52 million-year-old fossil could rewrite human history

A 52 million-year-old ankle fossil dug up in France shows the first primates were high flying acrobats in a find that could rewrite human history. The shape and size of the tiny bone suggests our earliest ancestors flexed and sharply extended their ankles to launch themselves into the air. For years, scientists believed the ancestors of today's humans, monkeys and apes were relatively slow and deliberate. But the new study found the first primates, which were about the size of a chipmunk, instead leapt through the trees. A 52 million-year-old ankle fossil (pictured) shows the first primates were high flying acrobats in a find that could rewrite human history.