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A fossil jaw of the ancient monkey of the Old World recently discovered, named Alophia. It is dated 22 million years old. The teeth of a new fossilized monkey, discovered in the badlands of northwestern Kenya, help fill a gap of 6 million years in the evolution of the Old World monkey. , according to a study by American and Kenyan scientists and published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. (Credt: SWNS)
According to a new study, a new species of monkey that lived 22 million years ago in Africa "helps fill a gap of 6 million years" in the evolution of primates.
Identified by its fossilized teeth, the new species, known as Alophia metios, was found in the badlands of northwestern Kenya. Teeth can give clues as to how their diet has helped shape the course of evolution.
"For a group as powerful as the apes of Africa and Asia, it would seem that scientists would have already understood their evolutionary history," said the study's corresponding author, John Kappelman, in a statement.
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Kappelman added, "Although the isolated tooth of Tanzania is important for documenting the first appearance of monkeys, the six million years following the creation of the group are just a virgin." This new monkey reveals importantly what happened during the subsequent evolution of the group. "
Teeth do not have a molar crest called "lophs", which helped scientists to name the monkey Alophiawhich means "without lophs".
The teeth are so old that they were first confused with a pig, said Ellen Miller, a professor at Wake Forest University, in a statement. "But because of other dental features, we are able to convince them that yes, it's actually a monkey."
Scientists collect rock samples to date sediments in Nakwai, Kenya, where Alophia was found. The discovery of 22 million years old fossilized monkey teeth – described as belonging to a new species, Alophia metios – fills the gap between a fossil tooth discovered in Uganda, 19 million years old, and another dating back 25 million years. old fossil tooth found in Tanzania. (Credit: SWNS)
The teeth previously discovered were dated between 19 and 25 million years ago, respectively from Uganda and Tanzania. The monkeys appeared for the first time when Africa and Arabia were together on an island continent about 24 million years ago.
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By analyzing the fossilized teeth, researchers believe that he ate hard fruits, seeds and nuts in a part of the world rich in lush vegetation and streams. "These old monkeys lived a good life," said Benson Kyongo, head of collections at the National Museums of Kenya.
Fossilized teeth can also help determine whether monkeys have faced competition from other animals on the continent, such as hogs, lions or rhinos, for food, which may have made them evolve.
"The way to test between these assumptions is to collect more fossils," said Kappelman. "Establishing when, exactly, the Eurasian fauna entered Afro-Arabia remains one of the most important issues in paleontology, and Western Turkana is one of the only places where we know this answer." . "
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The study was published in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences Monday.
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