The “tree where Man was born” might not be growing near Cape Town after all, some archeologists have said recently on PhysOrg. It might have taken root closer to Rangoon:
In November 2005, the researchers discovered several fossils in central Myanmar dating from 37 million years ago and belonging to a new species of primate named Ganlea megacanina. In November 2008, part of the lower jaw of one member of this species was discovered. This find provides the paleontologists with powerful evidence supporting an Asian origin for anthropoid primates.
The new primate has greatly enlarged canine teeth which show heavy abrasion, indicating that Ganlea megacanina used them to pry open the tough exteriors of tropical fruit in order to extract the nutritious seeds contained inside. This is an unusual form of feeding adaptation that has never been observed in prosimian primates such as lemurs. It is, however, characteristic of South American saki monkeys, which are members of the large family of anthropoid primates. “Ganlea megacanina shows that the first anthropoids originated in Asia rather than in Africa,” Marivaux and Jaeger explain.