Dryopithecus
9.5
million years ago
Now
we'll take a great leap back. Your progenitor—your direct ancestor, remember, removed only by oodles of
time—is about the size of a chimp and may have borne a likeness to this
fellow. Look like anyone in your family?
Your
Ancestor's Profile
We've
now moved out of hominids and into ape-like mammals. Dryopithecus was an advanced ape. The best-known skeleton of this
genus, uncovered in Spain, is 9.5 million years old. Experts estimate that when
it was alive, that individual had a body mass of about 75 pounds, again similar
to a living chimp. And like a chimp, it would have hung from its powerful
forelimbs while going about its life in the trees.
