Chororapithecus Abyssinicus - Other Expert Opinions

Other Expert Opinions

Despite the finds, other researchers are not convinced that the conclusions are correct. Although the teeth are very similar to those of modern gorillas, they could have been shaped by parallel evolution of a genetically different species which consumed similar foods. "It is stretching the evidence to base a time scale for the evolution of the great apes on this new fossil. These structures appear on at least three independent lineages of apes, including gorillas, and they could relate to a dietary shift rather than indicating a new genetic trait," said Professor Peter Andrews at the Natural History Museum in London, UK, who also added, "but the fossil evidence for the evolution of our closest living relatives, the great apes, is almost non-existent."

Palaeoanthropologist Jay Kelley of the University of Illinois at Chicago was also skeptical. He remained unconvinced that it was a gorilla, saying that more work would need to be done to determine where this specimen may fit in hominid evolution. He said he would be "very cautious" about realigning divergence dates between species based on this specimen.

These teeth are collectively indistinguishable from modern gorilla subspecies in dental size and represented proportions. This modest sample nevertheless exhibits substantial size variation, with molars at both the largest and smallest end of the modern gorilla ranges of variation.