ABSTRACT
One of the most interesting and unsettled topics in human evolution is the question of origins; where and when great ape and human lineages separated, initiating the course of events that led to the emergence of Australopithecus. According to the late divergence hypothesis, the lineage leading to Homo did not become independent from the lineages leading to the extant great apes until the Middle-Late Miocene. Because of the paucity of the paleontological record, the late divergence hypothesis, like the early divergence hypotheses, begins with phylogenetic data derived from phenetic studies. Instead of positing unlikely numerous independent acquistions, the late divergence hypothesis holds that the "primitive" morphology of Early Miocene forms like D. (Proconsul), indicates that the Pongo, Pan, Gorilla, and Australopithecus/Homo lineages had not yet diverged. According to the late divergence hypothesis, precise branching dates cannot be determined until undoubted phyletic ancestors of the extant great apes can be found.
