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Missing link in evolution found
Hindustan Times ^

Posted on 05/13/2009 2:29:18 PM PDT by mnehring

Famous broadcaster and naturalist, Sir David Attenborough, is all set to present a documentary claiming to have discovered a missing link in human evolution - a monkey-like creature called an adapid.

According to a report in the Telegraph, the programme, which would be aired on the BBC later this month, could help to resolve the debate about which kind of primates humans are descended from.

Sir David will reveal the well-preserved frame of the small monkey-like creature on the programme.

The fossilised animal, thought to be at least 37 million years old, is a member of the extinct adapid family, and was discovered in a disused quarry in Germany.

Similar in appearance to modern lemurs, the young female has certain key differences which convinced researchers they have found the link to modern apes.

Unlike lemurs, it has no "toothcomb" teeth for grooming or "toilet claws" for scratching, two omissions which make it more likely to be ancestral to monkeys, higher apes and ultimately humans.

The fossil is reportedly so well preserved that some of its soft tissues such as skin and even its stomach contents can be examined.

"I examined this skeleton. It is exceptionally complete and it is well-dated," said Professor Philip Gingerich, co-author of the report and president of the US Paleontological Society.

"We have kept it under wraps because you can't blither about something until you understand it. We now understand it. It is going to advance our knowledge of evolution," he added.

The fossil of the creature, named Darwinus masillae, was discovered in two parts at different times.


TOPICS: Culture/Society; Miscellaneous; News/Current Events
KEYWORDS: attenborough; cuetherollingstones; evolution; godsgravesglyphs
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1 posted on 05/13/2009 2:29:18 PM PDT by mnehring
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To: mnehring

Oh great. Now we have two missing links, one on either side of this interloper.


2 posted on 05/13/2009 2:31:40 PM PDT by null and void (We are now in day 114 of our national holiday from reality.)
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To: mnehring
Sorry
3 posted on 05/13/2009 2:35:56 PM PDT by GQuagmire
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To: mnehring

I’m taking bets that this whole thing is a bunch of garbage. Not that the show wont go on but that it will be all folly and inconclusive. Just like all the other “proof” that they have come up with over the last 50 years. They were either hoaxes or just bad information.


4 posted on 05/13/2009 2:36:44 PM PDT by fish hawk (The trouble with Socialism is that you eventually run out of other peoples money.)
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To: GQuagmire

I wish you all would quit posting pictures of Helen Thomas. If we are lucky we will all get to be old some day and we might just be ugly too. That includes you quagmire.


5 posted on 05/13/2009 2:39:23 PM PDT by Ditter
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To: fish hawk
Just like all the other “proof” that they have come up with over the last 50 years.

I think 'all' may be the wrong word to use.. I can think of a handful of hoaxes or errors, but it pales in comparison to the amount of advances.

6 posted on 05/13/2009 2:39:23 PM PDT by mnehring
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To: null and void
The fossil is reportedly so well preserved that some of its soft tissues such as skin and even its stomach contents can be examined.

This will be used by crevos to claim it is of recent (about 6000 years ago) provenance.

7 posted on 05/13/2009 2:40:30 PM PDT by HospiceNurse
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To: GQuagmire

AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH GIGGITY


8 posted on 05/13/2009 2:40:46 PM PDT by My Favorite Headache (An oath to a liar is no oath at all)
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To: GQuagmire

STOP IT!!!!!!!!!!!


9 posted on 05/13/2009 2:41:51 PM PDT by mark3681
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To: Ditter

Not to brag, but I would have to be hit by a truck to look that bad.A big truck.....


10 posted on 05/13/2009 2:41:53 PM PDT by GQuagmire
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To: Ditter

If we ever make it to her age, we, like her, will have the faces we deserve.

I doubt any of us will look as bad as her, barring horrific accidents...


11 posted on 05/13/2009 2:44:44 PM PDT by null and void (We are now in day 114 of our national holiday from reality.)
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To: GQuagmire

Jeeez. This is like one of those youtube videos where you watch and at the end a yelling ghost or something pops out. None of them are as frightful as this thread.


12 posted on 05/13/2009 2:45:12 PM PDT by BlueStateBlues (Blue State business, Red State heart. . . . .Palin 2012----can't come soon enough!)
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To: null and void
The thing is, Helen never 'lost' her looks because she never had any in the first place.


It is scary how little things have changed.

13 posted on 05/13/2009 2:47:38 PM PDT by mnehring
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To: BlueStateBlues
Like This?
14 posted on 05/13/2009 2:49:12 PM PDT by GQuagmire
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To: mnehring
The fossil of the creature, named Darwinus masillae, was discovered in two parts at different times.

Maybe another Piltdown man? A human skull and the jaw of an orangutan mixed together and thought to be a missing link for a long time.

15 posted on 05/13/2009 2:51:36 PM PDT by bubbacluck
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To: mnehring
"We have kept it under wraps because you can't blither about something until you understand it. We now understand it. It is going to advance our knowledge of evolution,"

Translation:

"We had no use for another small, fossilized hominid, then somebody cooked up this scam. We will now use this to dupe all of you."

;-/

16 posted on 05/13/2009 2:58:34 PM PDT by Gargantua ("If not us, when? If not now, ...where....?")
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To: mnehring

What is an “advance”? I’ve not seen one of those. But I bet when I do find one it will have been “created”.


17 posted on 05/13/2009 3:01:18 PM PDT by fish hawk (The trouble with Socialism is that you eventually run out of other peoples money.)
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To: SunkenCiv

GGG ping


18 posted on 05/13/2009 3:37:42 PM PDT by Fractal Trader
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To: mnehring
The fossil is reportedly so well preserved that some of its soft tissues such as skin and even its stomach contents can be examined.

At least 37 million years old?
Someone's been smoking crack...

19 posted on 05/13/2009 4:48:01 PM PDT by Publius6961 (Change is not a plan; Hope is not a strategy.)
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To: Publius6961
The same circumstances that can preserve small details in the fossil, even fragments of tissue described here would preserve be it 10k years or millions of years, absence of light, air, microbes, etc. This preservation is not unusual.

20 posted on 05/13/2009 4:51:57 PM PDT by mnehring
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