Chororapithecus

Chororapithecus is an extinct great ape from the Afar region of Ethiopia roughly 8 million years ago during the Late Miocene, comprising one species, C. abyssinicus. It is known from 9 isolated teeth discovered in a 2005–2007 survey of the Chorora Formation. The teeth are indistinguishable from those of gorillas in terms of absolute size and relative proportions, and it has been proposed to be an early member of Gorillini. However, this is controversial given the paucity of remains, and notable anatomical differences between Chororapithecus and gorilla teeth. The Kenyan ape Nakalipithecus has been proposed to be an ancestor of Chororapithecus or at least closely related. If correct, they would be the only identified fossil members of any modern non-human African great ape lineage, and would push the gorilla–human last common ancestor from 8 million years ago (identified by molecular analysis) to 10 million years ago. The teeth are adapted for processing tough plant fibres as well as hard, brittle food, and the formation is thought to represent a forested lakeside habitat.

==Taxonomy== Chororapithecus teeth were discovered in the Afar region, Ethiopia, in a 2005–2007 survey in the Beticha locality of the Chorora Formation, hence the name, and the formation itself is named after the Chorora village about south of the locality. The specific name, abyssinicus, is in reference to Abyssinia, the former name of Ethiopia. The ape was described in 2007 by anthropologists Gen Suwa, Reiko Kono, Shigehiro Katoh, Berhane Asfaw, and Yonas Beyene.