科学家在埃及北部发现了约17–18百万年前的古代物种Masripithecus，被识别为包括人类在内的所有现生类人猿（ape）的近缘种。该年龄范围将类人猿时间轴扩展到更广泛的Afro-Arabia情境，并表明类人猿类群起源可能并未局限于埃塞俄比亚和肯尼亚等东非经典区域。该发现重塑了对“最后共同祖先”即crown祖先（包括大猩猩、黑猩猩、猩猩与人类）研究定位的认识，显示先前对地理范围的假设可能过窄。
标本采自埃及Qattara Depression中的Wadi Moghra化石丰富区。研究者将其定于Afro-Arabia与欧亚大陆连通之后的阶段，后者可能为类人猿向东迁移提供了地质通道。作者称，这一发现打开了人类进化地理学中长期缺失的一章。由此，该遗址可作为重新评估crown-hominoid起源时空框架的检验案例，并对约20+百万年前相关类群具有含义。
《Science》刊载的评论认为Masripithecus有望改变crown-hominoids的搜索目标；UK National History Museum的早期人类进化专家Fred Spoor将其称为类人猿进化中的重要发现。 他同时指出，非洲仍有“frustratingly large”大范围地区（如刚果盆地）化石证据稀少。纽约大学人类学副教授Scott Williams认同现有证据主体仍支持非洲起源，并指出最早的化石类人猿及最早hominin lineage成员仍在非洲被发现，但他补充说“未发现”不等于“并不存在”。
Scientists reported a 17–18 million-year-old fossil species, Masripithecus, from northern Egypt, identified as an ancient relative of all living apes, including humans. The age range pushes the ape timeline into a broader Afro-Arabian context and suggests that the origin of the hominoid clade may not have been limited to the East African classic zones in Ethiopia and Kenya. The find reframes where researchers should look for the last common—or crown—ancestor of gorillas, chimpanzees, orangutans, and humans, indicating that earlier assumptions about geography may have been too narrow.
The specimen was recovered in the fossil-rich Wadi Moghra area of Egypt’s Qattara Depression. Researchers date it to a post-connection phase when Afro-Arabia had linked with Eurasia, a tectonic-phased corridor that may have enabled eastward ape dispersal. The authors describe this as opening an underrepresented chapter in human evolutionary geography. In this sense, the site provides a test case for reassessing the temporal and spatial framework of hominoid origins, with implications for taxa dated around 20+ million years ago.
External commentary in Science describes Masripithecus as potentially shifting the search target for crown-hominoids, while Fred Spoor called it a major discovery for ape evolution. He also highlighted that very large African areas, including the Congo Basin, still yield little fossil evidence. Scott Williams agreed that the bulk of evidence still supports an African origin and notes that earliest fossil apes and earliest hominin-lineage members are still found in Africa, yet he added that absence is not proof of nonexistence. The result increases the priority of targeted fossil prospecting in poorly sampled regions.