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Brief Communications

Nature 419, 581-582 (10 October 2002) | doi:10.1038/419581a

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Palaeoanthropology (communication arising): Sahelanthropus or 'Sahelpithecus'?

Milford H. Wolpoff1, Brigitte Senut2, Martin Pickford3 & John Hawks4

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Beginning with Ramapithecus, there has been a continued search for an ape-like hominid ancestor in the Miocene Epoch. Sahelanthropus tchadensis is an enigmatic new Miocene species, whose characteristics are a mix of those of apes and Homo erectus and which has been proclaimed by Brunet et al. to be the earliest hominid1. However, we believe that features of the dentition, face and cranial base that are said to define unique links between this Toumaï specimen and the hominid clade are either not diagnostic or are consequences of biomechanical adaptations. To represent a valid clade, hominids must share unique defining features2, and Sahelanthropus does not appear to have been an obligate biped.