Proconsul africanus

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Proconsul africanus was a Miocene-era fossil found on Rusinga Island by Mary Leakey and her research team. Pieces of this fossil had been found before but Mary Leakey's find was more complete. The 18 million year old fossil is the possible ancestor of both great and lesser apes, and humans.

Related Topics:
Miocene - Fossil - Rusinga Island - Mary Leakey - Ape - Human

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The paleontologist Louis Leakey, who was one of the foremost fossil-hunters of the twentieth century and a champion of evolution, described this ape: "An especially important creature was Proconsul africanus. This, many authorities once concluded, gave us an indication of the common stock for apes and men. We have good forelimb bones for it, and in 1948 on Rusinga Island Mary discovered a skull, the first nearly complete specimen ever found. Its canine teeth suggest an ape?s, while its forehead reminds us of our own. It seems to me, however, to be neither an ancestral ape, nor yet an ancestor of man, but a side branch with characteristics of both stocks..."

Related Topics:
Paleontologist - Louis Leakey - Evolution - Canine teeth

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