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. 2007 Dec 4;104(49):19220-5.
doi: 10.1073/pnas.0706190104. Epub 2007 Nov 16.

A new Late Miocene great ape from Kenya and its implications for the origins of African great apes and humans

Yutaka Kunimatsu  1 , Masato Nakatsukasa, Yoshihiro Sawada, Tetsuya Sakai, Masayuki Hyodo, Hironobu Hyodo, Tetsumaru Itaya, Hideo Nakaya, Haruo Saegusa, Arnaud Mazurier, Mototaka Saneyoshi, Hiroshi Tsujikawa, Ayumi Yamamoto, Emma Mbua
Affiliations

A new Late Miocene great ape from Kenya and its implications for the origins of African great apes and humans

Yutaka Kunimatsu et al. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. .

Abstract

Extant African great apes and humans are thought to have diverged from each other in the Late Miocene. However, few hominoid fossils are known from Africa during this period. Here we describe a new genus of great ape (Nakalipithecus nakayamai gen. et sp. nov.) recently discovered from the early Late Miocene of Nakali, Kenya. The new genus resembles Ouranopithecus macedoniensis (9.6-8.7 Ma, Greece) in size and some features but retains less specialized characters, such as less inflated cusps and better-developed cingula on cheek teeth, and it was recovered from a slightly older age (9.9-9.8 Ma). Although the affinity of Ouranopithecus to the extant African apes and humans has often been inferred, the former is known only from southeastern Europe. The discovery of N. nakayamai in East Africa, therefore, provides new evidence on the origins of African great apes and humans. N. nakayamai could be close to the last common ancestor of the extant African apes and humans. In addition, the associated primate fauna from Nakali shows that hominoids and other non-cercopithecoid catarrhines retained higher diversity into the early Late Miocene in East Africa than previously recognized.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no conflict of interest.

Figures

Fig. 1.
Fig. 1.
Type specimen of N. nakayamai (KNM-NA46400, right mandible with M1–M3). Buccal (a), occlusal (b), and lingual (c) views are shown.
Fig. 2.
Fig. 2.
Isolated cheek teeth of N. nakayamai. (a) KNM-NA46424, right P4. (b) KNM-NA46435, left dp4. (c) KNM-NA46436, left M3. (d) KNM-NA46429, right M3. (e) KNM-NA46431, right P3. (f) KNM-NA46430, left P4. (e) KNM-NA46423, right P3. (h) KNM-NA47591, right M1.
Fig. 3.
Fig. 3.
Isolated canine and incisors of N. nakayamai. (a) Distal view. (b–d) Lingual view. (a and b) KNM-NA47594, right C*. The arrowhead in a indicates the well developed lingual cusplet. (c) KNM-NA47592, left I1. (d) KNM-NA46425, right I2.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

Comment in

  • New apes fill the gap.
    Bernor RL. Bernor RL. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2007 Dec 11;104(50):19661-2. doi: 10.1073/pnas.0710109105. Epub 2007 Dec 5. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2007. PMID: 18077396 Free PMC article. No abstract available.

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