New Species Changes Idea on When Humans, Monkeys Split

Our lineage might have diverged from our monkey relatives later than previously thought, a new primate fossil from Saudi Arabia now suggests.

One key step in understanding human evolution is pinning doing when the hominoid lineage, which includes apes and humans, diverged from the Old World monkeys.

"If we can refine our understanding of the date of split between hominoids and Old World monkeys and eventually get a better idea of what was happening with the ecology, climate and composition of co-occurring mammals at that time, we will learn about the conditions driving our own ultimate origins," researcher William Sanders, a paleontologist at the University of Michigan at Ann Arbor, told LiveScience. Our lineage might have diverged from our monkey relatives later than previously thought, a new primate fossil from Saudi Arabia now suggests.

One key step in understanding human evolution is pinning doing when the hominoid lineage, which includes apes and humans, diverged from the Old World monkeys.

"If we can refine our understanding of the date of split between hominoids and Old World monkeys and eventually get a better idea of what was happening with the ecology, climate and composition of co-occurring mammals at that time, we will learn about the conditions driving our own ultimate origins," researcher William Sanders, a paleontologist at the University of Michigan at Ann Arbor, told LiveScience.

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