Late Miocene ape maxilla discovered in western India

An ape maxilla (upper jaw) from the Late Miocene found in the Kutch basin, in western India, significantly extends the range of ancient apes in the Indian Peninsula, according to a study published in November 14, 2018 in the open-access journal PLOS ONE by Ansuya Bhandari from the Birbal Sahni Institute of Palaeoscience, Lucknow, India, and colleagues.

Apes, gold hominoids, are a group of primates from Africa and Southeast Asia that includes gibbons and the great apes: chimps, orangutans, gorillas, and humans. Ancient ape remains from Miocene deposits in the Siwaliks of India and Pakistan have been key to understanding the evolution of great apes and humans. In this study, the researchers examined a fragmented excavation of the Kutch Basin, in the Gujarat State of Western India, about 1000 km south of the Siwaliks deposits.

X-ray computed tomography revealed details of the preserved canine and cheek teeth, such as the tooth enamel and root structure. The ape mandible belonged to an adult individual of the Sivapithecus genus but the species could not be identified. Late Miocene, around 11 to 10 million years ago based on previous mammalian fossil findings in the site. The new finding is the first Miocene ape fossil to be discovered so far in the Indian peninsula, and extends to the southern range of ancient apes in the subcontinent by about 1000 km.

The authors add: "This is a landmark discovery of 11 million-year-old human ancestors in Kutch, Gujarat. "

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In your coverage please use this URL to provide access to the free article available in PLOS ONE : http: //journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0206314

Quote: Bhandari A, Kay RF, Williams BA, Tiwari BN, Bajpai S, Hieronymus T ( 2018) First record of the Miocene hominoid Sivapithecus from Kutch, Gujarat state, western India. PLoS ONE 13 (11): e0206314. https: / / doi org / 10. 1371 / newspaper pone 0,206,314 …

Funding: AB received a Young Scientist at Wadia Institute of Himalayan Geology, Dehra Dun, India, funded by Department of Science and Technology, New Delhi, under Science & Engineering Research Board Project SR / FTP / ES-91/2013. The award supported field research. BAW and RFK received from the Vice Provost Fund for International Research, Duke University, in support of travel. The funders had no role in study design, data collection and badysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript.