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According to the October 1, 2009 Science article Ancient Skeleton May Rewrite Earliest Chapter of Human Evolution, “Researchers have unveiled the oldest known skeleton of a putative human ancestor--and it is full of surprises.”
The research performed over the past fifteen years shows that this 4.4 million year old pre-human ancestor to modern humans, whose species name is Ardipithecus ramidus, was more like humans than apes and chimpanzees—something that scientists didn’t think happened during this part of our evolution.
U.S. paleoanthropologist Tim D. White Department of Integrative Biology, University of California, Berkeley) led the team who unearthed the discovered.
They discovered the ancient remains of a group of these creatures in the Afar Depression in the Middle Awash region of Ethiopia (Africa).
The species lived about 4.4 million years ago in the early Pliocene epoch (or Pleiocene epoch), which occurred from 5.3 to 2.6 million years ago.
In all, White’s international team found pieces of thirty-six males, females, and children at the Middle Awash site.
Additional information on this discovery appears on page two, along with where to go on the Web for comprehensive information on A. ramidus.
Originally, in the 1992 to 1993 time frame, seventeen fragments were discovered, including teeth, arm bones, and a skull. By 1994, the team had uncovered just under half of a total skeleton of A. ramidus.
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In fact, the site where Ardi was discovered is only 46 miles (75 kilometers) from the site where “Lucy” (species name Australopithecus afarensis) was discovered. Lucy lived about 3.2 million years ago, about 1.1 million years after Ardi.
The October 2, 2009 Wall Street Journal article “Fossils Shed New Light on Human Past” quotes Dr. White. He says, “It is not a chimp, and it is not human. It gives us a new perspective on our origins. We opened a time capsule from a time and place that we knew nothing about."
The WSJ article also states, “Although the differences between humans, apes and chimps today are legion, we all shared a common ancestor six million years or so ago. These fossils suggest that the common ancestor -- still undiscovered -- resembled a chimp much less than researchers have always believed.”
For further information about this exciting discovery about our ancient past, please go to the Science website "Ardipithecus ramidus," which contains extensive information, along with videos, press conference, and images, on this small-brained, forest-dwelling early hominid species.
The Science website states that its writings on Ardipithecus ramidus describes “… an early hominid species … and its environment. These 4.4 million year old hominid fossils sit within a critical early part of human evolution, and cast new and sometimes surprising light on the evolution of human limbs and locomotion, the habitats occupied by early hominids, and the nature of our last common ancestor with chimps.”
If you are not a member of Science, no worries with not being able to access the information. Science states it is “… making access to this extraordinary set of materials FREE (non-subscribers require a simple registration [yes, it is simple, only a few questions to answer]). The complete collection, and abridged versions, are available FREE as PDF downloads for AAAS members, or may be purchased as reprints.”
