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Gorilla Fossils Hint That Human Evolutionary Split Happened 10 Million Years Ago

By R. Siva Kumar | Update Date: Feb 12, 2016 02:05 PM EST

Scientists discovered gorilla fossils dating back by centuries, indicating that the human evolutionary split took place 10 million years ago, according to Phys.org.

Hence, gorilla teeth fossils were found in the Chorora Formation in Ethiopia, which was about 8 million years old when they were dated back.

When exactly the split from our primitive animal ancestors occurred is not clear. The current evidence has resulted in another theory that the split from ancestors happened earlier than thought.

"The palaeobiological record of 12 million to 7 million years ago is crucial to the elucidation of African ape and human origins, but few fossil assemblages of this period have been reported from sub-Saharan Africa," reads the study.

Researchers used various clues to narrow down the timeline for the teeth they found. They picked out volcanic rock samples and sediment particles below and above the teeth. The evidence indicates that the earliest forms of human life started in Africa, not Eurasia.

The study has been published in the journal Nature.

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