What happened to the majority of ape species during the Late Miocene?

What happened to the majority of ape species during the Late Miocene?

Great apes were wiped out in ancient Europe when their environment changed drastically some nine million years ago, scientists say. A study of fossil teeth from grazing animals sheds light on what Europe was like during Late Miocene times. The scientists described their findings in a Royal Society journal.

Why did so many species of apes go extinct during the late Miocene?

At the close of the Miocene, North America and South America are close enough for some species to cross the narrow dividing waters. Animals that go extinct in the Miocene more likely do so because they fail to adapt to changes in climate and vegetation.

How did early primates get to this part of North America?

As improbable as it sounds, scientists think early primates crossed the Atlantic Ocean and landed on the shores of both continents tens of millions of years ago, probably on some kind of vegetation raft. That’s how most plants and animals get to isolated islands–which the Americas were, at the time.

Which species from the late Miocene is currently considered to be the earliest known hominin?

The oldest hominins currently known are Sahelanthropus tchadensis from Chad (Brunet et al. 2005) and Orrorin tugenensis from Kenya (Senut et al. 2001). Sahelanthropus, dated to between 6 and 7 mya, is known from a largely complete skull and some other fragmentary remains.

What happened during the Miocene?

During the Early Miocene, the Arabian Peninsula collided with Eurasia, severing the connection between the Mediterranean and Indian Ocean, and allowing a faunal interchange to occur between Eurasia and Africa, including the dispersal of proboscideans into Eurasia.

What geological feature had a major influence on the climate of East Africa and on ape evolution?

By priming the land to form lake basins that were sensitive to small changes in rainfall, extreme climate pulses of alternately arid and wet period occurred and had a profound effect on all the animals living in East Africa.

Why do some paleoanthropologists think Sahelanthropus might not be a hominin?

Although the placement of the foramen magnum appeared similar to humans’, other aspects of the skull would have prevented the species from keeping its head upright—and therefore it couldn’t have been a bipedal walker, the team concluded. Thus, they suggested, Sahelanthropus was not a hominid, just some kind of ape.

What happened in the late Miocene?

The late Miocene was a time of global drying and cooling. As ice rapidly accumulated at the poles, sea-levels fell, rainfall decreased and rainforests retreated. Many plant and animal groups died out and other forms, better adapted to a drying world, took their place.