Last week a team of paleontologists revealed in the journal Science their discovery of an almost-complete fossil of what they claim could be the last common ancestor to all modern-day great apes (including humans). They have nicknamed the fossil \u00abPau\u00bb which is a catal\u00e1n name and means \u00abpeace\u00bb. They chose this nickname because Pau was discovered at about the time the Iraq war was starting in March 2003. The skeleton was discovered at a new paleontological site, Barranc de Can Vila 1, near Barcelona.<\/p>\n
The press release published by the American Association of Advancement of Science reads as follows:<\/p>\n
Spain\u2014A new ape species from Spain called Pierolapithecus catalaunicus, <\/em> El Mundo publishes declarations made by Salvador Moy\u00e1-Sol\u00e1 describing how his team discovered the fossil. First they found a tooth and then as a bulldozer moved the earth to make it easier for the team to carry on searching, the fossil appeared. \u00abIn Spain we say you don’t find the good fossils, The good fossils find you!\u00bb explained the researcher.<\/p>\n The team patiently uncovered 83 bones, hidden and perfectly conserved for around 13 million years. \u00abThe importance of this new fossil is that for the first time all the key areas that define modern great apes are well-preserved,\u00bb Moy\u00e0-Sol\u00e0 said.<\/p>\n Pau was probably male, weighed about 35 kilograms and from its tooth shape indicates that his diet was fruit picked from the trees he climbed.<\/p>\n <\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Last week a team of paleontologists revealed in the journal Science their discovery of an almost-complete fossil of what they claim could be the last common ancestor to all modern-day great apes (including humans). They have nicknamed the fossil \u00abPau\u00bb which is a catal\u00e1n name and means \u00abpeace\u00bb. They chose this nickname because Pau was discovered at about the time the Iraq war was starting in March 2003. The skeleton was discovered at a new paleontological site, Barranc de Can Vila 1, near Barcelona. The press release published by the American Association of Advancement of Science reads as follows: Spain\u2014A <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-6269","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-sin-categoria"],"yoast_head":"\n
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or its close relative, may <\/em>have been the last common ancestor to all living <\/em>
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great apes, including humans, researchers said<\/em> Thursday at a press briefing <\/em>
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in Barcelona. The Spanish paleontology team <\/em>describes its fossil find<\/em> <\/em>
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in the 19 November issue of the journal Science, <\/em>published by AAAS, <\/em>
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the nonprofit science society.<\/em>
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Like other great apes, Pierolapithecus had a stiff lower spine <\/em>
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and other special adaptations for <\/em>climbing. These features, plus <\/em>
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the fossil’s age of about 13 million years, suggest that this species <\/em>
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was probably close to the last great ape ancestor, according to <\/em>
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Salvador Moy\u00e0-Sol\u00e0 of the Miguel <\/em>Crusafont Institute of Paleontology <\/em>
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and the Diputaci\u00f3n de Barcelona in Spain. <\/em>
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Moy\u00e0-Sol\u00e0 joined colleagues Thursday 18 November to brief <\/em>
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reporters at Sala Noble Edifici del Rellotge in Barcelona.<\/em><\/p>\n