18 million-year-old fossils of ape found in Africa, but in an unexpected place

An illustration of Masripithecus moghraensis, an early Miocene ape. (Image credit: Mauricio Antón)

The discovery of an enigmatic ape's 18 million year-old fossils in Egypt hints that the ancestors of all living apes, a group that includes humans, may have originated in northeast Africa or Arabia, a new study finds.

Scientists have long assumed that modern apes originated in East Africa, but the newfound fossils, which belong to a new genus and species, suggest they emerged farther north.