Welcome to the Family (Tree), Ardi!
The discovery of Ardipithecus ramidus (”Ardi”), an early hominid species that predates Lucy by over 1 million years, is a truly amazing find.
AP: Before Lucy came Ardi, new earliest hominid found
The story of humankind is reaching back another million years as scientists learn more about “Ardi,” a hominid who lived 4.4 million years ago in what is now Ethiopia. The 110-pound, 4-foot female roamed forests a million years before the famous Lucy, long studied as the earliest skeleton of a human ancestor.
John Hawks, an Associate Professor of Anthropology at the University of Wisconsin, has posted a very helpful FAQ that he’ll continue to update on his blog:
What’s the big deal? … Today’s series of papers is basically unprecedented in paleoanthropology. There are eleven papers in total, giving comprehensive coverage of the anatomy, paleoenvironment, and evolutionary interpretation of a new skeleton of Ardipithecus ramidus and dental remains representing more than 30 additional individuals. They have been published simultaneously in a coordinated effort including excavation, faunal correlation, microscopy, palynology, CT-scanning, three-dimensional reconstruction, isotopic analysis, and lord knows what else.
NewScientist: Our ancestor Ardi walked tall
