Early pre-human lacked sharp canines
A creature which lived six million years ago and which lacked sharp canines for fighting might be the first pre-human to branch off the ape line, says a US-led scientific team. Ardipithecus kadabba, a short, small-brained hominid, did not have the long teeth found in chimpanzees. The researchers believe this feature and the animal's age means it was possibly the first species after the evolutionary split in the lineage that led to modern chimpanzees and humans.