Kenyapithecus wickeri was a fossil ape discovered by Louis Leakey in 1961 at a site called Fort Ternan in Kenya. The upper jaw and teeth were dated to 14 million years ago. A theory states that Kenyapithecus may be the common ancestor the gorilla, bonobo, chimpanzee, and humans. But another theory states that Kenyapithecus is more primitive and humans may have evolved from European apes, which evolved from Kenyapithecus Evidence suggests that Kenyapithecus wickeri one of species that started the radiation out of Africa.

Morphology

Impressed by Kenyapithecus's modern-looking teeth, Leakey declared Kenyapithecus to be "a very early ancestor of man himself." (Science August 27 1999, Carl Zimmer)

Kenyapithecus possessed craniodental adaptations like those seen in living pitheciine monkeys for eating hard fruit and nuts. Kenyapitthecus also possessed limb bones adapted for a knuckle-walking mode of semi-terrestrial locomotion. This could show that as humans evolved, they passed through a knuckle-walking phase. Kenyapithecus wickeri has very distinct features, especially details in the canines and is similar to modern apes.

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http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/1999/08/990831080717.htm http://www.nmsu.edu/~anthro/monte_mccrossin.htm http://www.geocities.com/SoHo/Atrium/1381/hominids1.html http://www.mc.maricopa.edu/~reffland/anthropology/anthro2003/origins/primates/primate_evol/miocene.html http://64.233.167.104/search?q=cache:VnLGT_wKX8gJ:rcp.missouri.edu/carolward/pdfs/quotezimmer.doc+Kenyapithecus+wickeri&hl=en