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Sahelanthropus tchadensis - The hominid that became an ape
by Eugene M. McCarthy, Ph.D.
| Sahelanthropus tchadensis
Photo: Ludovic Péron
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Six views of a cast of the unreconstructed holotype
cranium TM 266-01-060-1 dubbed Toumaï (click to enlarge)
Photo: Oryctes
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Site of discovery
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The seven-million-year-old fragments of bone on which this taxon is based were found in 2001. They were initially described as belonging to the oldest known hominid (Brunet et al. 2002), but are now deemed to represent the mortal remains of a Miocene ape. This leaves Orrorin tugenensis a reasonable chance of claiming the prize for earliest hominid.
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Toumaï skull: Frontal view
(click to enlarge)
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Lateral view
(click to enlarge)
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Sahelanthropus tchadensis is based on a single cranium, the dramatically named Toumaï skull (Toumaï means "hope of life" in Tebou, a Chadian tongue), which was found in Chad's Djurab desert – see maps below right.
The brainsize of this erstwhile hominid was only about 350 cc, similar to that of a modern chimpanzee (human mean cranial capacity is 1350 cc). Moreover, the skull has the same general appearance as that of a chimpanzee. No one knows how long chimpanzees have existed – perhaps this actually is the skull of a chimpanzee? Certainly, we can conclude that Sahelanthropus is a misnomer, since anthropus means human being, not ape.
No postcranial remains are known and it is unknown whether Sahelanthropus tchadensis was bipedal. The canine wear is similar to that of an ape (Brunet et al. 2002). So one would expect the diet of this creature to have been similar to that of modern chimpanzees. There is, of course, no evidence of the use of fire by this presumptive simian – the earliest evidence of the use of fire by a hominid is by Homo erectus, millions of years later.
The only actual hominid remains that have been found in Chad are those of Australopithecus bahrelghazali. Otherwise, the nearest sites yielding hominid fossils lie more than 2,000 kilometers away in eastern Africa.
Interesting facts and information about other ancient hominids:
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