The teeth of the oldest orangutan

A new species of hominid found in Thailand, with an estimated age of 12 million years, has become the most distant relative of today<92>s orangutans ( Pongo pygmaeus ). A group of French researchers connected with the European Synchrotron Radiation Facility ( ESRF ) arrived at this conclusion by comparing the 18 teeth of the fossil with the dentition of other ancient primates.

By means of a technique called microtomography, they made three-dimensional models of the structure of each tooth and of the lower jawbone of the male and of the female of the new species, baptized as Lufengpithecus chiangmuanensis, with a resolution of 1 millionth of a meter. (...)