A new ape from Turkiye and the radiation of late Miocene hominines

Fossil apes from the eastern Mediterranean are central to the debate on African ape and human (hominine) origins. Current research places them either as hominines, as hominins (humans and our fossil relatives) or as stem hominids, no more closely related to hominines than to pongines (orangutans and their fossil relatives). Here we show, based on our analysis of a newly identified genus, Anadoluvius, from the 8.7 Ma site of Corakyerler in central Anatolia, that Mediterranean fossil apes are diverse, and are part of the first known radiation of early members of the hominines. The members of this radiation are currently only identified in Europe and Anatolia; generally accepted hominins are only found in Africa from the late Miocene until the Pleistocene. Hominines may have originated in Eurasia during the late Miocene, or they may have dispersed into Eurasia from an unknown African ancestor. The diversity of hominines in Eurasia suggests an in situ origin but does not exclude a dispersal hypothesis.

Automated summary

Based on the analysis of fossil apes from the eastern Mediterranean, they are considered as the relatives of humans and early humans, or the ancestors of humans and orangutans, rather than closer relatives to orangutans. The study of a newly identified genus, Anadoluvius, from the site of Corakyerler in central Anatolia, suggests that Mediterranean fossil apes are diverse and part of the first known radiation of early hominines. It is possible that hominines originated in Eurasia during the late Miocene or dispersed into Eurasia from an unknown African ancestor.