Until now, however, there hasn't been a fossil linking
Kenyapithecus to later apes thought to have evolved into more direct human ancestors, according to the study.
Kenyapithecus shares some features with living great apes that the more primitive Equatorius does not.
Begun argues that a comparison of 240 anatomical features in 13 fossil and living genera, including
Kenyapithecus, finds the greatest similarity between modern and fossil Asian apes and members of the human evolutionary family.
Two fossils --the top of an upper-arm bone and the top of an upper-leg bone -- fit neatly on the shafts of a
Kenyapithecus arm and leg bone, respectively, collected at the same site in 1933 and now housed in Kenya, she adds.
As scientists attempt to place the Namibian find within a genus and species, comparisons with
Kenyapithecus should prove critical, Conroy maintains.