Bones of the cranium:
Occipital
Parietal (2)
Frontal
Temporal (2)
Sphenoid
Ethmoid
Does this "missing link" have all of these, just like my skull and those of everyone else who lives in Ethiopia?
"just like my skull and those of everyone else who lives in Ethiopia?"
When did you move to Ethiopia? And when did their skulls have different numbers of bones than everybody else?
With very minor exceptions, these same bones are shared by all primates and most mammals. The farther you get from primates the more differences you find.
I was amazed in the bone lab when, after most of a semester of looking at human bones--from small fragments to whole crania--the professor brought out the monkey skulls. I could identify every bone, and the overall shape was remarkable similar. Differences in size and some details, but if you know human cranial bones you know primate ones as well.
As far as eight bones and Ethiopia, Fester--is it happy hour where you are already?
you are missing quite a few bones there, Fester.
just so you know - the "cranium" technically includes every bone north of the Atlas. this includes the mandible. this includes the nasal bones. depending on how you reckon things, the human cranium consists of about 22 bones.