News Anthropology

Petite primate fossil could upend ideas about ape evolution

11.6-million-year-old fossil suggests a gibbonlike creature was modern apes’ common ancestor

ape reconstruction

LITTLE BIG APE  A reconstruction of a fossil primate’s 11.6-million-year-old skull, shown from the side and the front, reveals a mix of apelike and monkeylike features. This creature, depicted at right, may have been a surprisingly small ancestor of all modern apes.

Marta Palmero/Institut Catala de Paleontologia Miquel Crusafont (ICP)

By Bruce Bower

- More than 2 years ago

An ancient primate’s partial skeleton, discovered in northeastern Spain, is poised to downsize ape evolution in a big way.