It’s long been known that apes and humans share a common ancestor, but not a lot is known about what that ancestor was and where it came from. The fossil record for the Miocene epoch in which it’s expected to have lived is mostly comprised of teeth and jawbone fragments.
But now, the discovery of a remarkably complete skull of an infant ape is providing unprecedented insight into our ancient common ancestor, and thus, an early look at our own evolution. The research, partially funded by National Geographic, was published August 10, 2017 in Nature.
Much of the information the lemon-sized skull has provided scientists is the result of highly sensitive 3D X-ray imaging performed by the European Synchrotron Radiation Facility (ESRF) in Grenoble, France. The scans revealed unerupted teeth, the brain cavity, and bony inner ear tubes.
Fossil KNM-NP 59050 was found by in the Napudet area, west of Lake Turkana in northern Kenya. The area was being explored by a team from the Turkana Basin Institute’s De Anza College led by Isaiah Nengo. (The school is affiliated with Stony Brook College in the U.S.)
Expedition assistant John Ekusi discovered the fossil as he broke off from the team to smoke…
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