New material of the earliest hominid from the Upper Miocene of Chad

Michel Brunet (), Franck Guy, David Pilbeam, Daniel E. Lieberman, Andossa Likius, Hassane T. Mackaye, Marcia S. Ponce de León, Christoph P. E. Zollikofer and Patrick Vignaud
Additional contact information
Michel Brunet: Université de Poitiers
Franck Guy: Université de Poitiers
David Pilbeam: Peabody Museum, Harvard University
Daniel E. Lieberman: Peabody Museum, Harvard University
Andossa Likius: Université de N'Djamena
Hassane T. Mackaye: Université de N'Djamena
Marcia S. Ponce de León: Universität Zürich-Irchel
Christoph P. E. Zollikofer: Universität Zürich-Irchel
Patrick Vignaud: Université de Poitiers

Nature, 2005, vol. 434, issue 7034, 752-755

Abstract: The look of Toumaï The discovery of the skull known as Toumaï four years ago in Chad began a controversy. Faunal studies suggested an age close to 7 million years; a small cranium suggested chimpanzee-like brain size. The team that found Toumaï considered it to be a hominid on our side of the chimp-human divide, but others thought it more ape-like. Important finds of teeth and jaw pieces of the Toumaï species, Sahelanthropus tchadensis, now help to distance the species from apes, suggesting that it is a hominid closely related to the last common ancestor of chimps and humans. A virtual reconstruction of the Toumaï cranium provides more evidence of a close relationship to humans — and this week's cover. You are looking at the face of the earliest known hominid. (Cover by MPFT; M. Brunet, E. Daynes, Ph. Plailly and A. Garaudel contributed).

Date: 2005
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DOI: 10.1038/nature03392

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