New evidence suggests that human evolve from an African Ape-Like Ancestor
The recent analysis of a 4.4-million-year-old ankle bone in Ethiopia showed that the ancient species Ardipithecus ramidus may have served as a transitional species between apes and humans, indicating that our ancestors were in fact similar to gorillas, chimpanzees, and bonobos.
This discovery could shape our understanding of human evolution. Previously, it had been assumed that our last common ancestor with African apes had solely lived in the treetops, leading to the idea that Ardi was likely an arboreal species.
Meanwhile the study results suggest that the previous assumption was incorrect; Ardi may also have been at home on the ground, just like modern chimps.
Following its discovery in 1994, Ardi's 4.4-million-year-old remains have been at the heart of an anthropological debate.
In order to settle this matter, the study authors compared the specimen's talus-or ankle bone with that of other primates encompassing 40 million years of evolutionary history.
The results showed that the angular tilt of Ardi's ankle falls squarely in the range of modern African apes.
This suggested that the ancient hominin was capable of both vertical climbing and terrestrial plantigrade quadrupedalism, which specifically involves walking on all fours with the soles of the feet squarely on the ground.
The study author Thomas (Cody) Prang said in an official statement, "One of the surprises in this discovery was that Ardi walked upright yet retained a lot of ape-like characteristics, including a grasping foot."
Nonetheless, the new discovery demonstrated that this human ancestor was similar to an African ape, and this does not mean that humans evolved from chimpanzees.
The study was published in the journal Communications Biology, and it further proposed that our ancestors were in fact more chimp-like than previously perceived.