Missing Link Found?

Meph1986 · 05-20-2009, 12:43 PM

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May 19, 2009—Meet "Ida," the small "missing link" found in Germany that's created a big media splash and will likely continue to make waves among those who study human origins.

In a new book, documentary, and promotional Web site, paleontologist Jorn Hurum, who led the team that analyzed the 47-million-year-old fossil seen above, suggests Ida is a critical missing-link species in primate evolution (interactive guide to human evolution from National Geographic magazine).

(Among the team members was University of Michigan paleontologist Philip Gingerich, a member of the Committee for Research and Exploration of the National Geographic Society, which owns National Geographic News.)

The fossil, he says, bridges the evolutionary split between higher primates such as monkeys, apes, and humans and their more distant relatives such as lemurs.

"This is the first link to all humans," Hurum, of the Natural History Museum in Oslo, Norway, said in a statement. Ida represents "the closest thing we can get to a direct ancestor."

Ida, properly known as Darwinius masillae, has a unique anatomy. The lemur-like skeleton features primate-like characteristics, including grasping hands, opposable thumbs, clawless digits with nails, and relatively short limbs.

"This specimen looks like a really early fossil monkey that belongs to the group that includes us," said Brian Richmond, a biological anthropologist at George Washington University in Washington, D.C., who was not involved in the study.

But there's a big gap in the fossil record from this time period, Richmond noted. Researchers are unsure when and where the primate group that includes monkeys, apes, and humans split from the other group of primates that includes lemurs.

"[Ida] is one of the important branching points on the evolutionary tree," Richmond said, "but it's not the only branching point."

At least one aspect of Ida is unquestionably unique: her incredible preservation, unheard of in specimens from the Eocene era, when early primates underwent a period of rapid evolution. (Explore a prehistoric time line.)

"From this time period there are very few fossils, and they tend to be an isolated tooth here or maybe a tailbone there," Richmond explained. "So you can't say a whole lot of what that [type of fossil] represents in terms of evolutionary history or biology."

In Ida's case, scientists were able to examine fossil evidence of fur and soft tissue and even picked through the remains of her last meal: fruits, seeds, and leaves.

What's more, the newly described "missing link" was found in Germany's Messel Pit. Ida's European origins are intriguing, Richmond said, because they could suggest—contrary to common assumptions—that the continent was an important area for primate evolution.

"MISSING LINK" FOUND: New Fossil Links Humans, Lemurs?

LoathsomePete · 05-20-2009, 12:50 PM

I had just finished reading about this and was about to make a topic as well, kudos for getting there first. Yes quite the discovery, however I wish that they had mad it public sooner, however I can understand their reasons for not wishing to do so.

Stone Birds · 05-20-2009, 12:51 PM

Weird

Thrice · 05-20-2009, 12:54 PM

Its just the result of a chimp banging a komodo dragon.

Guybrush · 05-20-2009, 12:58 PM

Jørn Hurum is one of the paleonthologists working at the museum where I work .. Been to his lectures.

Darkest Hour · 05-27-2009, 07:58 PM

doesn't impress me much.

sleepy jack · 05-27-2009, 08:00 PM

cuz evolution is a lie rite lol?

~~someonecompletelyrandom~~ · 05-27-2009, 10:51 PM

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Originally Posted by sleepy jack

cuz evolution is a lie rite lol?

Why yes, yes actually it is.

Freebase Dali · 05-27-2009, 11:35 PM

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Originally Posted by Sonace

Why yes, yes actually it is.

Oh boy, here we go...

~~someonecompletelyrandom~~ · 05-27-2009, 11:37 PM

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Originally Posted by Veridical Fiction

Oh boy, here we go...

No wait... please... I immediately regret that decision.

05-20-2009, 12:50 PM	#2 (permalink)
LoathsomePete Cardboard Box Realtor Join Date: Feb 2009 Location: Hobb's End Posts: 7,648	I had just finished reading about this and was about to make a topic as well, kudos for getting there first. Yes quite the discovery, however I wish that they had mad it public sooner, however I can understand their reasons for not wishing to do so. __________________ Last.FM 101 Albums That May Not Change Your Life, But I Really Like And You Might Too

05-20-2009, 12:51 PM	#3 (permalink)
Stone Birds myspace.com/stonebirdies Join Date: Apr 2009 Location: Conor Oberst Was/is Here Posts: 1,401	Weird __________________ Silk & Tree Records //\\//\\/\\/\/\/\\\\\\\\///\/\/\/\/\\////\/\\\\\///\V //\\//\\/\\/\/\/\\\\\\\\///\/\/\/\/\\////\/\\\\\///\V soundcloud.com/stonebirds [Link removed by mod, no advertising] ... Damn those mods are always gettin ya :)

05-20-2009, 12:54 PM	#4 (permalink)
Thrice أمهاتك[وهور]Aura Euphoria Join Date: Dec 2003 Location: Florida/Buffalo/CT Posts: 2,077	Its just the result of a chimp banging a komodo dragon. __________________ Lew Harrison, who looked like an anarchist with his red eyes and fierce black beard, had been writing furiously in one corner of the room. "That's good—happiness by the kilowatt," he said. "Buy your happiness the way you buy light."

05-20-2009, 12:58 PM	#5 (permalink)
Guybrush Juicious Maximus III Join Date: Nov 2008 Location: Scabb Island Posts: 6,525	Jørn Hurum is one of the paleonthologists working at the museum where I work .. Been to his lectures. __________________ Something Completely Different

05-27-2009, 07:58 PM	#6 (permalink)
Darkest Hour Music Addict Join Date: Mar 2009 Posts: 764	doesn't impress me much. __________________