A team of researchers reported a new species, Buronius manfredschmidi, that they estimated weighted about 20 pounds when it lived about 11 million years ago in what is now southern German, according to a study in PLOS One.
Finding a new species in and of itself is grounds for excitement. But in this case, the focus on size is just the closeup.
Ancient Hominid Company
Pulling the camera back a bit reveals another level of significance. It turns out that B. manfredschmidi had hominid company. The small plant-eating ape almost certainly shared an ecosystem with the omnivorous bipedal ape Danuvius guggenmosi, according to the report. To say that is highly unusual would be an understatement.
