From Newsgroup: sci.anthropology.paleo


There's quite a bit of good info in the phys.org article.

https://phys.org/news/2026-03-masripithecus-miocene-ape-egypt-modern.html

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 17rCo18 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
EgyptrCoand the wider Middle East regionrCoat the heart
of a pivotal evolutionary transition leading to
modern apes.
...


https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/science.adz4102
An Early Miocene ape from the biogeographic
crossroads of African and Eurasian Hominoidea

EditorrCOs summary
The vast majority of early hominoid fossil hunting
has occurred in East Africa, where a trove of early
fossils and lineages have been found. Other regions
in Africa have been less explored for various reasons,
inspiring the question of whether a focus on East
Africa has shaped opinions about where early hominoid
evolution occurred. Al-Ashqar et al. now describe a
Miocene ape from Egypt with crown hominoid affinities
suggesting both that this lineage diverged before
entering Eurasia and that a focus on one African region
may have shaped our ideas about where hominoids first
emerged (see the Perspective by Alba and
Arias-Martorell). rCoSacha Vignieri


Abstract
The Early Miocene fossil record documenting hominoid
evolution has long been restricted primarily to sites
in East Africa, whereas contemporaneous North African
sites have only yielded remains of cercopithecoid
monkeys. Here, we describe a fossil ape from North
Africa, a new genus (Masripithecus) from the Early
Miocene (~17 million to 18 million years) of northern
Egypt, on the basis of mandibular remains. A combined
molecular-morphological Bayesian tip-dating analysis
positions Masripithecus closer to crown hominoids
than coeval fossil apes from East Africa, thereby
filling a phylogenetic and biogeographic gap in the
evolution of stem hominoids. This evidence suggests
that crown Hominoidea might have originated during the
Early Miocene in the underexplored northeastern part
of Afro-Arabia, rather than in eastern Africa or
Eurasia.




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From Newsgroup: sci.anthropology.paleo

On 4/15/2026 6:29 AM, Primum Sapienti wrote:

There's quite a bit of good info in the phys.org article.

https://phys.org/news/2026-03-masripithecus-miocene-ape-egypt-modern.html

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 17rCo18 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
EgyptrCoand the wider Middle East regionrCoat the heart
of a pivotal evolutionary transition leading to
modern apes.
...

https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/science.adz4102
An Early Miocene ape from the biogeographic
crossroads of African and Eurasian Hominoidea

EditorrCOs summary
The vast majority of early hominoid fossil hunting
has occurred in East Africa, where a trove of early
fossils and lineages have been found. Other regions
in Africa have been less explored for various reasons,
inspiring the question of whether a focus on East
Africa has shaped opinions about where early hominoid
evolution occurred. Al-Ashqar et al. now describe a
Miocene ape from Egypt with crown hominoid affinities
suggesting both that this lineage diverged before
entering Eurasia and that a focus on one African region
may have shaped our ideas about where hominoids first
emerged (see the Perspective by Alba and
Arias-Martorell). rCoSacha Vignieri

Abstract
The Early Miocene fossil record documenting hominoid
evolution has long been restricted primarily to sites
in East Africa, whereas contemporaneous North African
sites have only yielded remains of cercopithecoid
monkeys. Here, we describe a fossil ape from North
Africa, a new genus (Masripithecus) from the Early
Miocene (~17 million to 18 million years) of northern
Egypt, on the basis of mandibular remains. A combined
molecular-morphological Bayesian tip-dating analysis
positions Masripithecus closer to crown hominoids
than coeval fossil apes from East Africa, thereby
filling a phylogenetic and biogeographic gap in the
evolution of stem hominoids. This evidence suggests
that crown Hominoidea might have originated during the
Early Miocene in the underexplored northeastern part
of Afro-Arabia, rather than in eastern Africa or
Eurasia.

What, bloody, "molecular" dating. That way you can place anything
wherever you like.
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From Newsgroup: sci.anthropology.paleo


Mario Petrinovic <mario.petrinovic1@zg.htnet.hr> posted:

On 4/15/2026 6:29 AM, Primum Sapienti wrote:

There's quite a bit of good info in the phys.org article.

https://phys.org/news/2026-03-masripithecus-miocene-ape-egypt-modern.html

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 17rCo18 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
EgyptrCoand the wider Middle East regionrCoat the heart
of a pivotal evolutionary transition leading to
modern apes.
...

https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/science.adz4102
An Early Miocene ape from the biogeographic
crossroads of African and Eurasian Hominoidea

EditorrCOs summary
The vast majority of early hominoid fossil hunting
has occurred in East Africa, where a trove of early
fossils and lineages have been found. Other regions
in Africa have been less explored for various reasons,
inspiring the question of whether a focus on East
Africa has shaped opinions about where early hominoid
evolution occurred. Al-Ashqar et al. now describe a
Miocene ape from Egypt with crown hominoid affinities
suggesting both that this lineage diverged before
entering Eurasia and that a focus on one African region
may have shaped our ideas about where hominoids first
emerged (see the Perspective by Alba and
Arias-Martorell). rCoSacha Vignieri

Abstract
The Early Miocene fossil record documenting hominoid
evolution has long been restricted primarily to sites
in East Africa, whereas contemporaneous North African
sites have only yielded remains of cercopithecoid
monkeys. Here, we describe a fossil ape from North
Africa, a new genus (Masripithecus) from the Early
Miocene (~17 million to 18 million years) of northern
Egypt, on the basis of mandibular remains. A combined molecular-morphological Bayesian tip-dating analysis
positions Masripithecus closer to crown hominoids
than coeval fossil apes from East Africa, thereby
filling a phylogenetic and biogeographic gap in the
evolution of stem hominoids. This evidence suggests
that crown Hominoidea might have originated during the
Early Miocene in the underexplored northeastern part
of Afro-Arabia, rather than in eastern Africa or
Eurasia.

What, bloody, "molecular" dating. That way you can place anything
wherever you like.

Most similar morphologically to Heliopithecus of Arabia.
ai
Comparison: Its teeth are described as differing from contemporaneous East African apes (like Proconsul or Afropithecus), and in some respects, are more similar to younger Eurasian hominoids.
Phylogenetic Position: The study indicated it is closer to the last common ancestor of all living apes (crown hominoids) than any other known Early Miocene African ape, filling a gap between East African and later Eurasian ape evolution.
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