkeys and apes

Nature, ISSN: 0028-0836, Vol: 497, Issue: 7451, Page: 611-614
2013
  • 157
    Citations
  • 15
    Usage
  • 217
    Captures
  • 33
    Mentions
  • 17
    Social Media
Metric Options:   Counts1 Year3 Year

Metrics Details

  • Citations
    157
  • Usage
    15
  • Captures
    217
  • Mentions
    33
    • References
      30
      • Wikipedia
        30
    • Blog Mentions
      2
      • Blog
        2
    • News Mentions
      1
      • News
        1
  • Social Media
    17
    • Shares, Likes & Comments
      17
      • Facebook
        17

Most Recent News

A mobile DNA sequence could explain tail loss in humans and apes

Nature, Published online: 28 February 2024; doi:10.1038/d41586-024-00309-z The lack of a tail is one thing that separates apes — including humans — from other primates. Insertion of a short DNA sequence into a gene that controls tail development could explain tail loss in the common ancestor of apes.

Article Description

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 undocumented. 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 clades. 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 activity in the East African rift system. © 2013 Macmillan Publishers Limited. All rights reserved.

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