Evolutionary History
Despite a large number of Homo fossils finds, chimpanzee fossils (genus Pan) were not described until 2005. Existing chimpanzee populations in West and Central Africa do not overlap with the major human fossil sites in East Africa. However, chimpanzee fossils have now been reported from Kenya. This would indicate that both humans and members of the Pan clade were present in the East African Rift Valley during the Middle Pleistocene.
According to Richard Dawkins in his book The Ancestor's Tale, chimps and bonobos may be descended from Australopithecus. Gracile-type species, in other words, the ancestors of chimpanzees, would be some of the Australopithecus afarensis. Chimpanzees were amongst the animals affected during the Toba eruption, hinting that Toba ash extended far west as Africa.
Read more about this topic: Common Chimpanzee
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