Posted on 07/17/2007 9:32:39 AM PDT by SunkenCiv
Jawbones from an early human ancestor, found recently in northeast Ethiopia, could shine light on a murky period of human evolution, paleontologists say. The bones were found in the fossil-rich Afar region, just 20 miles (32 kilometers) north of the spot where the famed skeleton of "Lucy" -- early human ancestor who lived 3.2 million years ago -- was unearthed in 1974... The new bones are believed to date from 3.8 million to 3.5 million years ago. Though more research needs to be done, the group says the bones could bridge the gap between two known human ancestor species. Australopithecus anamensis lived some 4.2 million to 3.9 million years ago, and Australopithecus afarensis -- the species to which Lucy belonged -- thrived from 3.6 million to 3 million years ago... Some researchers believe that Lucy and others of her species were descendants of A. anamensis -- and these new Ethiopian jawbones could end that speculation... "We have had isolated teeth and [other skeleton parts] from previous years. What we didn't have was a complete jaw, which we have now," he said... The earlier species, A. anamensis, had large canine teeth and a narrow jaw. When Lucy appeared, compared to A. anamensis, the jaw had widened, the canines had become smaller, and the molars had grown. Such changes suggest that the A. afarensis chewed, not tore, its food.
(Excerpt) Read more at news.nationalgeographic.com ...
An ancient jawbone, above, was recently found in Africa's fossil-rich Afar region, just 20 miles (32 kilometers) north of the spot where the famed skeleton of "Lucy," an early human ancestor, was unearthed in 1974. The bone, which is at least 3.5 million years old, may spark further debate about how many types of human ancestors roamed East Africa at once. Photograph courtesy Cleveland Museum of Natural History/Handout/REUTERS
Ancient fossils fill gap in early human evolution
Yahoo | 4/12/06 | Patricia Reaney
Posted on 04/12/2006 3:21:23 PM EDT by Sofa King
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They found Harry Reid’s jawbone? Go figger...
Wrong! It has been clearly demonstrated that "Lucy" is not a human ancestor!
and
...who lives in glass house...
;’)
;o]
When they invent time travel, remind me that dentistry would be a good paying profession.
It always amazes me how they can jump to conclusions with only one find.
Ricky?
Cool search tool; I never knew you could do that with Google.
You speak the tooth.
I suppose they’re going to try to determine every intimate detail of this dude’s society, from music to architecture, based on this one mandible.
Care to comment Doc?
well paying in beads and hides?
:)
By who? That creationism museum near Cincinnati?
Care to comment Doc?
Last I saw that is correct.
On a direct line from earlier to later critters, Lucy and her kin seem to have diverged slightly from the main line.
The following chart illustrates how this can occur.
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