Fossil teeth smaller than a nail may rewrite human origin stories - Futura Sciences

Theory Briefing

• Purgatorius ankle bones suggested it lived in trees, forming the basis of the forest-devastation theory of primate origins.
• The theory assumed the asteroid impact cleared forests and opened ecological space for early primates to diversify.
• New fossil teeth, smaller than a nail, are now being used to test whether that origin story holds up.
• The evidence raises the question of whether primate tree-living and the asteroid's timing are as tightly linked as assumed.