Mysterious ape-like species ‘was first upright walker’ and could be ‘missing link’ in human evolution

AN APE like species has been unearthed in Germany and experts think it could be the possible 'missing link' between apes and humans.

Scientists are hoping the discovery will help us make more sense of the process of evolution.

The bones of the mysterious species were unearthed in Bavaria, Germany.

Four individuals of the newly discovered Danuvius species were found but the most complete partial skeleton was a male with an impressive 21 fossilised bones.

This newly discovered species is thought to have lived in Bavaria almost 12 million years ago.

What's most unusual about it is it has arms suited to hanging from trees like an ape but legs like our own.

Some scientists think these fossilised remains provide the first image of what the last common ancestor of apes and humans looked like.

Finding any fossils from this period is extremely rare.

The broad chested primate, called Danuvius guggenmosi, also pushes back the timeline for when walking on two feet began.

Its skeleton shape shows Danuvius, named after a Celtic river god, moved around in a unique way.

Described as "extended limb clambering", the technique is a combination of both swinging from branch-to-branch and walking on the ground.

Experts think Danuvius was about three-and-a-half feet tall and weighed up to five stone.

The species has been described in Nature in the 150th anniversary edition of the world's most famous scientific journal.

Corresponding author Professor Madelaine Boehme said: "It is a missing link. It was astonishing for us to realise how similar certain bones are to humans, as opposed to great apes.

"I personally was most surprised by the amount of Danuvius similarity in the back and shin bones, in contrast to apes. This was totally unexpected to all of us...Danuvius is like an ape and a human - in one."

She went on: "The ape-like features are the slightly elongated arms - like bonobos but not as long as a gorilla's or gibbon's - and the opposable big toe.

"But even its elbow joint is not like great apes and resembles humans and small apes.

"This ape would have been able to hang from branches by its arms.

"However, unlike other apes such as gibbons or orangutans, which do not use their legs as much as their arms for locomotion, this species had hind limbs that were held straight and could have been used to walk on.

"This ape also had a grasping big toe, which meant it would have walked on the sole of its feet."

Its remains were dug up in a mountainous region called the Allgau.

They were from at least four individuals - a male, two females and a juvenile.

As well as teeth, they included parts of the skull, jaw, rib cage and spine along with arm, leg, finger and feet bones.

One of the skeletons, the adult male, was so complete its limbs and body proportions could be described in detail.

Prof Boehme said: "We could estimate its stature - a little more than one metre (3ft 3in). Females weighed about 19 kg (3 stone) and males 31 kg (5 stone)."

The researchers think Danuvius would have had a powerful grasp and flat human like feet for walking.

It also had a mobile wrist, and hands with curved fingers.

Boehme said: "Danuvius shows us the conditions from where both great apes and humans diverged and this evolutionary process happened in Europe."

In other archaeology news, eerie Ancient Egyptian ‘cat mummy’ found with five legs and three tails.

The face of a 1,000-year-old Viking warrior woman with a gruesome battle wound across her skull has been revealed.

And, Tutankhamun’s ‘cursed’ trumpet that causes ‘deadly conflict’ has arrived in the UK.

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