Missing Human Links Found

Two new ancestors of humans, apes and monkeys have been found. Fossil teeth and jawbones from 37 million-year-old Biretia fayumensis and Biretia megalopsiswere excavated from the Egyptian desert 60 miles southwest of Cairo by archaeologists led by Erik Seiffert of Duke and Oxford Universities. The duo of newly discovered species fill a 'missing link' gap between more recent ancestors and the oldest yet anthropoid ancestor found, Algeripithecus, which is known only by a few 45million-year-old teeth found in Algeria. More importantly, they settle a long-standing debate: the ultimate ancestor of today's primates originated in Africa, not Asia. More from sciencemag.org.