Great Apes (Hominids)

18 million years
or 4 meters to today

Geolo­gical era: Ceno­zoic / Neogene Miocene

A group of mammals in Africa is devel­op­ing into diurnal, human-like monkeys. They are the ancest­ors of all gibbons and great apes living today and thus the ancest­ors of all humans. They have only weakly pigmen­ted skin and a relat­ively thin coat. The thumb, which is movable against the other fingers, allows the use of tools. The forward facing eyes allow good spatial vision.

The colli­sion of differ­ent contin­ental plates creates large moun­tain ranges: The Indian plate presses against the Euras­ian plate and leads to the Himalayan unfold­ing. The African plate also presses against the Euras­ian plate, creat­ing the Zagros Moun­tains (Iran) and the Alps.

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