Ghosts of extinct apes: genomic insights into African hominid evolution
Abstract
African apes are humans' closest evolutionary relatives, yet their fossil record is almost nonexistent. Genomics shows that, despite the fact that African ape lineages originated 6–12 million years ago (Ma), the diversity within the living species is very young (<1 Ma), similar in age to the diversity of recent hominin species, such as modern humans and Neanderthals. The hominin fossil record shows deeper and greater diversity compared with that of the African apes, suggesting that, across hominine evolution, they must have experienced a high rate of extinction, with repeated replacements and dispersals. Recent genomic studies also suggest that African apes had higher levels of diversification in earlier periods, and it is likely that a high rate of extinction and replacement occurred. This raises questions about the last common ancestor, the conditions under which apes evolved, and the adaptive and dispersive nature of the current species.
- Publication:
-
Trends in Ecology and Evolution
- Pub Date:
- May 2024
- DOI:
- Bibcode:
- 2024TEcoE..39..456F
- Keywords:
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- human evolution;
- chimpanzee;
- gorilla;
- extinction;
- ape diversity;
- ape genomics