Ancient ape fossil in Egypt challenges the story of human origins

An international team of researchers has identified Masripithecus moghraensis, a previously unknown ape species that lived 17–18 million years ago in Early Miocene North Africa. The fossil jaw, discovered at Wadi Moghra in northern Egypt, provides the first definitive evidence of an ape from the region and suggests Egypt and the wider Middle East played a key role in early ape evolution, challenging the assumption that apes were restricted to southern Africa at that time.

The partial lower jaw exhibits unusual traits—large canine and premolar teeth, rounded molars with textured chewing surfaces, and a sturdy jaw structure—indicating Masripithecus was adapted for a flexible, mainly fruit-based diet with the ability to process harder foods like nuts or seeds. Researchers from Mansoura University and the University of Southern California used comparative anatomy, living-species DNA, and fossil dating to determine the species' position in ape evolutionary history, revealing that gaps in the fossil record may have distorted understanding of how early apes were distributed and related.