A well-preserved skull of a European great ape which could be among the earliest ancestors of the human race has been reconstructed by scientists using CT scans.
The researchers say their results are consistent with the idea that this species represents one of the earliest members of the human and great ape family.
The species, Pierolapithecus catalaunicus, was one of a group of now-extinct ape species that lived in Europe between 15 and seven million years ago.
Previous research on the species suggest it had an upright body, and adaptations which meant it could hang from tree branches and move from tree to tree.
But scientists have been divided on where the ape fitted on the evolutionary tree, due to damage to the cranium.
The researchers used CT scans to virtually reconstruct the cranium of Pierolapithecus, and compare it to other primate species.
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Co-author Sergio Almécija, a senior research scientist in the Museum’s Division of Anthropology said, ‘An interesting output of the evolutionary modeling in the study is that that the cranium of Pierolapithecus is closer in shape and size to the ancestor from which living great apes and humans evolved.