Find called oldest human ancestor: Age of skull from Africa is put at 6-7 million years

The Boston Globe ^ | 7/11/2002 | Gareth Cook

[xsysmgr]

A crackled brown skull unearthed in Chad represents the remains of the oldest human ancestor ever discovered - and is one of the most important prehuman fossils known, paleontologists said yesterday.

Found buried beneath a remote stretch of dunes, the stunningly well-preserved fossil is between 6 million and 7 million years old. That makes it twice the age of the famous ''Lucy'' skeleton, and the first fossil to come from a dark time about which very little is known, when the first human ancestors split from the chimpanzees. The skull appears chimp-like in many respects, but the upper part of its face is strikingly modern in appearance - a combination that several scientists predicted will throw the carefully constructed human family tree into chaos.

[sandmanbr]

I've seen the pic and it doesn't look like any human that I've ever seen

[Freemyland]

Here's the picture:

[gdani]

Why no pic's? If it is like most finds, it's a small fragment of bone, and they have spent the last year building around it to give creedence to nothing.

[Far Right Of Left]

Posts 4 & 6...before and after makeup

[Woodkirk]

Once again so-called scientists making monkeys out of
themselves. Looks like the skull of Cheetah to me. Keep
looking, Tarzan can't be far away.

[Huck]

Looks like the skull of Cheetah to me.

You think? What is your specific area of expertise? Zoology? Paleontology? Biology?

Cheetah skull.

[Atlas Sneezed]

"The team announced the discovery yesterday at a press conference in Chad's capital city of N'Djamena."

N'Djabeddah pronounce that correctly!

[Woodkirk]

Hucksterology

[doosee]

The researchers believe that Toumai was a male, based on its large brow ridge, and was probably about the size of a modern chimpanzee, though they have not found any bones below the head.

I heard they found a remote control in its right hand, and that was the tipoff it was a male!!!!!