: Missing link’ primate likely to stir debate
Printed From: History Community ~ All Empires
Category: General History
Forum Name: Natural History
Forum Discription: History viewed through ecology, geology, paleoclimatology, paleontology & zoology to assist in understanding earth's history
URL: http://www.allempires.com/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=27302
Printed Date: 14-May-2024 at 04:11
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Topic: : Missing link’ primate likely to stir debate
Posted By: docyabut
Subject: : Missing link’ primate likely to stir debate
Date Posted: 28-May-2009 at 06:28
A discovery of a 47 million-year-old fossil primate that is said to be a human ancestor was announced and unveiled Tuesday at a press conference in New York City.
Known as "Ida," the nearly complete transitional fossil is 20 times older than most fossils that provide evidence for human evolution.
It shows characteristics from the very primitive non-human evolutionary line (prosimians, such as lemurs), but is more related to the human evolutionary line (anthropoids, such as monkeys, apes and humans), said Norwegian paleontologist Jørn Hurum of the University of Oslo Natural History Museum. However, she is not really an anthropoid either, he said.
The fossil, called Darwinius masillae and said to be a female, provides the most complete understanding of the paleobiology of any primate so far discovered from the Eocene Epoch, Hurum said. An analysis of the fossil mammal is detailed Tuesday in the journal PLoS ONE.
"This is the first link to all humans ... truly a fossil that links world heritage," Hurum said.
Here is some context for the age of the new primate fossil: Anatomically modern humans (Homo sapiens) first emerged about 200,000 years ago, but early humans such as Australopithecus afarensis and Australopithecus anamensis reach back 3 million to 4 million years ago or even earlier. Humans are thought to have split off from a group that includes chimpanzees and gorillas about 6 million years ago. And a group that includes all the great apes (including us) and Old World monkeys (called simians or anthropoids) diverged from New World monkeys in the Eocene, just after the time of Ida. So our primate roots reach back to this time.
Ida was preserved in Germany’s Messel Pit, a mile-wide crater containing oil-rich shale that is a significant site for fossils of the Eocene Epoch. Opposable big toes and nail-bearing tips on the fingers and toes confirm that the fossil is a primate, and a foot bone called the talus bone links Ida directly to humans, Hurum said.
The fossil also preserved the primate's gut contents, including fruits, seeds and leaves. X-rays reveal both baby and adult teeth, plus the lack of a "toothcomb" or a "grooming claw," which is an attribute of lemurs (which are also primates, like us, but are considered more primitive and part of a family different from great apes and us).
(Very interesting the part about the feet of Ida, more to the human line then to the lumers line)
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/30826552/?GT1=43001 - http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/30826552/?GT1=43001
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Replies:
Posted By: docyabut
Date Posted: 28-May-2009 at 06:30
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http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/21134540/vp/30833464#30833464 - http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/21134540/vp/30833464#30833464
The show that aired on the histoy channel may 25 was so interesting:0
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Posted By: King John
Date Posted: 28-May-2009 at 06:55
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Please refrain from cutting and pasting whole articles from other websites here. Please edit your original post to conform to this policy by using excerpts from the article with your own witty remarks.
If this editing is not done within 24 hours I will be forced to close the topic, which would be a shame because I think this could be a good topic.
*Edit: This is what Seko had to say on the subject http://allempires.net/forum_posts.asp?TID=25494 - in this thread :
Originally posted by Seko
We have had an unacceptable amount of copy/pasting from our membership. This will cease or we will delete those posts on the spot. We do not forbid samples and snippets of an article. We just don't want you to copy the whole article then follow up with a lame one sentence summary. That will not happen on this forum. Show us your impressions instead. Let's study together among ourselves. Those mainstream freelance writers are not members of this forum. You are so prove it! Use your own summaries, commentaries and wit to teach us about an article or bit of history you want us to read. We want diversity of interpretation. We want you to stimulate your brains as you stimulate us in return. Let's all try to do better next time. |
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Posted By: docyabut
Date Posted: 28-May-2009 at 16:43
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Hi John ,I deleted most of the article and in my own words this is the most convincing missing link in human history.
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Posted By: docyabut
Date Posted: 30-May-2009 at 01:45
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The show Missing Link was on again tonight what convinced me is Ida`s feet :)
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Posted By: Guests
Date Posted: 30-May-2009 at 02:55
I saw a news piece about it... interesting find.
How anyone can think that we magically appeared out of nowhere 5000 years ago is beyond me.
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Posted By: docyabut
Date Posted: 30-May-2009 at 04:40
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Thanks esbih, I was wondering if there was any response to the topics in this forum:)
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Posted By: Carcharodon
Date Posted: 30-May-2009 at 12:45
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Also China has similar early anthropoids from the eocene. One of them is Eosimias who lived about 45 - 40 million years ago.
http://www.carnegiemnh.org/research/eosimias/ - http://www.carnegiemnh.org/research/eosimias/
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