Erik Seiffert
@erikseiffert.bsky.social
Evolutionary morphology of mammals • Professor, Integrative Anatomical Sciences, University of Southern California, Los Angeles
Reposted by Erik Seiffert
A newly discovered fossil ape suggests the closest ancestors to modern apes may have emerged in northern Africa, outside the traditionally studied regions of East Africa.
Learn more in Science: https://scim.ag/4uSvmLJ
Learn more in Science: https://scim.ag/4uSvmLJ
![The map highlights Wadi Moghra, Egypt (star), which is the discovery site of Masripithecus—the first definitive North African ape—alongside key Miocene hominoid localities (see table S1) across Afro-Arabia and Eurasia. Arrows indicate inferred dispersal routes based on the phylogenetic and biogeographic analyses presented here. The inset phylogeny places Masripithecus as the closest sampled sister taxon of crown Hominoidea. At lower left, a life reconstruction of Masripithecus based on the Masripithecus mandible combined with the facial morphology of the middle Miocene hominoid Pierolapithecus. [Illustration: M. Antón]](https://cdn.bsky.app/img/feed_thumbnail/plain/did:plc:vqgovau5gkirnk3ss5qwjdmz/bafkreihxbwkdx6trsi6zmbfgfenpb2cubhkvjvgfnlzc7mwpv3qd7eg43a)
April 6, 2026 at 7:23 PM
A newly discovered fossil ape suggests the closest ancestors to modern apes may have emerged in northern Africa, outside the traditionally studied regions of East Africa.
Learn more in Science: https://scim.ag/4uSvmLJ
Learn more in Science: https://scim.ag/4uSvmLJ
Spectacular sunrise in Baja California Sur
January 18, 2026 at 8:53 PM
Spectacular sunrise in Baja California Sur
Reposted by Erik Seiffert
Congrats to two paleontological recipients of the prestigious Rackham Predoctoral Fellowship: Jerónimo Morales Toledo and Sanaa El-Sayed! 🌿🐟
April 22, 2025 at 8:04 PM
Congrats to two paleontological recipients of the prestigious Rackham Predoctoral Fellowship: Jerónimo Morales Toledo and Sanaa El-Sayed! 🌿🐟
Reposted by Erik Seiffert
February 17, 2025 at 1:25 PM
Reposted by Erik Seiffert
Our new discovery, led by @shorouqalashqar.bsky.social , has unveiled a new 30-million-year-old species of apex predator, #Bastetodon, in Egypt’s Fayum Desert! Check out the study in the Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology. @matt-borths.bsky.social @erikseiffert.bsky.social #SallamLab #MUVP
February 17, 2025 at 8:41 AM
Our new discovery, led by @shorouqalashqar.bsky.social , has unveiled a new 30-million-year-old species of apex predator, #Bastetodon, in Egypt’s Fayum Desert! Check out the study in the Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology. @matt-borths.bsky.social @erikseiffert.bsky.social #SallamLab #MUVP
Finding camels and Oligocene mammals in Topernawi, northern Kenya
January 5, 2025 at 2:56 PM
Finding camels and Oligocene mammals in Topernawi, northern Kenya