![]() ![]() ![]() #The missing link human evolution tv#The unveiling, at New York's Museum of Natural History, was promoted by a press release for the cable TV show History, which called it a "revolutionary scientific find that will change everything." This is the one that connects us directly with them," trumpeted Britain's nature television star Sir David Attenborough about today's announcement that "Ida," a lemur-like fossil that has been studied in secret for years, is now being unveiled to the world. "This little creature is going to show us our connection with the rest of the mammals. The 47m-year-old primate – named Ida – has been hailed as the fossil equivalent of a "Rosetta Stone" for understanding the critical early stages of primate evolution. Scientists say the fossil, dubbed "Ida," is a transitional species, living around the time the primate lineage split into two groups: A line that would eventually produce humans and monkeys, and another that would give rise to primates such as lemurs. Scientists have unveiled a 47-million-year-old fossilised skeleton of a monkey hailed as the missing link in human evolution. Let’s ponder what this fossil tells us, not only about evolution, but also about the news media.Īs we said, we were inundated by emails from people giving us links to a variety of Internet news sources proclaiming that Ida was the proof that men and apes have a common ancestor. This “amazing combination of monkey and lemur characteristics” proves beyond a shadow of a doubt that all the monkeys in Africa evolved from this lemur in Germany. And, upon very very very careful examination, it was discovered that one of her ankle bones looks slightly more like a monkey’s than a lemur’s. But, upon very careful examination, it was discovered that Ida is missing a grooming claw on one finger and has slightly different front teeth from a lemur. At first glance (and second glance, and third glance) the skeleton appears to be identical to a lemur. In case you missed it, here are the pure, unvarnished facts, with all the sensational speculation removed:įor two years scientists have been secretly studying an exceptionally well preserved fossil. Ida was also the subject of a two-hour special titled, The Link, on the History Channel. We really appreciate all of you keeping your eyes and ears open for evolutionary news, and sending the links to us.Īccording to these news stories, Ida was a human ancestor. This tells us more about the news media than about human evolution.įirst, let us thank all the people who sent us Internet links to news stories regarding a fossil primate named Ida (pronounced EE-duh). The Internet went crazy over the report of a new human ancestor. ![]()
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