20 mln-year-old ape skull discovered in NE Uganda

Agnes Akiror, minister of state for tourism told a news conference here that the discovery is great and critical in promoting tourism in the country.

"This discovery places Uganda high among other countries. It will help promote tourism. We have always said that Africa is the cradle of humanity," she said.

A team of scientists from Uganda and France discovered the sub- complete skull of the ape on July 18 and is believed to be aged between 19 and 20 million years.

The discovery was at Napak XV, a fossil site near Iriri in Karamoja also known as northeastern Uganda.

The discovery is a culmination of 25 years of research in the area.

Martin Pickford of College de France who was also one of the researchers described the ape as a young adult that could have died at the age of eight to 10 years and if it were to be human it could have been between 17 and 18 years old.

It was a size of a chimpanzee but its brain size was like that of a baboon, an interesting factor that scientists say needs further investigation.

According to the researchers, the parts of the skull will be taken to Paris where they will be cleaned and put together before returning to Uganda. Kazinform cites Xinhua. See www.xinhuanet.com for full version