A new ape from Türkiye and the radiation of late Miocene hominines

[Primum Sapienti]

https://www.eurekalert.org/news-releases/999392
NEWS RELEASE 23-AUG-2023

A new fossil ape from an 8.7-million-year-old site
in Türkiye is challenging long-accepted ideas of
human origins and adding weight to the theory that
the ancestors of African apes and humans evolved
in Europe before migrating to Africa between nine
and seven million years ago.

Analysis of a newly identified ape named Anadoluvius
turkae recovered from the Çorakyerler fossil locality
near Çankırı with the support of the Ministry of
Culture and Tourism in Türkiye, shows Mediterranean
fossil apes are diverse and are part of the first
known radiation of early hominines – the group that
includes African apes (chimpanzees, bonobos and
gorillas), humans and their fossil ancestors.
...
“Our findings further suggest that hominines not only
evolved in western and central Europe but spent over
five million years evolving there and spreading to
the eastern Mediterranean before eventually dispersing
into Africa, probably as a consequence of changing
environments and diminishing forests,” said Begun,
professor in the Department of Anthropology in the
Faculty of Arts & Science at U of T. “The members of
this radiation to which Anadoluvius belongs are
currently only identified in Europe and Anatolia.”

The conclusion is based on analysis of a significantly
well-preserved partial cranium uncovered at the site in
2015, which includes most of the facial structure and
the front part of the brain case.
...
The researchers say Anadoluvius was about the size of
a large male chimpanzee (50-60 kg) – very large for a
chimp and close to the average size of a female gorilla
(75-80 kg) – lived in a dry forest setting, and probably
spent a great deal of time on the ground.

“We have no limb bones but judging from its jaws and
teeth, the animals found alongside it, and the
geological indicators of the environment, Anadoluvius
probably lived in relatively open conditions, unlike
the forest settings of living great apes,” said Sevim
Erol. “More like what we think the environments of
early humans in Africa were like. The powerful jaws
and large, thickly enameled teeth suggest a diet
including hard or tough food items from terrestrial
sources such as roots and rhizomes.”

The animals that lived with Anadoluvius are those
commonly associated with African grasslands and dry
forests today, such as giraffes, wart hogs, rhinos,
diverse antelopes, zebras, elephants, porcupines,
hyaenas and lion-like carnivores. Research shows
that the ecological community appears to have
dispersed into Africa from the eastern Mediterranean
sometime after about eight million years ago.

“The founding of the modern African open country
fauna from the eastern Mediterranean has long been
known and now we can add to the list of entrants the
ancestors of the African apes and humans,” said
Sevim Erol.

The findings establish Anadoluvius turkae as a branch
of the part of the evolutionary tree that gave rise to
chimpanzees, bonobos, gorillas and humans. Although
African apes today are only known from Africa, as are
the earliest known humans, the study’s authors – which
also include colleagues at Ege University and Pamukkale
University in Türkiye and the Naturalis Biodiversity
Center in The Netherlands – conclude that the ancestors
of both came from Europe and the eastern Mediterranean.
...




https://www.nature.com/articles/s42003-023-05210-5.pdf

Abstract
Fossil apes from the eastern Mediterranean are central
to the debate on African ape and human (hominine)
origins. Current research places them either as
hominines, as hominins (humans and our fossil relatives)
or as stem hominids, no more closely related to
hominines than to pongines (orangutans and their fossil
relatives). Here we show, based on our analysis of a
newly identified genus, Anadoluvius, from the 8.7 Ma
site of Çorakyerler in central Anatolia, that
Mediterranean fossil apes are diverse, and are part of
the first known radiation of early members of the
hominines. The members of this radiation are currently
only identified in Europe and Anatolia; generally
accepted hominins are only found in Africa from the
late Miocene until the Pleistocene. Hominines may have
originated in Eurasia during the late Miocene, or they
may have dispersed into Eurasia from an unknown African
ancestor. The diversity of hominines in Eurasia suggests
an in situ origin but does not exclude a dispersal
hypothesis.

[JTEM is so reasonable]

Primum Sapienti wrote:

> https://www.eurekalert.org/news-releases/999392
> NEWS RELEASE 23-AUG-2023
>
> A new fossil ape from an 8.7-million-year-old site
> in Türkiye is challenging long-accepted ideas of
> human origins and adding weight to the theory that
> the ancestors of African apes and humans evolved
> in Europe before migrating to Africa between nine
> and seven million years ago.

As I asked elsewhere, how ever does the savanna crowd
fit this into their model?

Only joking. There is no savanna model....

This is consistent with the good Doctor's model though.

Mine as well.

Hard to pinpoint anything.

But 8.7 million years ago is roughly when Yellowstone
erupted, causing a massive, global catastrophe.

This would likely be the last gasp of any European
population...

And I would suspect that the good Doctor is right, and
that bipedalism arose further east. Not "Europe" but
"Eurasia."

But, again, it is consistent with Aquatic Ape, doesn't
disrupt the model at all, while there is absolutely no
savanna model what so ever, let alone one that can
account for this.

I hate to make too much out of it though. for one thing,
we don't need to. So if there is little to gain why risk a
lot? Secondly, we all know the media is rubbish. It never
got anything "Science" right, and human origins is a
loaded topic with lots & lots of political interest, making
it doubly susceptible to inaccuracies.

It's a nice piece of evidence, if it holds up, but we don't
need it.





-- --

https://jtem.tumblr.com/post/726650431983468546

[littor...@gmail.com]

Op zondag 27 augustus 2023 om 08:03:18 UTC+2 schreef JTEM is so reasonable:

:-) Thanks, JTEM, this perfectly confirms our view (my 2022 book p.299):
Miocene "great apes" were aquarboreal in northern-Tethys Ocean coastal forests:
the Mesopotamian Seaway Closure c 15 Ma split dryopiths-hominids (W) & sivapiths-pongids (E),
late-Miocene, only hominids s.s.(Homo-Pan-Gorilla) in (then incipient) Red Sea forests survived:
-Gorilla-Praeanthropus followed the northern Rift -> afarensis->boisei,
-when the Red Sea opened into the Gulf 6-5 Ma,
-- Pan-Australopithecus went right -> E.Afr.coast -> southern Rift -> africanus->robustus (// afar.->boisei),
-- Homo went left -> S.Asian coasts: humans have no Pliocene African retrovial DNA (Yohn cs 2005 PLoS Biol.3:1-11):

At least 8 *independent* facts show that early-Pleistocene archaic Homo was semi-aquatic:
•archaic Homo's atypical tooth-wear: caused by "sand & oral processing of marine mollusks", Towle cs 2022 https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/ajpa.24500
•H.erectus fossilized in coastal sediments: Mojokerto (barnacles, corals), Trinil (edible Pseudodon, Elongaria), Sangiran-17 ("brackish marsh near the coast") etc.
•Stephen Munro discovered sea-shell engravings made by H.erectus, Joordens cs 2015 Nature 518:228 https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/25470048/
•ear exostoses (H.erectus & H.neand.) develop after years of cold(er) water irrigation https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5696936/
•pachy-osteo-sclerosis is only seen in slow+shallow-diving tetrapods (de Buffrénil cs 2010 J.Mamm.Evol.17:101)
•brain size in erectus (2x apes=australopiths) is facilitated by sea-food (e.g. DHA in shellfish) cf. dolphins & seals,
•Pleistocene Homo colonized Flores & later even Luzon far oversea https://www.academia.edu/36193382/Coastal_Dispersal_of_Pleistocene_Homo_2018
•Homo’s stone tool use & dexterity is typical for molluscivores, cf. sea-otters.

IOW, only *incredible* imbeciles still believe their ancestors ran after antelopes over Afr.savannas... :-DDD

> > https://www.eurekalert.org/news-releases/999392
> > NEWS RELEASE 23-AUG-2023
> > A new fossil ape from an 8.7-million-year-old site
> > in Türkiye is challenging long-accepted ideas of
> > human origins and adding weight to the theory that
> > the ancestors of African apes and humans evolved

> > in Europe before migrating to Africa between 9 & 7 Ma.

> As I asked elsewhere, how ever does the savanna crowd
> fit this into their model?
> Only joking. There is no savanna model....
> This is consistent with the good Doctor's model though.
> Mine as well.

:-)

> Hard to pinpoint anything.
> But 8.7 million years ago is roughly when Yellowstone
> erupted, causing a massive, global catastrophe.
> This would likely be the last gasp of any European
> population...

Cooling??

> And I would suspect that the good Doctor is right, and
> that bipedalism arose further east. Not "Europe" but
> "Eurasia."

Possibly some Catarrhini were already +-aquarboreal in Oligo-Miocene Arabafrica,
but when Arabafrica approached Eurasia early-Miocene, this formed island archipels, rich in coastal forests:
Hominoidea ("apes") there became fully aquarboreal = vertical=BP waders-climbers in swamp forests:
tail loss, very wide sternum+thorax+pelvis, long arms, shorter+vertical lumbar spine etc.

-- Bipedality does NOT discern us from (quadrupedal) apes-monkeys:
hylobatids are BP when running over branches, all great apes are BP when wading in swamp forests.
-- Frequent shallow-diving discerns Homo s.s. (erectus etc.) from all other primates AFAWK.

> But, again, it is consistent with Aquatic Ape, doesn't
> disrupt the model at all, while there is absolutely no
> savanna model what so ever, let alone one that can
> account for this.

> I hate to make too much out of it though. For one thing,

> we don't need to. So if there is little to gain why risk a
> lot? Secondly, we all know the media is rubbish. It never
> got anything "Science" right, and human origins is a
> loaded topic with lots & lots of political interest, making
> it doubly susceptible to inaccuracies.

Fossil hunters prefer to find "human ancestors" rather than fossil relatives of chimps or gorillas...
Afrocentric nonsense!

[littor...@gmail.com]

:-)
This paper beautifully confirms my view:
Hominoidea are aquarboreal: bipedally wading+climbing (shortened & centrally-placed lumbar spine, very wide sternum, thorax & pelvis + dorsal scapular, no tail: they predom.moved vertically).
The extant hominid (Homo-Pan-Gorilla) LCA lived aquarboreally in swamp forests, apparently in the incipient Red Sea late-Miocene:

Plio-Pleistocene E.Afr.australopith anatomy is most gorilla-like, but the S.Afr.apiths look more like chimps & bonobos (see a lot of refs in my Hum.Evol.papers 1990, 1994, 1996, 2000):
-- Gorilla fossil subgenus Praeanthropus followed then (8-7 Ma?) the incipient northern Rift ->Afar: anamensis, afarensis (?incl. bahrelghazali, deyiremeda, platyops, antiquus=Lucy), ghari, aethiopicus=walkeri & boisei...
And when the Red Sea opened into the Gulf of Aden (6-5 Ma),
-- Pliocene Pan subgenus Australopithecus went ->right: the eastern African coastal forests -> incipient southern Rift ->Transvaal: africanus, sediba, robustus, naledi, habilis... ("habilis" with small brain, curved phalanges etc. is no Homo, of course, but fossil-hunters prefer to find "Homo" rather than fossil relatives of Gorila or Pan...),
-- Pliocene Homo then went ->left: the southern Asian coasts (H.sapiens has no Pliocene African retroviral DNA),
and on the Indonesian islands, early-Pleistocene archaic Homo were shellfish divers: enamel wear by sand & shells, ear exostoses (water irrigation), pachy-osteo-sclerosis (for shallow-diving e.g. Sirenia) colonisations of Flores & Luzon far oversea, shell engravings (google "Munro Joordens"), brain-size x2 (DHA), fossilisation amid coral & edible shellfish, stone tools (cf sea-otter), "fast"(coastal) intercontinental dispersal already early-Pleistocene to Asia, Europe & Africa (+ via rivers inland //).

Did Hominoidea & Cercopithecoidea split (late-Oligocene?) when Arabafrica approached Eurasia, which initirally formed island archipels + coastal forests, which then were colonised by the early "apes", who became aquarboreal?
Hylobatids soon followed the southern Asian coastal forests ->East.
Pongids & hominids split c 14: Mesopotamian Seaway Closure:
-- sivapiths-pongids -> S.Asia Ind.Ocean coastal forests (forced hylobatids higher into the trees??),
-- dryopiths-hominids -> Med.Sea-coasts of Europe (or dryopiths N-Med? hominids s.s. S-Med?) -> late-Miocene Red Sea HPG hominids, see above.

https://www.gondwanatalks.com/l/the-waterside-hypothesis-wading-led-to-upright-walking-in-early-humans/

[littor...@gmail.com]

A few not very important corrections:

:-) This paper beautifully confirms my view:

Hominoidea are aquarboreal: bipedally wading+climbing (shorter & centrally-placed lumbar spine, very wide sternum, thorax & pelvis + dorsal scapular, no tail: they predom.moved vertically).

The extant hominid (Homo-Pan-Gorilla) LCA lived aquarboreally in swamp forests, apparently in the incipient Red Sea late-Miocene:

Plio-Pleistocene E.Afr.australopith anatomy is most gorilla-like, whereas the S.Afr.apiths look more like chimps & bonobos (see a lot of refs in my Hum.Evol.papers 1990, 1994, 1996, 2000):
-- Gorilla fossil subgenus Praeanthropus followed then (HP/G split c 8-7 Ma) the incipient northern Rift ->Afar: anamensis, afarensis (?incl. bahrelghazali, deyiremeda, platyops, antiquus=Lucy), ghari, aethiopicus=walkeri & boisei... And when the Red Sea opened into the Gulf of Aden (6-5 Ma),
-- Pliocene Pan subgenus Australopithecus went ->right: the eastern African coastal forests -> incipient southern Rift ->Transvaal: africanus, sediba, robustus, naledi, habilis... ("habilis" with small brain, curved phalanges etc. is no Homo, but Afrocentric fossil-hunters see everywhere "Homo" (e.g. "BPity", although all Miocene Hominoidea were BP=vertical waders-climbers = aquarboreals in swamp forests),
-- Pliocene Homo then went ->left: the southern Asian coasts (H.sapiens has no Pliocene African retroviral DNA):
on the Indonesian islands, early-Pleistocene archaic Homo were shellfish divers: enamel wear by sand & shells, ear exostoses (water irrigation), pachy-osteo-sclerosis (for shallow-diving e.g. Sirenia), colonisations of Flores & Luzon far oversea, shell engravings (google "Munro Joordens"), brain-size x2 (DHA), fossilisation amid corals & edible shellfish, stone tools (cf sea-otter), "fast"(coastal) intercontinental dispersal already early-Pleistocene to Asia, Europe & Africa (+ via rivers inland //).

Did Hominoidea & Cercopithecoidea split (late-Oligocene?) when Arabafrica approached Eurasia, which initially formed island archipels + coastal forests, which then were colonised by the early "apes", who became (more?) aquarboreal.