Ancient Ape with 'Human Legs' and 'Orangutan Arms' Moved in an Entirely Weird Way

Here, the 21 bones of the most complete partial skeleton of a male Danuvius ape discovered in Bavaria.

(Image credit: Christoph Jäckle)

More than 11 million years ago, an oddball ape equipped with human-like legs and robust ape-like arms clambered across tree limbs, possibly escaping feline predators. That's the picture that scientists have gleaned about a new species of fossil ape discovered in Bavaria.

The ape creature may have also used a weird locomotion never seen until now, shedding light on how the ancestors of humans may have evolved to walk on two legs, a new study finds.

Much remains uncertain about the origin of locomotion in hominins — the group of species that includes humans and their relatives after their split from the chimpanzee lineage — because scientists have lacked the appropriate fossil evidence. Previous research has suggested that humans evolved from a four-legged animal that either placed the palms of their hands and soles of their feet on the ground as they walked, similar to living monkeys, or favored suspending their bodies from trees as they moved, similar to modern chimpanzees.

When Danuvius was alive, the area where it was found was a hot, flat landscape with forests alongside meandering rivers not far from the edges of the Alps, Böhme said. Its teeth revealed that it belonged to a group of fossil ape species called dryopithecines that some previous research suggested might be the ancestors of modern African apes. The thick enamel on its teeth suggests that Danuvius ate hard items, she noted.

In addition, unlike other apes, such as gibbons and orangutans, which don't use their legs as much as their arms for movement, Danuvius would have held its legs straight and could have walked upright while moving around in trees. Danuvius also had a grasping big toe, which meant it would have walked on its soles. Moreover, its elbows, lower spine and shin bones were more like one might expect of a human, Böhme said.

Charles Q. Choi is a contributing writer for Live Science and Space.com. He covers all things human origins and astronomy as well as physics, animals and general science topics. Charles has a Master of Arts degree from the University of Missouri-Columbia, School of Journalism and a Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of South Florida. Charles has visited every continent on Earth, drinking rancid yak butter tea in Lhasa, snorkeling with sea lions in the Galapagos and even climbing an iceberg in Antarctica.