Did Early Primate Ancestors Migrate from Asia?

Ancient fossilized teeth of small anthropoid monkeys discovered in Libya suggest our earliest ancestors may have migrated from Asia to Africa, research published Wednesday showed.

The origin of anthropoids -- primates including monkeys, apes and humans -- has long been a source of hot debate among palaeontologists.




Experts have long argued anthropoids first appeared in Africa -- but recent studies suggest an earlier Asian origin, dating 55 million years ago.

Now new fossils, dating 38 to 39 million years ago and discovered in Dur At-Talah in central Libya, further complicate the debate.

They reveal the existence of three types of African anthropoids -- the oldest discovered on the continent to date, according to the study published in the British journal Nature.

Based on previous discoveries in Egypt and Algeria, "we are aware until now of only one form of anthropoid primate, dating back 37 million years ago for the oldest," said one of the study's authors, Jean-Jacques Jaeger, of Poitiers University in France.


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