Yunnan Yuanmou discovered the earliest gibbon ancestors' fossils

On September 13, the classic publication "Journal of Human Evolution" was published in the international anthropological field. This discovery pushed the gibbon recorded to 7-8 million years ago.

Yuanmou Little Ape's young jawbone

It is reported that this fossil is a researcher Ji Xueping, a researcher at the Kunming Animal Museum of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, found in the wild investigation that it was compared with the existing growth of the cubs of the Kunming Institute of Animal Research Institute, and conducted a high -precision CT scan and comparison research. Finally confirmed that the specimen belongs to the gibbon.

Yuanmou Little Ape MicroCT image map

In 2018, Ji Xueping invited Terry Harrison and other collaborators to collect related specimens, especially the newly discovered facial bone fossils, especially the newly discovered facial bone fossil After studying, for the first time, the long -ape ancestor's first -class facial feature information was obtained, and it confirmed that Yuanmou Xiaotong was the most likely direct ancestor in the late middle and new periods. According to Yuanmou's small ape's teeth, it is estimated that the weight of the small ape in the Yuanmou is about 6 kg, which is similar to the average weight of the current growth of the osperm. Terry Harrison believes that the discovery of the Yuanmou small ape filled a period of blank in the history of East Asian small ape evolution.

Yuanmou Little Ape's Life Field Restoration Picture. Chen Yu drawing

The research team also found that it was previously discovered in India, a downward third molar Kapi Ramnagarensis, which was not gibbon, but another primitive small ape.

This discovery shows that the origin time of molecular evidence is basically consistent with the origin time of the species inferred by fossil evidence. The results of paleontology and molecular biology research can be confirmed, providing important cases for solving the problem of biological diversity origin with cross -disciplinary means. However, there are still more than 10 million years of "looping" that the gibbon family evolution has yet to be discovered. In the future, it is expected to find more key evidence about the history of gibbon in the history of the gibbon in South China and the Central South Peninsula, especially to fill in 6-2. During the millions of years, this critical period is alternating from the ancient spiritual long animal group to the modern gaps.

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