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New Great Ape Ancestor?

Like other great apes, Pierolapithecus catalaunicus had a stiff lower spine and other special adaptations for climbing. These features, plus the fossil's age of about 13 million years, suggest that this species was probably close to the last great ape ancestor, according to Moyà-Solà and colleagues. 

The great apes, which now include orangutans, chimpanzees, gorillas and humans, are thought to have diverged from the lesser apes, a group that contains modern gibbons and siamangs, about 11 to 16 million years ago. 

Fossil evidence from this time period, the middle Miocene epoch, is sparse, however, and researchers have long been searching for the great ape ancestors that emerged after this split. Pierolapithecus' ribcage, lower spine and wrist show key signs of specialized climbing abilities that link this specimen with modern great apes. 

In contrast, monkeys, which belong to a more primitive group, have more generalized movement abilities and lack these particular traits. "Pierolapithecus" refers to the village of Els Hostalets de Pierola, near the fossil site, and "catalaunicus" is for Catalonia.

The research is to appear in the Nov. 19 issue of the research journal Science.

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