Uploaded March 2026 | Updated September 2026, 2 weeks ago
A new fossil ape from Egypt is broadening the picture of where modern apes came from. In this video, the researchers behind the discovery explain what Masripithecus moghraensis is, what its 17-18-million-year-old jaw reveals about ape evolution, and why northern Africa may have played a more central role than scientists previously thought.
Masripithecus moghraensis is the first definitive fossil ape known from North Africa. Its position on the ape family tree points to northern Africa and the Middle East as a potential home for the common ancestor of all living apes.
The research was supported by The Leakey Foundation, Mansoura University, and Egypt's Science and Technology Development Fund. It was published in Science on March 26, 2026.
Read the paper: doi.org/10.1126/science.adz4102
A new fossil ape from Egypt is broadening the picture of where modern apes came from. In this video, the researchers behind the discovery explain what Masripithecus moghraensis is, what its 17-18-million-year-old jaw reveals about ape evolution, and why northern Africa may have played a more central role than scientists previously thought.
Masripithecus moghraensis is the first definitive fossil ape known from North Africa. Its position on the ape family tree points to northern Africa and the Middle East as a potential home for the common ancestor of all living apes.
The research was supported by The Leakey Foundation, Mansoura University, and Egypt's Science and Technology Development Fund. It was published in Science on March 26, 2026.
Read the paper: doi.org/10.1126/science.adz4102
