The skull of an ape, discovered in Eastern Uganda over a year ago, has been returned to the country after reconstruction in France. 

A team of researchers from the two countries found the mutilated fossil, believed to be the remote cousin of Hominidae in volcanic ash on the slopes of Mt Napak, in Karamoja on July 18, 2011.

The skull is believed to be between 19 and 20 million years old — about the time volcanic activities erupted in the region. The abundant fossil plant and animal remains in the region show that the palaeoenvironment at that time (the Miocene Period) was forested.  

The team of researchers behind the discovery of Ugandapithecus Major include Prof Brigitte Senut (National Museum of Natural History, Paris), Dr Martin Pickford (Collège de France, Paris), Ezra Musiime, Dr Dominique Gommery (Centre national de la recherche scientifique, Paris), Dr Loïc Segalen (University Pierre and Marie Curie, Paris) and Sarah Musalizi, assistant curator of palaeontology at the National Museum of Uganda.

They believe that animals burrowing in the soil broke parts of the fossil. At the end of August 2011, it was transferred to the National Museum of Natural History (Museum National d’Histoire Naturelle - MNHN) in Paris for laboratory cleaning, scanning, analysis and reconstruction.

The scanning revealed the internal morphology and enamel thickness of the teeth.  

The curator of palaeontology at the National Museum of Uganda, Ezra Musiime, who participated in the final stages of the reconstruction work on the skull bought it home on July 4.

The National Museum of Uganda together with the researchers presented the reconstructed skull to the general public on August 9, at the National Museum in Kampala, where it will be curated.  

Its original will be left in fragments for closer scientific observation while casts of the reconstruction shall be distributed to scientists and other institutions around the world.

The skull is of a young adult male as shown by the size of the canines. The scientists believe it may have belonged to the same individual (also a young male adult) whose fragments of a lower jaw they found in 2010.

The skull is of similar dimensions to that of a large male chimpanzee, but the teeth are the size of those of a gorilla. 

“It died young and we don’t know what killed it. Maybe it was as a result of a volcano. We still need to carry out more studies and compare it with other fossils, which will take us time,” said Dr Pickford. 

As to how he would relate this discovery to similar ones in the region, Dr Pickford said: “It is of a primitive ape related to the chimp, gorilla and orang-utan, and shows characters that are primitive for the hominoidea, which includes humans. This skull gives us the depth of time and we shall learn how apes lived at that time.”

Prof Brigitte said: “It helps us understand the origins of the apes and man. In terms of age it is the oldest and the most complete skull ever discovered in the world. The East African region is the best place to find fossils. Uganda is endowed with apes, especially the small ones.”  

Minister of Tourism, Wildlife and Heritage, Prof Ephraim Kamuntu said: “This skull is part of our heritage which, we shall keep for the rest of humanity. Uganda should be glad that it is part of the cradle of humanity. We should be privileged that it has been found in our land.”