The team that has made the discovery is formed by Ethiopian and Japanese researches and they have called the new found species “Chororapithecus abyssinicus”. They have also said that the fossils represent the earliest known primate directly linked to the modern-day gorillas and chimpanzees. So, somehow, the new found Chororapithecus abyssinicus represents the missing link, as it offers “the first glimpse of the ape side background to the human origins story”, as researchers have said yesterday.

The fossils that the researchers have discovered are in fact just some fossilized teeth. But they have offered the first obvious clues about the creature that had had them, because they have seemed to have the specific characteristics of a modern day gorilla.

Although the scientists are still speculating one whether the animal was an early gorilla or just a relative of it, the recent discovery is still very important because it has proved once again that Africa was the place of origin of both the modern African apes and humans. The discovery has also showed that the humans, gorillas and chimpanzees have a common ancestor and they have split ones from the others earlier than the generally accepted time of 7-8 million years ago.