Prehistoric skull found in dump may be missing ancestor

[emad]

Dale Fuchs in Madrid
Monday November 7, 2005
The Guardian


Palaeontologists excavating a dump outside Barcelona have found a skull dating back 14m years that could belong to a common ancestor of apes and humans.

The nearly intact skull, which has a flat face, jaw and teeth, may belong to a previously unknown species of great ape, said Salvador Moya, the chief palaeontologist on the dig. "We could find a cradle of humanity in the Mediterranean," he said.

A routine land survey for a planned expansion of the Can Mata dump in Els Hostalets de Pierola turned up the first surprise in 2002: a primate's tooth.


Since then, scientists from the Miquel Crusafont Institute of Palaeontology in Sabadell have unearthed nearly 12,000 fossils of primates and other animals that lived during the Middle Miocene era - between 14m and 8m years ago - when the area was covered by tropical rainforest and populated by the precursors of today's elephants, antelopes and monkeys.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/international/story/0,3604,1635774,00.html

[yellowcanine]

1. What was our ancestor doing in the dump?

[central scrutinizer]

2. his social security had been cut and he was foraging for food

nfm

[Orrex]

3. Hiding from Intelligent Design zealots who say he doesn't exist...

Thank you, thank you.
:applause:

[rkc3]

4. Hey wait a minute - ID has its foundation in science.

Thank you - I'm here all week. Try the veal and remember I'm doing two shows on Friday.

[Orrex]

6. Nice! A good deal funnier than mine!

And mine was fall-down-and-wet-your-pants hysterical.

Nicely done!

:toast:

[rkc3]

7. I try - occasionally I hit a good one.

The right does make it easier for us though.

[unpossibles]

5. cool! n/t

[frogmarch]

8. Wow!

Thanks for the info!

I found this photo of the ape's bones at the AAAS website http://www.aaas.org/news/releases/2004/1118ape.shtml

[Odin2005]

9. Sounds similar to another Eurpean ape genus, Dryopithicus

The Earliest apes (ex. Proconsul) didn't look that different from old world monkies. One line left Africa, this line was ancestral to all living apes. The early, monkey-like apes eventually died out, while in Eurasia the "true" apes diversified. 3 true ape lineages emerged, the small gibbons, the orangutangs, and the Dryopthicines. The Dryopithicines eventually went extinct, but not before one species found it's way to Africa, and became the common ancestor of humans, chimps, and gorrilas.