Discovery and species During 1935 the palaeontologist Gustav Heinrich Ralph von Koenigswald visited a Chinese apothecary shop in Hong Kong and discovered an unusually large molar, a tooth similar to the large flat ones that you have towards the back of your mouth. Fossils like this are often found in Traditional Chinese medicine where … Read more
In Depth Although not a very well-known prehistoric ape, Khoratpithecus has been regarded as being intermediate in form between Sivapithecus and the modern day genus Pongo, better known as the orangutan. For this reason there has been suggestion that Khoratpithecus might actually be the direct ancestor of orangutans. The species Khoratpithecus chiangmuanensis was established from … Read more
In Depth For the first part of their taxonomic life, fossils of Lufengpithecus were actually known as Ramapithecus lufengensis (‘Rama ape from Lufeng). Between 1975 and 1976 however, much more complete fossils of Ramapithecus were recovered, but instead of allowing for more complete restoration of this ape they led to the realisation that the genus … Read more
In Depth Although Nakalipithecus is so far only known from a jaw bone, Nakalipithecus has been a major contribution to our understanding of hominid evolution specifically regarding hominines, including the ancestors of humans. For some time there have been two competing theories regarding the ancient origins of our own direct ancestors, concerning either an African … Read more
In Depth Although best known from the Sivalik Hills, Sivapithecus seems to have had a much broader geographical distribution. This is in part down to fossils of other genera such as Ankarapithecus and Palaeopithecus being reassigned to Sivapithecus. One genus in particular called Ramapithecus was previously heralded as an ancestor of humans, but as more … Read more