Last common ancestor of humans and chimpanzees could have been a vertical climber, no matter its feet

Last common ancestor of humans and chimpanzees could have been a vertical climber, no matter its feet

New research suggests that no matter what we eventually determine the last common ancestor of humans and chimpanzees to be, we'll learn it was a primate that climbed trees.

Wild monkeys challenge a long-held assumption about the common ancestor of humans and chimpanzees

Wild sooty mangabey monkeys can bend the middle of their feet almost as much as chimpanzees flex their ankles while climbing trees. The finding shows that a monkey-like foot could still support difficult vertical climbing, complicating ideas about the ancestor shared by humans and chimpanzees. The research does not reveal what that ancestor looked like, but it could change how scientists interpret fossil feet and climbing ability. A monkey-like …

Last Common Ancestor, No Matter Its Feet, Could Have Been a Vertical Climber

New research suggests that no matter what we eventually determine the last common ancestor of humans and chimpanzees to be, we'll learn it was a primate that climbed trees.

Last common ancestor may have climbed vertically, regardless of limb

COLUMBUS, Ohio—The last common ancestor shared by humans and chimpanzees may have looked less like a modern ape than many scientists have assumed, but it almost certainly knew how to climb. New research on wild sooty mangabey monkeys shows that a primate does not need the highly flexible ankle of a chimpanzee to scale a […]