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<\/div>Two teeth, viewed from multiple angles, from the newly identified ancient ape Buronius manfredschmidi<\/p>\n
B\u00f6hme et al., 2024, PLOS ONE, CC-BY 4.0<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>\n
A tiny, vegetarian great ape may have lived in western Europe 11.6 million years ago. Smaller and lighter than any other known great ape, the newly discovered 10-kilogram primate was a skilled climber that probably ate leaves, says Madelaine B\u00f6hme<\/a> at the University of T\u00fcbingen in Germany.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s quite a small primate,\u201d she says. \u201cBut it differs from all known fossils and, of course, all living great apes we know so far.\u201d<\/p>\n About 15 million years ago, in the middle of the Miocene Epoch, hominoids \u2013 the great apes \u2013 became rarer in Africa and more abundant in Europe. While they sometimes shared habitats with other primates such as pliopithecoids \u2013 extinct cousins of apes and Old World monkeys \u2013 hominoid species didn\u2019t appear to coexist with each other in Europe.<\/p>\n In 2019, B\u00f6hme and her colleagues reported the discovery of 37 bones at Bavaria\u2019s Hammerschmiede archaeological site that appeared to come from an early bipedal ape from 11.6 million years ago, which they named Danuvius guggenmosi. <\/em><\/a><\/p>\n During the excavations, B\u00f6hme was surprised when she found two tiny, ape-like teeth and a kneecap in the same layer of sediment as the Danuvius<\/em> fossils.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n \u201cWe kept saying: \u2018What is this?\u2019\u201d she says of these smaller fossils. \u201cAnd then we decided, OK, it\u2019s clear: this is something new.\u201d<\/p>\n The fossils are too old for DNA analysis, says B\u00f6hme. So the researchers took detailed measurements of the 7-millimetre-long molar and the 16-millimetre-wide kneecap, both from a juvenile, as well as a smaller premolar fragment, which they say came from a young adult. They also calculated the thickness of the enamel and ran microscopic CT scanning of the teeth.<\/p>\n The thin enamel, like that of gorillas, suggests a soft diet probably composed of leaves, says B\u00f6hme. The shape, thickness and ligament attachment sites of the kneecap resemble those of tree-living primates, hinting that the ape was a proficient climber.<\/p>\n The researchers named the new ape Buronius manfredschmidi<\/em>, after the medieval name of a city near the Hammerschmiede site, and a dentist named Manfred Schmid who has been collecting fossils from the site since the 1970s.<\/p>\n Lack of competition for resources might explain why the Buronius<\/em> and Danuvius<\/em> apes could live together, says B\u00f6hme \u2013 Danuvius<\/em> is thought to have eaten hard foods like nuts and possibly meat. The team cannot rule out the possibility that the larger ape, which might have been up to three times heavier, may have sometimes fed on the smaller species, she adds.<\/p>\n However, the three fossils might not be sufficient to make such \u201cgrandiloquent\u201d conclusions, says Sergio Alm\u00e9cija<\/a> at the American Museum of Natural History in New York City. \u201cCould the smaller fossil elements belong to an infantile Danuvius<\/em> individual?\u201d he asks. \u201cThe teeth certainly look like they could be deciduous [baby teeth].\u201d<\/p>\n He also wonders whether the kneecap represents the same species as the teeth. \u201cEven though it is suggested that it belongs to a juvenile individual, its size overlaps with the lower range of adult orangutans [which are much larger apes],\u201d says Alm\u00e9cija.<\/p>\n