Posted on 10/29/2012 2:12:45 PM PDT by SunkenCiv
Despite the ability to walk upright, early relatives of humanity represented by the famed "Lucy" fossil likely spent much of their time in trees, remaining very active climbers, researchers say.
Humans are unique among living primates in that walking bipedally -- on two feet -- is humans' chief mode of locomotion. This upright posture freed their hands up for using tools, one of the key factors behind humans' domination of the planet.
Among the earliest known relatives of humanity definitely known to walk upright was Australopithecus afarensis, the species including the famed 3.2-million-year-old "Lucy." Australopithecines are the leading candidates for direct ancestors of the human lineage, living about 2.9 million to 3.8 million years ago in East Africa.
Although Lucy and her kin were no knuckle-draggers, whether they also spent much of their time in trees was hotly debated...
The researchers found these bones had several details in common with those of modern apes, suggesting they lived part of the time in trees. For instance, the socket for the shoulder joint was pointed upward in both Selam and today's apes, a sign of an active climber. In humans, these sockets face out to the sides.
Lucy's adult shoulder sockets also faced upward, suggesting that, like modern apes, her species was equipped for tree-climbing throughout its life span. Humans, on the other hand, are born with a somewhat downward-facing socket that gradually moves to face outward as people mature.
(Excerpt) Read more at livescience.com ...
How long have humans been on the earth?
“Lucy”. Anyone know the circumstances of finding the bones called Lucy?
Agreed. The same can be said for being basically hairless. Also why do we have such a long adolescent period? Doesn’t make evolutionary sense.
And were some of those parts buried 30 feet deeper in the soil?
/johnny
“How long have humans been on the earth?”
It appears from Scripture that God created man 6-8,000 years ago.
We don’t know how long Adam and Eve lived before they fell. It could have been a few hours or a few centuries. It doesn’t say.
However it is of great certainty that God did not create us from apes. We are made in His image. To say we are made from apes is to insult Him.
Almost nobody believes that this is anything but a monkey. I’m sorry but the partial skeleton is only a monkey and isn’t man’s early relative. That man evolved is clear, but this monkey is not proof of it. It’s simply proof that a vane old man wants glory for a spectacular find which really isn’t. The whole thing is silly.
As an archaeologist for 35 years, even I can’t explain it, but on several projects the most amazing stuff would show up on the last scheduled days. Had a few holidays interrupted that way, too, but didn’t even notice!
By the way, Dr, Johanson’s dating for the hominid were revised by the person who geologically determined the data himself, Dr. Timothy White. Say what you want about the conclusions relating to the data, but the field work was good and first rate.
I don’t recollect the circumstances for depth provenance of Lucy’s parts. Depth matters, of course, but the stratum (layer) the remains came out of is more important; items within a stratum can become mixed within that layer by water and wind as well as by other influences. Even though remains can be moved considerably by environmental means, the stratum they came from can be determined by the minerals that become part of the fossils. Items from varying geological strata are traceable to their original stratagraphic location.
Fossils like Lucy are in fact minerals which come from the strata they were deposited in. Fossilization starts after fifty years of weathering and continues until the remains become all mineral.
How Ethiopian scientist unearthed ‘world’s oldest child’
From Earl Nurse, CNN
updated 5:35 AM EDT, Fri May 31, 2013
http://www.cnn.com/2013/05/31/world/africa/zeray-alemseged-selam-ethiopia/index.html?iid=article_sidebar
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