Not A Chimp

Primates of the Miocene epoch pre-date known chimpanzees, and at least one species was closely related to the extant chimpanzee. The genus level is a little more confident in terms of knowing the ancestor of chimps. The genus most closely related, as far as we can tell so far, is Proconsul. An arboreal Miocene primate, Proconsul, was discovered in eastern Kenya and described in 1933 by Arthur Hopwood. I have a lot to learn for this week, so I have to cut today short. It turns out I know very little about primates and will probably have to consult with an anthropologist I know. Either way, primates are important members of the fossil record, and this is a fitting first ever primate for our purposes.

Guérin Nicolas