A controversial new study challenges the long-held belief that the ancestors of apes and humans came from Africa after the Ape Skull fossil discovery.

This comes with the discovery of an ancient ape skull to confirm the newly discovered information.

-The Ape skull’s origins-

This partial ape skull belongs to a species known as Anadoluvius turkae and was unearthed in Cankiri, Turkey.

In addition, the ape skull dates back approximately 8.7 million years, as reported by Live Science.

In contrast, early hominins, which encompass humans, and African apes, did not make their appearance in Africa until later.

-Reaction to the Ape skull-

This revelation questions the widely accepted notion that the ancestors of African apes and humans exclusively originated in Africa.

Researchers posit that this discovery hints at the possibility that hominins might initially have evolved in Europe.
According to the researchers, the hominins later migrated to Africa.

In addition, Professor David Begun, a paleoanthropologist from the University of Toronto and co-senior author of the study stated

-Findings on the fossil-

“Our findings further suggest that hominins not only evolved in western and central Europe but spent five million years evolving

Professor David Begun continued that “there and spreading to the eastern Mediterranean before eventually dispersing into Africa.”

Moreover, his logic for this assessment was “probably as a consequence of changing environments and diminishing forests.”

-Why take caution of the ape skull?-

However, he cautions that while this new evidence supports the hypothesis, it does not definitively prove it.

To establish this theory, researchers emphasize the need for the discovery of more fossils from both Europe and Africa.

These fossils should date between seven and eight million years ago, to establish a clear link between the two groups.

Consequently, The analysis indicates that the ape in question likely weighed between 49 to 59 Kilograms.

Nevertheless, these hominins could have possibly resided in a dry forest habitat and spent time on the ground.

The skull’s initial discovery took place in 2015, with its significance recently discussed in a research paper published.

-The doubts about Ape skull findings-

Despite the provocative findings, some researchers maintain this discovery does not radically alter the original findings.

Professor Chris Stringer, researcher in human evolution at the Natural History Museum in London was critical of the findings.

In his view “This has been a long-running debate regarding great ape and our origins.”

He added, “I don’t think this find changes much from the discussions.”

In brief, he stood on the view that the original findings were intact.