Ardip c 4.4 Ma herbivorous in swamps-woods :-)
mark_at_spiznet.com
Date: 01/19/05
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Date: 19 Jan 2005 15:54:38 -0800
Public release date: 19-Jan-2005
Contact: Elizabeth Malone
emalone@nsf.gov
703-292-7732
National Science Foundation
Really old bones of early humans unearthed in Ethiopia
Researcher uncovers four-million-year-old ancestral fossils
Arlington, Va.- An Indiana University team of anthropologists has
excavated fossils of early humans in Gona, in the Afar region of
Ethiopia, which they believe come from nine individuals of the species
Ardipithecus ramidus who lived between 4.3 and 4.5 million years ago.
The research is reported in the Jan. 20, issue of the journal Nature.
"While biomolecular evidence helps us to date the timing of major
events in the evolution of apes and humans, there is no substitute for
fossils when it comes to trying to picture the anatomy and behavioral
capabilities of our early relatives," said Mark Weiss, program officer
at the National Science Foundation, which partially funded the
research. "The late Miocene-early Pliocene is a particularly important
era as it was roughly at that time that our ancestors and those of the
chimpanzee parted company. Each new fossil helps to tell a bit more of
the story of these early stages in human origins."
Several Ethiopian dig sites have yielded hominid fossils from that time
period. The Gona site was previously known for the excavation of the
oldest stone tools ever discovered. Plant and animal fossils indicate
that these early humans lived in a low-lying area with swamps, springs,
streams, and volcanic centers, with a mosaic of woodlands and
grasslands.
##>keyword: MOSAIC
-mark
###
For more information see:
See the whole storyat the Indiana University's news site::
http://newsinfo.iu.edu/news/page/normal/1822.html
See another image of the Gona finds::
http://newsinfo.iu.edu/asset/page/normal/622.html
The Stone Age Institute: http://www.stoneageinstitute.org/c_home.shtml
Program contact: Mark Weiss, NSF, (703) 292-7321, mweiss@nsf.gov
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- Next message: Kaz: "Re: Is the AAH a legitimate hypothesis? Of course it is."
- Previous message: Rich Travsky: "Nature: New ramidus Finds"
- In reply to: Marc Verhaegen: "Ardip c 4.4 Ma herbivorous in swamps-woods :-)"
- Next in thread: Jim McGinn: "Re: Ardip c 4.4 Ma herbivorous in swamps-woods :-)"
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