Related knowledge of century apes

The Shu ape in Yuanqu, Shanxi overthrew the assertion that "human beings originated in Africa"

Yuanqu Basin is the birthplace of Tertiary strata and mammals in China. 19 16, An Tesheng, an industrial consultant of Beiyang government and a Swedish scientist, discovered the first Eocene mammal fossil in China in Tuqiaogou, near Zhaili Village, Yuanqu County, which pushed the study of Eocene mammals to a new starting point. 1923 published a paper entitled "Cenozoic in northern China" in Geological Special Report No.3, which described the Eocene strata in Yuanqu in detail and drew a geological map of1:100000. Since then, this remote wilderness, which was originally unmarked on the map, has become the focus of world paleoanthropologists.

The discovery of Shu ape fossils in Yuanqu once again proved that this land, which has been silent for millions of years, was once a hot spot for human beings to thrive. Scientists' research has never stopped since this place was discovered in the 1920s. In the past hundred years, more historical sites have been discovered and more historical theories have been confirmed. The discovery of Shu ape fossils in Yuanqu not only attracted the attention of scientists in China, but also attracted the greedy eyes of scientists all over the world.

From 65438 to 0983, Dr. Dawson of Carnegie Museum of Natural History in the United States made an all-round investigation of Yuanqu Basin. This is the first American scientist to set foot on this hot land since New China, and also the first western scientist. During this expedition, Dr. Dawson found a skull fossil of cloven-hoofed animals in Tuqiaogou, Zhaili Village, Gucheng Town, which was named Dawson's first charcoal beast, laying a solid foundation for the cooperative research of scientists from all over the world in this basin. In the later investigation, Chinese personnel found the earliest ape fossils with higher primate characteristics in the world in Zhaili Village, Yuanqu. The discovery of Shu ape fossils made all the scientists involved in the investigation crazy.

1May, 995, they unearthed a pair of lower gums containing almost all the teeth of the century ape-man in Yuanqu, which is the most complete physiological data about ape-man found in the world so far. The authoritative American academic journal Science announced the news to the world in time. This great discovery of China at the end of 20th century coincides with the 0/00th anniversary of Carnegie Museum/KLOC. In order to commemorate this double event in the field of natural science, Chinese and American scientists named this early ape found in Yuanqu as the early century ape.

From 65438 to 0997, Tong Yongsheng and Huang, researchers of China Academy of Sciences, and Danino Kibo, a professor of anatomy and paleontologist at Northern Illinois University in the United States, went to Yuanqu again and found the tarsal bones of some century-old apes. Through the latest study of tarsal bones of Shu apes, it is found that fossils have reflected the early characteristics of the evolution of monkeys, apes and human ancestors. This complex tarsal fossil has the shape of "mosaic evolution" and has the characteristics of several advanced primates and some primitive lower primates. So far, no new primates have been found to have this feature, and apes are obviously "transitional members" connecting the two families of lower primates and higher primates. This feature plays an irreplaceable role in the study of human evolution.

The evolution of human beings is a long and tortuous process, and the exploration and research on the origin of human beings is also a long and complicated process. In this hot land of Yuanqu basin, the accidental discovery of human historical evolution has been interpreted again and again, providing scientific evidence for people's research one after another. In April 2000, People's Daily, Xinhua Daily Telegraph and other newspapers published articles in succession, reporting the papers published by Chinese and American scientists in the authoritative British scientific journal Nature. By studying the tarsal bones and mandible fossils of a century-old ape found in Zhaili Village, Yuanqu, China, it is confirmed that the remote ancestor of human beings originated in Yuanqu, Shanxi Province, and the assertion that "human beings originated in Africa" is overturned.

Shu ape means "the dawn of the anthropoid suborder". According to experts' research, Shu Ape is a primate that lived 45 million years ago, mainly living in warm and humid woodlands in tropical and subtropical regions, and it is the smallest primate ever discovered by human beings. He is a transitional stage from lower primates to apes. He has some characteristics of both. He is good at climbing and likes to walk on all fours in trees. He has a wide range of recipes, not only catching insects, but also peeling bark. According to the analysis of the century ape-man fossils found in Yuanqu, 45 million years ago, Yuanqu basin had a humid climate, connected lakes, many trees and a wide variety of animals and plants, which was very suitable for the survival and reproduction of apes. At the same time, the newly discovered tarsal bones of apes show that they have been able to walk flexibly on four legs at the end of branches like monkeys in higher primate families.

Before the discovery of Shu ape fossils, the world's earliest higher primate fossils were discovered in Fayoum, North Africa about 35 million years ago. The discovery of the ape-man in the first century of Yuanqu advanced the appearance of the ape-man by 654.38+0 billion years.