Tiny Great Ape Species Discovered from 11 Million Years Ago

June 10, 2024

Discovering Buronius manfredschmidi was a big deal in the field of geology. It showed how different ancient hominids were. With a weight of only 10 kilograms, this species is the smallest known great ape, according to researchers led by Professor Madelaine Böhme at the University of Tübingen. These discoveries, which were made in Bavaria, Germany, tell us a lot about how humans and other big apes evolved.

Morphological Features and Lifestyle

Even though Buronius manfredschmidi was small, its shape suggests that it was a good climber and mostly lived high in the sky. Based on the few pieces of bone that have been found, like two teeth and a kneecap, the diet probably consisted mostly of soft foods and leaves. Because this great ape is about the size of a toddler, it shows that it had to find special ways to survive in its surroundings 11 million years ago.

Coexistence with Larger Hominids

Interestingly, Buronius manfredschmidi lived with Danuvius guggenmosi, a much bigger species of humanoid. Even though they live in the same area, their huge differences in size and food preferences show that they don’t compete for resources very much. There are some similarities between this situation and how gibbons and orangutans live now in parts of Asia.

Implications of the Discovery

This discovery is very important for understanding the variety of hominids that lived in the late Miocene era, which lasted from about 23.03 million years ago to 5.333 million years ago. This very small ape goes against the usual trend in development, which is for species to get bigger over time. Professor Böhme’s discovery gives us important information about how early hominids evolved and how they adapted to their surroundings. This study not only helps us learn more about our ancestors, but also gives us new ways to study evolutionary biology and how complex ecosystems in the past interacted with each other.

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