A new study reports about an ape fossil discovered in Turkey, suggesting that the ancestors of African apes and humans might have originated in Europe before migrating to Africa. This contrasts with the conventional belief that these hominines solely emerged in Africa.
The presence of hominine fossils in Europe and Anatolia has led some researchers to propose an alternative theory that hominines originated in Europe and subsequently migrated to Africa around 7 to 9 million years ago.
Common Ancestors of Apes and Humans May Have Come From Europe
In the recent study, titled "A new ape from Türkiye and the radiation of late Miocene hominines" published in the journal Nature, lead author David Begun from the University of Toronto and his team reported a newly identified ape fossil called Anadoluvius turkae from central Anatolia, Turkey.
The ape fossil has ignited a debate about the origin of the ancestors of African apes and humans. Begun noted that the majority of human evolutionary history has taken place in Africa since that separation. Additionally, the divergence between the chimpanzee and human lineages probably occurred in Africa.
Researchers emphasized that this inquiry concerns the common ancestor of hominines, not the divergence of the human lineage from chimpanzees and bonobos.
The fossil, suggesting a weight of around 110 to 130 pounds, provides insights into A. turkae's ecological habitat. Based on coexisting animal fossils and geological evidence, it is proposed that the ape lived in a dry forest akin to the early human environment in Africa. Its robust jaws and thickly enameled teeth hint at a diet of hard or tough foods, possibly involving ground-based activities.
The researchers focused on a well-preserved partial skull, revealing the face and front part of the braincase. This guided their calculations for evolutionary relationships.
The study proposes that A. turkae, along with other fossil apes from neighboring regions, forms part of early hominines. The team suggests that the earliest hominines could have originated in Europe and the eastern Mediterranean, proposing an evolutionary line tracing back to ancestors in Western and Central Europe.
Ape Fossil Expands Evolutionary Understanding of Hominines
The recent findings give rise to a key question: if hominines originated in Europe, why are they not currently present there, aside from recent human arrivals, and why didn't ancient hominines disperse into Asia?
Begun said that evolution is marked by unpredictable and unrelated events interacting, suggesting that while conditions might not have been suitable for apes to migrate from the eastern Mediterranean to Asia in the late Miocene, they favored a move into Africa. He also emphasized that the absence of African apes in Europe today is due to species extinction, a common occurrence.
Begun cautioned against misinterpreting the research to suggest that Eurasia played a central role in human evolution. Instead, he stressed the need to identify the common ancestor's location for African apes and humans to comprehend the evolutionary context.
Christopher Gilbert, a paleoanthropologist at Hunter College, acknowledged the expansion of understanding on a group related to living African apes and humans. However, he mentioned that modern methods and extensive analyses contradict the notion of Europe as the origin of hominines.
Begun countered that the absence of hominine fossils in Africa could imply an origin elsewhere. Both Begun and Gilbert highlighted the potential for future fieldwork in Africa and Eurasia to provide further clarity on this matter.
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