Upper Miocene hominoid distribution and the origin of hominids revisited

Abstract

The geographic origin of African apes and humans is a major issue in modern paleoprimatology: did these hominoids originate in Eurasia or in Africa? Despite the commonly accepted view that Africa was devoid of hominoids in the late Middle Miocene and Upper Miocene, at least 10 different lineages have now been identified on this continent (three in the late Middle Miocene and seven in the Upper Miocene). African hominoids appear to have been more diverse than those in Eurasia, even if they are poorly represented. During this time period, Miocene hominoids were more widespread in relation to the extension of the tropical zones ( ± 40° latitude) contrasting with the more restricted area ( ± 10° latitude) inhabited by modern African apes, and the geographic connection between Africa and Eurasia during the same period probably allowed hominoids to move south and north. Thus, considering the fossil evidence, Eurasia cannot be considered as a better place of origin than Africa.

Keywords:

• Middle Miocene
• Upper Miocene
• Africa
• Eurasia
• hominoid evolution
• locomotion

Acknowledgements

I thank the organisers of NAVEP 1 for organising a challenging meeting in Marrakech, especially Prof. Nour-Eddine Jalil. I would like to extend my thanks to Dr Martin Pickford for discussions and comments on this manuscript.