Reuters-Tiny Primate Could Rewrite

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Subject: Reuters-Tiny Primate Could Rewrite Some History 

Tiny Primate Could Rewrite Some History
12:18 a.m. Oct 15, 1999 Eastern
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Teeth and bits of jaw from a tiny, squirrel-sized
animal that lived 40 million years ago in what is now Myanmar (Burma)
suggest primates originated in Asia, not Africa as was believed, researchers
said Thursday.

A team of researchers from France and Myanmar say the little animal, which
they have named Bahinia pondaungensis, was probably the ancestor of modern
apes, monkeys and humans.

Jean-Jacques Jaeger of the Universite Montpellier-II in France and
colleagues found the fossils in a layer of red clay, along with a complete
lower jaw from a more advanced primate called Amphipithecus.

SOURCE OF ADVANCED PRIMATES

Writing in the journal Science, they say their findings may help decide
where the earliest anthropoids -- the advanced primates that include humans,
monkeys and apes -- came from.

``The Bahinia find is important because it tells us that there was a complex
community of primates living in Asia, a tremendous anthropoid radiation much
earlier than anyone thought,'' Jaeger said in a statement.

``We didn't have that kind of information about Asia before, only Africa.
Now we may have to change our whole story about anthropoid origins and
evolution.''

The fossilized remains of many early anthropoids have been found in Africa,
most from a single rich site in Egypt. Many scientists thus believed that
Africa, already believed by many scientists to be the cradle of humanity,
also gave rise to earlier ancestors.

But a number of fossils have recently been found in Thailand, China, and
Myanmar. They are between 49 million and 33 million years old and include
some of the most primitive-looking anthropoids ever found.

ANTHROPOIDS MAY BE FROM ASIA

Jaeger's team found that Bahinia's teeth strongly resemble the most
primitive of all, a creature called Eosimias that was found in China. If
Eosimias was indeed an anthropoid, it is so old and primitive that it
strongly suggests anthropoids originated in Asia.

If it is not, the case is still open on the origins of humanity's ancestors.

``Bahinia is important because it is a much more complete fossil than
Eosimias,'' Jaeger said.

``With the additional fossil material, we were able to look at more dental
characters, and these extra characters in the Bahinia fossil helped us to
confirm that Eosimias is definitely an anthropoid.''

Bahinia and Eosimias are the most primitive anthropoids ever uncovered, and
both have been found in Asia and not in Africa.

Jaeger and colleagues said this strongly suggests anthropoids evolved in
Asia and migrated to Africa.

Primates include some small and primitive animals, including bush babies and
lemurs. But Bahinia is small by any standards, weighing only about 14
ounces -- the size of the smallest South American monkeys.

It would have lived in trees and probably eaten insects, judging from the
shape of its teeth.