Life on the savanna is exceptionally harsh. If you are a primate used to greener terrain, you must
adjust your behavior to survive. Our earliest hominin (meaning bipedal ape) ancestors evolved more
than five million years ago during the Miocene, an epoch of extreme drying that saw the creation of vast
tracts of grassland. Tropical primates no longer had plentiful fruits and year-round streams and lakes.
They were forced to adapt, to range farther in their search for food and water, to take advantage of
other resources. In short, to get creative.