"Missing Link" Found!

[3113]

And, no, it wasn't anyone here on Lit...

Scientists today announced the discovery of the oldest fossil skeleton of a human ancestor. The find reveals that our forebears underwent a previously unknown stage of evolution more than a million years before Lucy, the iconic early human ancestor specimen that walked the Earth 3.2 million years ago. The fossil puts to rest the notion, popular since Darwin's time, that a chimpanzee-like missing link—resembling something between humans and today's apes—would eventually be found at the root of the human family tree. Indeed, the new evidence suggests that the study of chimpanzee anatomy and behavior—long used to infer the nature of the earliest human ancestors—is largely irrelevant to understanding our beginnings.

Ardi instead shows an unexpected mix of advanced characteristics and of primitive traits seen in much older apes that were unlike chimps or gorillas. As such, the skeleton offers a window on what the last common ancestor of humans and living apes might have been like...."This find is far more important than Lucy," said Alan Walker, a paleontologist from Pennsylvania State University who was not part of the research. "It shows that the last common ancestor with chimps didn't look like a chimp, or a human, or some funny thing in between."

Complete and fascinating article here.

 

[Handley_Page]

And, no, it wasn't anyone here on Lit...


Complete and fascinating article here.

Looks like Darwin was right !

 

[Jenny_Jackson]

What I find amazing is the found essentially complete skeletons after 4 million years. Leaky's original austrolopithicus africansus was on a hard pallet and part of the skull cap. Even Lucy was not nearly as complete.

However, I worry about the dating which appears to have been done by stratographic method which tends to be fairly inaccurate.

Rather than say this is a new direct link between apes and man, I will hold my thoughts. I see this claim every few years.

 

[Saucy_Sage]

What I find amazing is the found essentially complete skeletons after 4 million years. Leaky's original austrolopithicus africansus was on a hard pallet and part of the skull cap. Even Lucy was not nearly as complete.

However, I worry about the dating which appears to have been done by stratographic method which tends to be fairly inaccurate.

Rather than say this is a new direct link between apes and man, I will hold my thoughts. I see this claim every few years.

The link between apes and man has never troubled me; I mean, we're not talking the Grand Canyon here in terms of developmental differences. It's the link between apes and woman that needs investigation.

 

[R. Richard]

The key item here seems to be the mixture of features. 'Ardi' has both chimp and human adaptations. That's how evolution works. A creature develops a new feature. If the new feature proves to be an advantage, development continues in that direction. As long as the new feature proves to be an advantage, development continues in that direction. However, at some point, the feature develops past where it's an advantage and those who possess the disadvantaged feature go extinct.

 

[TheeGoatPig]

And, no, it wasn't anyone here on Lit...

They weren't looking hard enough then

 

[JamesSD]

Yay, science!

Anyone who has studied or read about Chimpanzees knows we're not that far removed from them. I suppose you could attribute this to god wanting to give us monkey friends, but the more biology you know, the less unique man seems genetically. Of course, this makes our achievements compared to the rest of the animal world all the more impressive.

 

[lance gt]

it will be interesting to see if these artifacts prove or disprove the theory that we originally came from Mars. Speculation is that an asteroid hit Mars and then collided with Earth, eventually becoming our moon, bringing the elements necessary for our existence with it. Could Martians have been an ape like species or at least humanoid in appearance? The answers are just a few years away when we land there and on the moon again

 

[3113]

it will be interesting to see if these artifacts prove or disprove the theory that we originally came from Mars. Speculation is that an asteroid hit Mars and then collided with Earth, eventually becoming our moon, bringing the elements necessary for our existence with it. Could Martians have been an ape like species or at least humanoid in appearance? The answers are just a few years away when we land there and on the moon again

http://www.sprintusers.com/wallpapers/uploadedfiles/071506marvin-the-martian.jpg

Doesn't look ape like to me.

 

[R. Richard]

it will be interesting to see if these artifacts prove or disprove the theory that we originally came from Mars. Speculation is that an asteroid hit Mars and then collided with Earth, eventually becoming our moon, bringing the elements necessary for our existence with it. Could Martians have been an ape like species or at least humanoid in appearance? The answers are just a few years away when we land there and on the moon again

Of course, the Martians had an ape species. Green,with four arms. Read your 'John Carter on Mars' books.

 

[Boxlicker101]

Lucy! You got a lot of splainin to do.

 

[Handley_Page]

What I find amazing is the found essentially complete skeletons after 4 million years. Leaky's original austrolopithicus africansus was on a hard pallet and part of the skull cap. Even Lucy was not nearly as complete.

However, I worry about the dating which appears to have been done by stratographic method which tends to be fairly inaccurate.

Rather than say this is a new direct link between apes and man, I will hold my thoughts. I see this claim every few years.

In terms of time, what does "tends to be fairly inaccurate" mean. Ten percent, twenty ?

 

[Saucy_Sage]

it will be interesting to see if these artifacts prove or disprove the theory that we originally came from Mars. Speculation is that an asteroid hit Mars and then collided with Earth, eventually becoming our moon, bringing the elements necessary for our existence with it. Could Martians have been an ape like species or at least humanoid in appearance? The answers are just a few years away when we land there and on the moon again

I'm not sure that the ape part of this actually rises to the level of a "theory."

 

[Boxlicker101]

it will be interesting to see if these artifacts prove or disprove the theory that we originally came from Mars. Speculation is that an asteroid hit Mars and then collided with Earth, eventually becoming our moon, bringing the elements necessary for our existence with it. Could Martians have been an ape like species or at least humanoid in appearance? The answers are just a few years away when we land there and on the moon again

I don't believe I ever heard or read that speculation. The moon is about a thousand times bigger than the biggest asteroid and, if anything of its size had ever hit either Mars or Earth, both it and the planet would have been nothing but rubble.

 

[Saucy_Sage]

I don't believe I ever heard or read that speculation. The moon is about a thousand times bigger than the biggest asteroid and, if anything of its size had ever hit either Mars or Earth, both it and the planet would have been nothing but rubble.

You'd think that hitting Mars would have a deleterious effect on its ability to bounce off and hit the Earth too. It's not like billiards. "Moon in the corner pocket."

 

[lance gt]

I don't believe I ever heard or read that speculation. The moon is about a thousand times bigger than the biggest asteroid and, if anything of its size had ever hit either Mars or Earth, both it and the planet would have been nothing but rubble.

It's a proven fact that an asteroid of considerable size hit the Earth and what was left, plus pieces of it and the Earth eventually compressed back together because of the slow rotational gravity to form our Moon. The ability to hit Mars and then the Earth wasn't that hard given our orbits around the Sun and our positioning at the time. It was just a glancing blow off Mars and enough to move it into an aligment to hit Earth in almost a straight line behind it. The speculation from NASA and some astro-physicists figure that's what ended life on Mars, because it pushed it farther away from the sun and pushed us closer to it. Just a lucky bank shot after all. That's the theory they're throwing out there. Whether it pans out or washes out, depends on what they find when they look for evidence on the Moon and Mars.

 

[Handley_Page]

Lends a whole new meaning to "in off the cush"

 

[Teloz]

So human life is really just a load of balls?

 

[Katyusha]

I don't believe I ever heard or read that speculation. The moon is about a thousand times bigger than the biggest asteroid and, if anything of its size had ever hit either Mars or Earth, both it and the planet would have been nothing but rubble.

Not necessarily true. One of the theories out there about the origin of our moon has a Mars-sized object hitting the Earth and throwing a lot of dust and rubble into orbit, which eventually coalesced and became the moon. Planets are a lot more resilient than we give them credit for.

Not to mention, the size of asteroids today is nothing compared to the size of all the chunks of planetary matter that was turning into planets billions of years ago.

 

[Katyusha]

It's a proven fact that an asteroid of considerable size hit the Earth and what was left, plus pieces of it and the Earth eventually compressed back together because of the slow rotational gravity to form our Moon. The ability to hit Mars and then the Earth wasn't that hard given our orbits around the Sun and our positioning at the time. It was just a glancing blow off Mars and enough to move it into an aligment to hit Earth in almost a straight line behind it. The speculation from NASA and some astro-physicists figure that's what ended life on Mars, because it pushed it farther away from the sun and pushed us closer to it. Just a lucky bank shot after all. That's the theory they're throwing out there. Whether it pans out or washes out, depends on what they find when they look for evidence on the Moon and Mars.

That is not a proven fact. It's still just a theory.

 

[lance gt]

That is not a proven fact. It's still just a theory.

It's a fact. They tested the moon rock and found the same minerals and other elements present on Earth. NG had a special on a few months ago about it. There was definitive proof establishing it. The speculative part was the theory of the asteroid they knew hit Earth, but was it the rebound off of Mars, that has markings of a hit from a large object on the surface of it. Just the evidence they've gathered so far from the surface of Mars has been leading them to this conclusion. If a species of humanoid people lived on the surface when it hit, could their DNA have come here on it and grown in the primordial soup, to become us. Just speculation still, but the possibilty of us all being alien beings from another planet might be a proven fact someday.

 

[slyc_willie]

And, no, it wasn't anyone here on Lit...


Complete and fascinating article here.

This is a more fascinating and compelling find than the 47-million y.o. supposed common ancestor revealed last year. The smaller jaw suggests a less aggressive species, therefore a more creative one. I also like that it dispels the common theory of humans evolving from chimps. Ian Tattersall is doing a jig right now, I'm sure.

 

[slyc_willie]

It's a fact. They tested the moon rock and found the same minerals and other elements present on Earth. NG had a special on a few months ago about it. There was definitive proof establishing it. The speculative part was the theory of the asteroid they knew hit Earth, but was it the rebound off of Mars, that has markings of a hit from a large object on the surface of it. Just the evidence they've gathered so far from the surface of Mars has been leading them to this conclusion. If a species of humanoid people lived on the surface when it hit, could their DNA have come here on it and grown in the primordial soup, to become us. Just speculation still, but the possibilty of us all being alien beings from another planet might be a proven fact someday.

Well, not quite. When the Moon was formed, Earth was still a volcanically active, inhospitable place with no surface water. Panspermia wouldn't have applied then. Also, the impact on Mars that created the Tharsis Bulge on the opposite wasn't a rebound. It was a deep impact. Material was thrown off of Mars, which might have then landed on Earth a few million years later, but the comet/asteroid/whatever that struck Mars didn't go anywhere else. Most likely, this was the event which stopped the rotation of Mars' core, resulting in a truly dead planet.

 

[Bianca_Sommerland]

Well, not quite. When the Moon was formed, Earth was still a volcanically active, inhospitable place with no surface water. Panspermia wouldn't have applied then. Also, the impact on Mars that created the Tharsis Bulge on the opposite wasn't a rebound. It was a deep impact. Material was thrown off of Mars, which might have then landed on Earth a few million years later, but the comet/asteroid/whatever that struck Mars didn't go anywhere else. Most likely, this was the event which stopped the rotation of Mars' core, resulting in a truly dead planet.

Cool. But I thought they found signs of former life on mars. Small organisms or something.

 

[slyc_willie]

Cool. But I thought they found signs of former life on mars. Small organisms or something.

Still in process, last I heard. But if there was life, there's no telling how long it's been buried. Plus, some bacterial organisms are incredibly resilient.