Masripithecus: A new Miocene ape from Egypt sheds light on the origins of modern apes

In a study published in Science, an international research team from the Mansoura University Vertebrate Paleontology Center (Egypt) and the University of Southern California (U.S.) describe Masripithecus moghraensis, a newly identified fossil ape that lived about 17–18 million years ago, during the Early Miocene. Recovered from the Wadi Moghra fossil site in northern Egypt, the remains represent the first definitive fossil ape known from North Africa. The finding not only extends the geographic range of early apes, but also places Egypt—and the wider Middle East region—at the heart of a pivotal evolutionary transition leading to modern apes.