Uganda makes key input to knowledge on human history

Kampala

An ancient skull discovered in Karamoja is a priceless piece of evidence that will be used to try and understand human evolution and that of our closest ancestor, the great ape.

The skull, found near the slopes of the Napak volcano, is by far the earliest modern sized ape skull ever found. The discovery on July 18, is the culmination of 25 years of work by a team of researchers.

The team, led by Professor Brigitte Senut from the National Museum of Natural History in Paris and Dr Martin Pickford of the Collège de France in Paris first came to Karamoja in 1985.

They have been working with local excavators with the discovery hailed as a team effort. “It is an exceptional discovery and has been a real team effort. I’ve been dreaming about this for 30 years,” said a beaming Dr Pickford. He said they have found information about fossils which are about five million years old but the recent find in Karamoja, is 15 million years older. The skull will allow the international scientific community to study a number of things which could not be approached before.

Brain evolution
Key will be the potential to trace brain size and to determine more accurately when the human brain evolved to the required size to differentiate us from our ancestors. Dr Pickford, who first spotted the fossil, adds: “Humans have very big brains, chimpanzees and gorillas have smaller brains. At some stage, the brain expanded to a size that allowed us to develop language and use tools.”

The team believes that the specimen would not have had a big enough brain to develop speech but it represents a key piece of evidence to work out brain volume relative to body weight across time. It is the first time a skull of a Ugandapithecus Major, a species named in 1950, has been found.

The skull was buried under ashes when the volcano erupted some 20 million years ago and preserved as a fossil. Its teeth are not worn out and has big canines which suggest it was a young male, probably too young to have left an offspring.

The skull is broken but Prof. Senut said she is confident they will be able to reconstruct the skull and the lower jaw. State Minister for Tourism Agnes Akiror, also hailed the discovery, saying it is of “great significance to our country and to all paleontological researchers.”

A cast of the skull will be displayed in a brand new museum in Moroto District which is due to open in a few months once building work is complete. The real fossil is considered too priceless to be put on display and will be sent to Paris for further studies before being placed in a vault. However, the team has expressed fear over a possible theft of the fossil by people who do not believe in the human evolution story. Religious groups have particularly disputed the theory of evolution.