Bay Area scientist discovers ancient African skull

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The infant ape’s life was brief, dying before the age of two. Yet its discovery 13 million years later by a team led by Bay Area anthropologist Isaiah Nengo is casting light on a shadowy and pivotal period in pre-human history.

Characteristics of the fossil, the most complete extinct ape skull ever found, mark it as a new species in the great flowering of ape evolution, which later led to the emergence of humans. We didn’t descend from the little ape; rather, we have kin in common.

“Together, we have great-great-great-great grandparents that we all share,” said Nengo, who lives in Ross, digs in Kenya and teaches at Cupertino’s DeAnza College. His research, published in Wednesday’s issue of the prestigious journal Nature, was funded by the San Francisco-based Leakey Foundation, founded to explore the origins of humanity.

read more http://www.mercurynews.com/2017/08/09/bay-area-scientist-discovers-ancient-african-skull/