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You know that ground you walk on was once trod by another genus and species of your forefather, though you don't think much of it.

Still a small ape walked the Earth 11.6 million years ago, before "hominids split from gibbons," according to George Washington University 

This ancient primate, called Pliobates cataloniae, was the important key that reconstructed the last common ancestor of both groups, before the evolutionary split happened," according to HNGN.

"This fossil discovery is providing a missing chapter to the beginning of ape and human history," said Sergio Almécija, assistant professor of anthropology in the Center for the Advanced Study of Human Paleobiology at GW's Columbian College of Arts and Sciences. "We used to think that small apes evolved from larger-bodied apes, but this new species tells us that small and large apes may have co-existed since hominoids originated. Alternatively, Pliobates might indicate that great apes evolved from gibbon-size ape ancestors."

The scientists arrived at their results after they found a partial skeleton in a Barcelona landfill, in 2011, where they discovered 70 fossil pieces. Researchers believe that the skeletons belonged to an adult female that weighed between nine and 11 pounds. Its bones show that the ape ate soft fruits and swung through the tops of tree canopies.

These findings covered some crucial gaps in the fossil record, and showed secrets of the evolution of apes-both large and small. As there were no small ape and ancient gibbon fossils, researchers felt that great apes were present before the smaller ones. However, the discovery of Pliobates shows that small apes played a more vital role in hominid evolution than it has been thought.

"These remains clearly belong to an ape, but they are so small," Almécija said. "Then we realized, maybe we are looking at this the wrong way. Maybe some early ape ancestors were smaller than we thought."

The findings were published recently in Science Magazine.