The discovery of a new fossil in Egypt that appears to be a younger relative of the “Ida” fossil announced a few months ago (with great fanfare and publicity) has cast considerable doubt on whether Ida is an ancestor of human beings: New Primate Fossil Poses Further Challenge to Ida. ...
Evolution, Science, Natural Selection, Biology, Anthropology, Common Ancestor
Airing tonight on the Discovery Channel at 9 pm (Eastern and Pacific), Discovering Ardi — a documentary on the investigation leading up to the historic announcement of the Ardipithecus ramidus fossils. Set your TiVos and your Eye TVs; this looks like a must-see. [Video] The scientific investigation began in the Ethiopian desert ...
Evolution, Science, Natural Selection, Biology, Anthropology, Common Ancestor, Ardipithecus, Video
Carl Zimmer has a great post at The Loom on the historic announcement this week of the discovery of Ardipithecus: We Meet At Last. At first, Ardipithecus ramidus was yet another scrappy pre-Lucy fossil. The first report offered details about part of a 4.4 million-year-old jaw bone–a remarkable jaw bone, ...
Evolution, Science, Natural Selection, Biology, Anthropology, Common Ancestor, Carl Zimmer, Ardipithecus
“Missing link” is really the wrong term to use for this newly-announced fossil discovery (it implies a single link between humans and their ape-like ancestors, when the truth is far more complex and fluid), but if it will set creationists’ heads spinning I’ll accept it: Oldest ‘Human’ Skeleton Found — ...
Evolution, Science, Natural Selection, Biology, Anthropology, Common Ancestor