Our common ancestor

[undeterred]

Fossils radically alter ideas about the look of man's earliest ancestors

Analysis of a near-complete skeleton of a human ancestor found in Ethiopia changes scientists' thinking about the appearance and behavior of our distant forebears.

A treasure trove of 4.4-million-year-old fossils from the Ethiopian desert is dramatically overturning widely held ideas about the early evolution of humans and how they came to walk upright, even as it paints a remarkably detailed picture of early life in Africa, researchers reported Thursday.

The centerpiece of the diverse collection of primate, animal and plant fossils is the near-complete skeleton of a human ancestor that demonstrates our earliest forebears looked nothing like a chimpanzee or other large primate, as is now commonly believed. Instead, the findings suggest that the last common ancestor of humans and primates, which existed nearly 2 million years earlier, was a primitive creature that shared few traits with modern-day members of either group.

The findings, analyzed in a large group of studies published Thursday in the journal Science, also indicate that our ancestors began walking upright in woodlands, not on grassy savannas as prior generations of researchers had speculated.

http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-sci-fossils2-2009oct02,0,3420742.story?track=rss

I'll bet they could never get shirts or shoes to fit!

[NOLALady]

1. But,

they didn't need shirts or shoes.

[LostInAnomie]

2. What a shameless trollop!

Put some clothes on, you whore!

[BlueJazz]

3. Yaeh..I was watching a Science show about this and I was thinking,,,

"Man.I'll bet the Religous Right is sceaming at the TV" :)

[undeterred]

5. Actually, this critter is a lot more dignified looking

than the "apes" so maybe it will be easier to deal with. :shrug:

[monmouth]

4. MOM!..n/t