Portal de Periódicos da CAPES

Sahelanthropus or 'Sahelpithecus'?

2002; Nature Portfolio; Volume: 419; Issue: 6907 Linguagem: Inglês

10.1038/419581a

1476-4687

Milford H. Wolpoff, Brigitte Sénut, Martín Pickford, John Hawks,

Primate Behavior and Ecology

Beginning with Ramapithecus, there has been a continued search for an ape-like hominid ancestor in the Miocene Epoch. Sahelanthropus tchadensis is an enigmatic new Miocene species, whose characteristics are a mix of those of apes and Homo erectus and which has been proclaimed by Brunet et al. to be the earliest hominid1. However, we believe that features of the dentition, face and cranial base that are said to define unique links between this Toumaï specimen and the hominid clade are either not diagnostic or are consequences of biomechanical adaptations. To represent a valid clade, hominids must share unique defining features2, and Sahelanthropus does not appear to have been an obligate biped.