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 New ancestor of man, Skeleton suggest split happened long ago |  |
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Guru
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| QUOTE | ‘Missing link’ primate isn’t a link after all
Expert: Ida is as far from monkey-ape-human ancestry as primate can be
HO / AFP/Getty Images
A new analysis says that a 47-million-year-old skeleton of the most complete fossil primate ever found, unveiled May 19 at the American Museum of Natural History in New York, is actually as far removed from the monkey-ape-human ancestry as a primate can be.
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updated 12:52 p.m. ET, Wed., Oct . 21, 2009
NEW YORK - Remember Ida, the fossil discovery announced last May with its own book and TV documentary? A publicity blitz called it "the link" that would reveal the earliest evolutionary roots of monkeys, apes and humans.
Experts protested that Ida wasn't even a close relative. And now a new analysis supports their reaction.
In fact, Ida is as far removed from the monkey-ape-human ancestry as a primate could be, says Erik Seiffert of Stony Brook University in New York.
Story continues below ↓
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advertisement | your ad here
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He and his colleagues compared 360 specific anatomical features of 117 living and extinct primate species to draw up a family tree. They report the results in Thursday's issue of the journal Nature.
Ida is a skeleton of a 47 million-year-old cat-sized creature found in Germany. It starred in a book, "The Link: Uncovering Our Earliest Ancestor."
Ida represents a previously unknown primate species called Darwinius. The scientists who formally announced the finding said they weren't claiming Darwinius was a direct ancestor of monkeys, apes and humans. But they did argue that it belongs in the same major evolutionary grouping, and that it showed what an actual ancestor of that era might have looked like.
The new analysis says Darwinius does not belong in the same primate category as monkeys, apes and humans. Instead, the analysis concluded, it falls into the other major grouping, which includes lemurs.
Experts agreed.
"This is a rigorous analysis based on many features," said Eric Sargis, an anthropology professor at Yale. He said he'd found the argument of the Darwinius researchers unconvincing, so the new result came as no surprise.
Video
Fossil frenzy: Is this the mother of all monkeys?
May 19: The American Museum of Natural History on Tuesday unveiled at 47 million-year-old fossil that could be a missing link in the study of human evolution.
Nightly News
In fact, it confirms what most scientists think, said David Begun, a paleoanthropologist at the University of Toronto.
Jorn Hurum of the Natural History Museum in Oslo, Norway, an author of the Ida paper, said he welcomed the new analysis.
Darwinius is an example of a group of primates called adapoids, and "we are happy to start the scientific discussion" about what Ida means for where adapoids fit on the primate family tree, he wrote in an e-mail. |
d'oh!!!  evolution=theory theory=something not proven
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I have come here to do two things, kick ass, and chew bubble gum
Group: Advanced Members
Posts: 13167
Member No.: 51161
Joined: 16-November 04
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| QUOTE (joseph23573 @ Oct 21 2009, 08:24 PM) | | QUOTE | ‘Missing link’ primate isn’t a link after all
Expert: Ida is as far from monkey-ape-human ancestry as primate can be
HO / AFP/Getty Images
A new analysis says that a 47-million-year-old skeleton of the most complete fossil primate ever found, unveiled May 19 at the American Museum of Natural History in New York, is actually as far removed from the monkey-ape-human ancestry as a primate can be.
View related photos
Most popular
• Most viewed • Top rated
Predictions 101
Heisman winner Bradford's decision on hold
Most viewed on msnbc.com
Child’s body found in search for missing girl
What happens if the dollar crashes?
High-speed chase ends when OnStar halts SUV
Plants can recognize rivals and fight, study says
African churches denounce children as ‘witches’
Most viewed on msnbc.com
RSS feeds on msnbc.com
Add these headlines to your news reader
Science
Learn more about RSS
updated 12:52 p.m. ET, Wed., Oct . 21, 2009
NEW YORK - Remember Ida, the fossil discovery announced last May with its own book and TV documentary? A publicity blitz called it "the link" that would reveal the earliest evolutionary roots of monkeys, apes and humans.
Experts protested that Ida wasn't even a close relative. And now a new analysis supports their reaction.
In fact, Ida is as far removed from the monkey-ape-human ancestry as a primate could be, says Erik Seiffert of Stony Brook University in New York.
Story continues below ↓
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
advertisement | your ad here
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
He and his colleagues compared 360 specific anatomical features of 117 living and extinct primate species to draw up a family tree. They report the results in Thursday's issue of the journal Nature.
Ida is a skeleton of a 47 million-year-old cat-sized creature found in Germany. It starred in a book, "The Link: Uncovering Our Earliest Ancestor."
Ida represents a previously unknown primate species called Darwinius. The scientists who formally announced the finding said they weren't claiming Darwinius was a direct ancestor of monkeys, apes and humans. But they did argue that it belongs in the same major evolutionary grouping, and that it showed what an actual ancestor of that era might have looked like.
The new analysis says Darwinius does not belong in the same primate category as monkeys, apes and humans. Instead, the analysis concluded, it falls into the other major grouping, which includes lemurs.
Experts agreed.
"This is a rigorous analysis based on many features," said Eric Sargis, an anthropology professor at Yale. He said he'd found the argument of the Darwinius researchers unconvincing, so the new result came as no surprise.
Video
Fossil frenzy: Is this the mother of all monkeys?
May 19: The American Museum of Natural History on Tuesday unveiled at 47 million-year-old fossil that could be a missing link in the study of human evolution.
Nightly News
In fact, it confirms what most scientists think, said David Begun, a paleoanthropologist at the University of Toronto.
Jorn Hurum of the Natural History Museum in Oslo, Norway, an author of the Ida paper, said he welcomed the new analysis.
Darwinius is an example of a group of primates called adapoids, and "we are happy to start the scientific discussion" about what Ida means for where adapoids fit on the primate family tree, he wrote in an e-mail. |
d'oh!!! evolution=theory theory=something not proven |
Gravity is a theory, do you not believe it's true?
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