17-Million-Year-Old Whale Fossil Gives Hints To The Dawn Of Humanity

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A 17-million-year-old whale fossil stranded far inland in Kenya now sheds light on the timing and starting elevation of East Africa's puzzling tectonic uplift / Southern Methodist University

The East African Plateau is at least 1,000 meters (3,280 ft) above sea level, but millions of years ago, the area was underwater. Now, according to researchers examining a prehistoric whale fossil unearthed at these high elevations, the East African Plateau began to rise above sea level about 17 million years ago—around the same time highly variable climate and drier conditions began to drive primate (including human) evolution.