American scientists from Hunter College found a new species of ancient primates during excavations in India. The age of the found tooth is 13 million years.
Excavations were carried out in northern India near the city of Ramnagar. The find caught the eye of the scientist Christopher K. Gilbert. In order to study the tooth in detail, scientists from Arizona State University had to spend five years.
The tooth was studied using computed tomography, and it was also compared with the teeth of other primates. According to the results of studies, it turned out that the tooth does not belong to any of the known primate species, so scientists called it Kapi ramnagarensis.
The new species of primates is a direct descendant of gibbons. The age of the find coincides with the period of primate migration from Africa to Asia, which makes the tooth a unique asset of science.
The results help researchers understand the process of primate evolution, their migration routes, including the migration of ancient people.
Photo: from open sources