Posted on 11/18/2004 7:00:02 PM PST by Pharmboy
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - An ape that lived 13 million years ago in what is now Spain may have been the last common ancestor of all apes, including chimpanzees, gorillas, orangutans and humans, researchers said on Thursday.
The fossil provides a missing link, not directly between humans and an apelike ancestor, but between great apes and lesser apes such as gibbons, the researchers said.
The creature, named Pierolapithecus catalaunicus, had a stiff lower spine and flexible wrists that would have made it a tree-climbing specialist, the researchers write in this week's issue of the journal Science.
"This probably is very close to the last common ancestor of great apes and humans," said Salvador Moya-Sola of the Miguel Crusafont Institute of Paleontology in Barcelona, Spain, who led the study.
Remains of an ape, named 'Pierolapithecus
catalaunicus' are presented near Barcelona, Spain
on November 18, 2004. The creature that lived 13
million years ago in what is now Spain may have
been the last common ancestor of all apes,
including chimpanzees, gorillas, orangutans and
humans researchers said. (Albert Gea/Reuters)
It would have looked something like a modern chimpanzee and probably ate fruit, said his colleague Meike Kohler.
"It may have looked a little bit in the face comparable to that of a chimp but with some differences," she said in a telephone briefing.
"I would call it a missing link, because it really fills a gap," she added.
About 25 million years ago, old world monkeys, which now live in Africa and Asia, split off from the line that eventually led to apes.
The great apes -- orangutans, chimpanzees, bonobos, gorillas and humans -- are believed to have branched off from the lesser apes such as gibbons and siamangs about 11 million to 16 million years ago.
Humans branched off from chimpanzees an estimated 7 million years ago.
The researchers had just begun digging at the site near Barcelona when a bulldozer turned up the first bits of the fossilized skeleton. They immediately knew they had something unique.
The animal's rib cage, spine and wrist all looked like a great ape's, specialized for climbing. Monkeys, in contrast, while excellent climbers, have more general movement abilities and are not so specialized.
But the new find has small hands, unlike modern great apes.
"This newly discovered fossil, a new ape species from Spain called Pierolapithecus catalaunicus, or its close relative, may have been the last common ancestor of all living great apes, or close to that ancestor," said Brooks Hanson, deputy editor for physical sciences at Science magazine.
"Although this group includes humans, it's important to remember that we've had millions of years of evolution since then, she added."
ping...
Now prepare for fundie flames.
El Chimp...
can we get a DNA sample from helen thomas ?
Well, it does seem like they filled in a lot of lines on precious little data...
I thought this was...
OOga, uhOOOhga, puuuga, Alley OOP!
By fossil standards that's actually quite a lot of the skeleton. Having a skull is the key.
Interesting.
beaten by a small margin, but I'll add both to GGG and ping from the following topic:
Could Be Human-Ape Ancestor
The Centre Daily Times ^ | Thu, Nov. 18, 2004 | DIEDTRA HENDERSON -- Associated Press
Posted on 11/18/2004 3:41:57 PM PST by Willie Green
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/news/1283336/posts
Laughing so hard that I may now have internal injuries - thanks.
I'm pleasantly surprised.
It appears that ancient bones have not lost their ability to make monkeys out of those who try to decipher what the flesh on them looked like. This is probably one of those people who had a major physical deformity, and the "scientist" are trying to make us believe it's a precursor to all apes. They will never learn; but why do they continue to try this evasive "missing" link between species? Because they don't want to have to face the consequences when they find out (read - come to their senses) that there IS NO MISSING LINKS BETWEEN SPECIES, and therefore, all animals were created by a "highly intellegent being" (their way of admittting that there is a God) that must have created all life. BUT they don't want to believe that because then they will have to be accountable to that "Creator" who, according to Scripture demands complete obedience to Him, his Commandments, statutes, laws, and covenants, and that's something they will never allow themselves to do, so, they continue to look for that "impossible dream" so that they don't have to even think about the possibility of "intelligent design".
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