Preserved flesh of 2-million-year-old human ancestor found?

Popular Archaeology ^ | Wednesday, September 21, 2011 | Dan McLerran

[SunkenCiv]

Above, the Malapa site, September 4th, 2008, at the moment of the discovery of the fossilized female skeleton MH2. Photo courtesy of Lee Berger and the University of the Witwatersrand, under Creative Commons attribution license.

[SunkenCiv]

GGG managers are SunkenCiv, StayAt HomeMother & Ernest_at_the_Beach	join list or digest view topics view or post blog bookmark post a topic subscribe
To all -- please ping me to other topics which are appropriate for the GGG list. Malapa Soft Tissue Project

[ConservativeMind]

Can they get intact DNA out of it?

This is really incredible.

[SunkenCiv]

It’s mineralized, i.e. it’s a fossil of the skin, also i.e. it’s not likely. But like dino skin, it was previously unknown and long wished for.

[fishtank]

that’s because the chronology is not “millions of years”

[mnehring]

In before Helen Thomas pics.

[decimon]

I hope that dog doesn’t eat the homework.

[ClearCase_guy]

If you say "The Earth is less than 10,000 years old", a lot of folks will say "You're crazy!"

If you hold up some soft tissue and say, "This flesh is two million years old", a lot of folks will say, "Cool".

Well, some folks like a fairy tale.

[Eaker]

Out of curiosity how did you get your hands on some of the skin and what tests did you run on it to accurately date it?

[blam]

Amazing.

[bigheadfred]

More than one way to skin a cat.

the individuals found at Malapa were rapidly deposited and entombed in a thick layer of sand and clay through natural causes

"ugh, ooga wogga eee ha dubbawubba"... (Sh!+, we just stepped into quicksand...)

[SunkenCiv]

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/chat/2784166/posts?page=4#4

[SunkenCiv]

:’D

[cripplecreek]

I like jerky.

[bigheadfred]

long wished for

"It puts the lotion on"

[mnehring]

Radiocarbon dating, Potassium Argon dating, Obsidian Hydration dating, Paleomagnetic and Archaeomagnetic dating, Luminescence, and a whole range of other Isotopic dating methods.

[SunkenCiv]

Fossilization itself is rare, fossilization of anything other than bones is even more rare, but this level of detail is, as you said, amazing. From the FRchives, some sidebars:

• Would you Adam 'n' Eve it ... dinosaurs in Eden
• PRESERVED T. Rex Soft Tissue RECOVERED (Pic)
• Scientists see the softer side of Tyrannosaurus Rex
• Ancient T. rex and mastodon protein fragments discovered, sequenced
• BBC: Protein links T. rex to chickens ~ ummm tasty....
• Scientists Retrieve Proteins From Dinosaur Bone
• Dinosaur protein sequenced - Lucky find shows up record-breaking fossil.
• Dinosaur research backs link to birds
• Oldest Dinosaur Protein Found -- Blood Vessels, More
• Reexamination of T. rex verifies disputed biochemical remains

- cre/vo "great divide" -

• The scrambling continues (Fallout over T-rex bone tissue continues)
• Dinosaur Shocker (YEC say dinosaur soft tissue couldn't possibly survive millions of years)
• Dino Skin Preserved in Rare Fossil Find
• Dinosaur Blood Protein, Cells Recovered
• First dino 'blood' extracted from ancient bone (more evidence for young earth creation!)
• Hadrosaur Soft Tissues Another Blow to Long-Ages Myth (first T. rex, then another T. rex, now this!)
• Dakota Dino Reveals Skin Cells (first they find dino blood &vessels, now they find dino skin cells!)
• Dinosaur Soft Tissues: They're Real!
• Schweitzer's Dangerous Discovery (How did Dinosaur soft tissue survive millions of years?)
• The question of dinosaur DNA
• Dinosaur Soft Tissue Issue Is Here to Stay
• Soft Muscle Tissue Found in Fossil Salamander (evos claim it is 18 million years old!)
• Fresh Tissues from Solid Rock

[SunkenCiv]

Tastes like chicken.

[LostInBayport]

Helen Thomas frowns on your internet posting shenanigans.

[Redcitizen]

Slap me some skin. ;)