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KENYAPITHECUS
(ken/keen-ya-pif-e-kus (depending upon how you pronounce kenya))
meaning: "Kenya ape"
Kenyapithecus
Named By: Louis Leakey in 1961
Time Period: middle Miocene
Location: Kenya
Size: Unavailable
Diet: Herbivore
Fossil(s): Many specimens, mostly of teeth and jaw fragments
Classification: | Chordata | Mammalia | Primates | Hominoidea | Hominidae |
About

Kenyapithecus wickeri was a fossil ape discovered by Louis Leakey in 1961 at a site called Fort Ternan in Kenya. The upper jaw and teeth were dated to 14 million years ago. One theory states that Kenyapithecus may be the common ancestor of all the great apes. More recent investigations suggest Kenyapithecus is more primitive than that and is only slightly more modern than when Proconsul is considered to be an ape.

Evidence suggests that Kenyapithecus wickeri was one of the species that started a radiation of apes out of Africa.

Read more about Kenyapithecus at Wikipedia
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