Gorillas split off of the hominid tree earlier than once thought
While you might think that we are more closely related to gorillas, it’s chimpanzees that we’re closest too, genetically that is. One of the key key questions is then, when did the split occur? Well about 10 million years ago, 2 million years earlier than previously thought:
If they are correct, it implies that the ancestors of modern humans and African great apes split and embarked on different evolutionary paths much earlier than had been thought. Source: Channel 4 – News – Teeth reveal gorilla ancestor clue
This is important because every bit of data on hominid evolution we have gives us a much better idea of how quickly evolutionary changes can take place. What is remarkable, in my mind, is given that gorillas went on a divergent path so long ago, how closely they resemble humans. Makes you wonder how things have all pieced together, doesn’t it?
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