Ancient ape fossil in Egypt could rewrite the story of human origins

A 17- to 18-million-year-old ape fossil discovered in Egypt is challenging long-held beliefs about where the ancestors of humans and other modern apes first evolved. Scientists now suspect that North Africa and the Middle East, rather than East Africa, may have been the cradle of modern ape evolution. Ancient ape fossil in Egypt could rewrite the story of human origins.

Ancient ape fossil in Egypt could rewrite the story of human origins Science News from research organizations Ancient ape fossil in Egypt could rewrite the story of human origins A remarkable 18-million-year-old fossil discovered in Egypt suggests that the evolutionary roots of humans and other modern apes may lie in an unexpected part of Africa. The remarkable find suggests that a crucial chapter of our evolutionary history may have unfolded much farther north than scientists previously believed. The newly identified species, named Masripithecus moghraensis, lived about 17 to 18 million years ago during the Early Miocene.

Its fossilized remains were recovered from Wadi Moghra in northern Egypt, making it the first definitive fossil ape ever discovered in North Africa. The discovery, described in a study published March 26, 2026, in Science, comes from an international team at the Mansoura University Vertebrate Paleontology Center (Egypt) and the University of Southern California (USA). Their findings suggest that northern Africa and the Middle East may have played a central role in the emergence of the evolutionary lineage that eventually gave rise to all living apes.

A Missing Piece of the Ape Evolutionary Puzzle For decades, scientists believed that early apes and their close relatives were concentrated primarily in regions farther south in Africa.