A recent discovery by paleontologists working in Colorado is giving scientists a slightly revised history of primates. That’s the group of mammals that includes apes – and humans.
Scientists working at Corral Bluffs near Colorado Springs recently discovered tiny teeth and bone fragments belonging to a species called Purgatorius.
Purgatorius was an early and distant cousin of humans. It thrived 65 million years ago – not long after an asteroid wiped out the dinosaurs.
Purgatorius fossils had never been found as far south as Colorado before this recent dig. And scientists say the discovery suggests that, once dinosaurs were out of the picture, mammals may have thrived more quickly – and over a wider swath of the planet – than previously understood.
Jordan Crowell is a postdoctoral fellow with the Denver Museum of Nature and Science, who worked with dozens of volunteers and other scientists on the dig near Colorado Springs. He joined Erin O’Toole to talk about what they found, and why scientists are excited by the discovery.
