There is some criticism of exactly where this fossil fits on the evolutionary tree with respect to man, but as one report put it, if this species isn’t our great, great… grandmother, it’s definitely a great, great… aunt. One thing isn’t disputed: this and other fossils found at the ancient lake site in Germany are some of the best ever found from the period.
Meet “Ida,” the small “missing link” fossil 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.
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.
Oh my God!!! They discovered the remains of Alfred’s prom date!
Ida is A missing link, not THE missing link. She is a missing link between monkeys and lemurs, NOT between monkeys and humans.
The photo and diagram reminds me of a government civil servant or at the best my old boss
#69 qb wrote “They discovered the remains of Alfred’s prom date!”
And if you rotate the photo 90 degrees counterclockwise, it almost looks like her legs are in the standard “post-prom position” 😉
It reminds me of that classic raptor fossil which is documented in so many paleontology books.
I’m looking forward to the documentaries which this will spawn.
#64 – Traaxx,
Why would one fear an omniscient, omnipotent, and omnibenevolent god?
I find the ignorance and arrogance of creationists amazing. They are just another group of conspiracy theorists. They think it is some big plot to suppress the Truth.
If someone were to come up with a better scientific explanation than evolution there wouldn’t be any way to suppress that explanation because the rules of the scientific theory mean that there wouldn’t be any way to disprove the new theory.
People who study evolution would love to find a better explanation because it would make them famous. Who wouldn’t want to be as famous as Einstein or Darwin?
Ah, #74 Misanthropic Scott, you are making a common mistake among unbelievers. As an omnipotent being, God has the power to redefine “love” so that it includes cruelty to innocent people. Fear him and his great power over the very words we speak.
#26: Excellent point! I myself have always felt that the Creation as described in Genesis was the only way the ancient Israelites could explain the formation of the world, but they didn’t have the concepts of ages, centuries, or science that we know today.
I’m fairly religious. I also believe in the logic of science. I have no problem with scientists researching and unraveling the mysteries of what (a) God (may have) made. If this find forces many to rethink their position on creationism vs evolution, so be it. Religion and science do not have to be at odds.
All I want to know is: Where is all the (Transitional fossilization at) ????.
#38
*Sigh*. Wrong. Again.
> The fossil record shows
> bursts of change, not
> slow evolution.
You first have to accept the observable fact that evolution happens to start having intelligent discourse on how it happened and the rates at which it happened. There are many that do not accept a slow process of evolution but instead have hypothesized that it happens in bursts. Ok. That in no way refutes that evolution happens and that in some circumstances it does not happen by natural selection (which means it does in others).
> The model that best explains
> all things is the Creationist model.
Not even remotely close to true. The creationist model first requires evidence of a creator. You cannot provide a theory by refuting a competing theory.
#40
No one said it was human.
#44
Right. Because NYC is identical today as it was 100 years ago.
#49
Actually, Occam’s Razor states that if all things are equal, the simplest explanation is the best. Creationism does not compete on the first premise. It is not science much less a theory and thus does not merit equal footing to evolution. Thus, Occam’s Razor does not apply to creationism.
John,
Alfred1 and Traaxx should give you confidence that your blog numbers will not dwindle no matter how much evidence is discovered. Even if they found a note from Moses himself saying that he wrote Genesis as a fictional bedtime story for his children, people will still think it is true.
Alfred, #81 is hysterical. You are such a troll.
For the Anti-Evolution crowd
Evolution is as much faith as creationism.
Think about it if your capable of thinking for yourself.
88
What, hes not allowed to just claim something and expect everyone to accept it like you do?
Arguing science with creationists seems pointless, as they dont really seem to understand its basic principles. Just as those that beleive in logic dont understand the principles of faith.
#35, 37, GlennE;
“Fossilized rats” don’t have opposable thumbs.
Expelled is a pile of crap which no self-respecting library should associate itself with. Rather than analyze the science, it baits interviewees with misleading questions and uses creative editing to push its agenda.
The Wikipedia article on Expelled has all the (well cited) information you need on the movie.
Is it coincidence, irony, or prophetic that Ben Stein hosts a movie with the subtitle “No Intelligence Allowed”?
#38, Alfred1;
Stop saying the Theory of Evolution violates Occam’s Razor; those words do not mean what you think they mean.
#88 Unless the Big Bang is requiring some form of belief and worship, I think we can take a little more time to gather and ponder the evidence concerning how it happened.
I just hope it doesn’t turn out that the Big Bang requires animal sacrifices.
#36, MikeN;
Actually, the Theory of Evolution has predicted many things, including the locations of transitional fossils.
#93;
[Citation needed.]
Stop babbling.
#44;
Logic fail. NYC was not built instantaneously.
It actually did evolve.
90 MrMiGu. Well said. Arguing with horse shit is pointless. Laughing in the face of it, well that’s a whole other game. 😀
Gary l’infidèle dangereux, can I sacrifice my neighbour’s cat? It keeps crapping in my garden.
#89 Wow I couldn’t have said it better. 🙂 Evolution is as much faith as Creationism. 🙂
“I was very careful to consider the major arguments supporting the opposing theories…creationism is the only sound explanation of origins…the only one that is “falsifiable” (=based upon facts which, if overturned, disproves the theory), unlike evolution, which morphs itself whenever contrary fact is found.”
I think my guts are hurting. Thanks Alfred.
evolution, which morphs itself whenever contrary fact is found.
you really don’t understand how science works, do you?
#104, Ayatollah1,
The human eye has over a thousand distinct parts, if any of those parts fails, eyesight fails.
Please name, oh, let’s say 50 of those over 1000 parts. I’ll bet you couldn’t name 5 without looking it up.
#104,
“It’s too complicated for me to understand, so it’s obviously false” isn’t a good justification of your argument.
Look around the animal kingdom. There are countless ways creatures sense the electromagnetic spectrum. Some are very simple (light/dark). Some are more advanced (grayscale images, limited color). Some are extremely complicated (such as ours).
How our eye formed is actually proof of evolutionary changes.
#105, he’s not allowed to understand it because the house of cards tumbles if he concedes a single point.
He’ll retort evolution is a house of cards, to which we all agree with the sentiment: find the evidence and bring it on.
Alfred, I just read a book about Einstein’s brain, and very recent research on samples of that brain long thought lost. Care to discuss it? Summary: it was exceptional.
You lose the point.