New Scientist
Image: Mauricio Antón
Long before humans appeared on Earth, the plate tectonics of the East African Rift may have been shaping our ancestors’ evolution.
The rift, which passes through Tanzania, is famous for being the site of early hominin fossil discoveries including the 3.2-million-year-old Lucy (Australopithecus afarensis).
It has now yielded the earliest ape and Old World monkey. At 25 million years old, the lower jaw of the ape and a molar from the Old World monkey are the same age as the rift itself, raising the possibility that the tectonic forces that formed the rift also drove the split of apes – and therefore humans – from monkeys. Read more on newscientist.com…
