New, Fossilized Primate Found in Egypt

A team of paleontologists from three American universities has recently discovered a new species of primates that is not related to humans in any way. The find was made about 40 miles from Cairo, in Egypt. The lead researcher for the new investigation has been paleontologist Erik Seiffert, from the Stony Brook University, in New York. The discovery of the new fossil helped solve another riddle that had been plaguing our evolutionary path.

The National Science Foundation (NSF)-funded research has also revealed a number of new features of a newly discovered fossil, called Darwinius. “The recently described fossil Darwinius, originally recovered from a disused quarry near Messel, Germany in the 1980s, has been widely publicized as an important 'link' in the lineage to higher primates,” Seiffert explains. The investigators have now found a lemur-like relative of this early primate, which they named Afradapis. The scientists also managed to place the new species within the evolutionary chain of primates, which helped clear some knowledge gaps about our own development.

“Our study results indicate that Darwinius and its now extinct relatives, including Afradapis, are not in the evolutionary lineage leading to monkeys, apes, and humans as has been debated. Instead they are more closely related to the living lemurs and lorises,” the expert reveals. “Our discoveries certainly contribute to a growing body of evidence that indicates that convergent evolution was a common phenomenon in early primate evolution,” he adds. The concept of convergent evolution refers to an instance where two separate but related species develop a certain set of traits in common, although their last common ancestor did not have the same characteristics.

“The similar features evolved through the process of convergent evolution. This means that under similar selection pressures, both lineages came to have similar specializations, but these features were not present in their last common ancestor. Our discoveries certainly contribute to a growing body of evidence that indicates that convergent evolution was a common phenomenon in early primate evolution,” Seiffert adds. Details of the team's investigation appear in the October 20 issue of the respected scientific journal Nature.