Latest Crucial Find in Anthropology

[Rissask]

I tried to add this to an old thread that was about that half-fish/half land creature 'missing link' they found, but I kept crashing Internet Explorer.
So, I had to start a new thread- for anyone interested in the latest major archaeological find.

http://tinyurl.com/f3jzx

Fossil hunters have unearthed the fossil skeleton of a toddler who died 3.3 million years ago, marking the first time scientists have discovered the nearly complete remains of a child of an ancient human ancestor.

The child, a girl who was about 3 years old when she perished in what may have been a flash flood, provides an unprecedented window into human evolution, in part because she belongs to the same species as ``Lucy," one of the most famous hominid specimens in paleontology, specialists said. That prompted some scientists to refer to the new skeleton as ``Lucy's baby," even though they estimate she lived some 150,000 years earlier. The researchers who discovered her in an Ethiopian desert named her Selam, which means peace in Ethiopian.


...
The remains also confirm how much of a hybrid these creatures were between humans and apes. They had legs like humans that enabled them to walk upright , but they had shoulders like gorillas that may have also enabled them to climb trees; their teeth seem to have grown quickly, like chimps' teeth, but their brains may have matured more slowly, like humans.

``This confirms the idea that human evolution was not some straight line going from ape to human," said Rick Potts of the Smithsonian Institution. ``The more we discover, the more we realize that different parts evolve at different times, and some of these experiments of early evolution had a combination of human-like and ape-like features."

[TeeZet]

Although in a different part of the world and probably in a different era it reminded me of Jean M. Auel's "Clan of the Cave Bear".

[Mindbender]

It may come as no surprise that many of the missing link actually live in England. They're classified as Footballhooligenus.

One missing link that will always go undiscovered is the one between purpose for existence and Paris Hilton.

[roni]

Originally Posted by TeeZet

Although in a different part of the world and probably in a different era it reminded me of Jean M. Auel's "Clan of the Cave Bear".

Good book series. Our son loved it and Kathy wanted to be Ayla I enjoyed reading the whole series as well.

[Mindbender]

The BBC's science and nature news is a daily favourite of mine, while I'm munching on my cereals...

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/default.stm

[Seakony]

Yep..I did see an artical about that...and I thought....This is gonna get Maggie all goo goo.

[Seakony]

Originally Posted by TeeZet

Although in a different part of the world and probably in a different era it reminded me of Jean M. Auel's "Clan of the Cave Bear".

I read those books too. Loved the stories but it drove me crazy how the author could write 2 pages describing a tree or something. No wonder the books were so thick.

[itsmysecondtime]

Originally Posted by Rissask

...The remains also confirm how much of a hybrid these creatures were between humans and apes. They had legs like humans that enabled them to walk upright , but they had shoulders like gorillas that may have also enabled them to climb trees; their teeth seem to have grown quickly, like chimps' teeth, but their brains may have matured more slowly, like humans...

These hominids would thus have been far more sophisticated than we've been willing to admit so far.

In effect, they appear to have been far more technologically advanced than us Twenty First Century Homo Sapiens. Furthermore, they seem to have surpassed the very ethical and moral obstacles currently constraining stem cell and cloning research.

With such hybridization processes already mastered to such extraordinary plateaus, one would actually have to concede that we may in fact have regressed quite dramatically since then.

Consider for instance the physical constituton of some of these close Lucy relatives. Legs of an athlete; shoulders of Hercules; no nonsense teeth capable of tearing through just about any tissues, and evidently less susceptible to periodontal or dental decay, not to mention a more expeditious growth process, indicating fewer and less painful dental stages.

Ultimately they opted for a slower rate of maturing of the cerebral functions responsible for engaging in conflict, including emphasis upon the controlled engagement of religious superstition so as to minimize the erosion of such positive values as peaceful coexistence and intercourse with the 'other.'

My question is why are we still illuding ourselves with the myth of linear, and progressive evolution?

[Pok-a-tok]

The remains also confirm how much of a hybrid these creatures were between humans and apes

I'm just questioning the terminology here...

Hybrids?

They were, at that time, mammals in a certain stage in it's evolution, adapting to it's current environment..Must there be a certain 'shift' between gorillas/chimps-erectus-sapiens? We are they and they were us...at different points in time...No?

Am I a hybrid between a cro-magnon and a....uuum...humanoid?

I just don't like this name-calling...but I guess that's what science is about!

[StewartG]

Originally Posted by Rissask

I tried to add this to an old thread that was about that half-fish/half land creature 'missing link' they found, but I kept crashing Internet Explorer.
So, I had to start a new thread- for anyone interested in the latest major archaeological find.

http://tinyurl.com/f3jzx

Hey, heretic. Those "fossils" they found were planted in the earth as "decoration" 3287 years ago when the FSM created this meatbally earth of ours.

Quit spreading your heresy or I'll declare a pastajihad on you!



Seriously, interesting information. VERY interesting find!!! Thanks for the link!

[Icon oclast]

Originally Posted by itsmysecondtime

These hominids would thus have been far more sophisticated than we've been willing to admit so far.

In effect, they appear to have been far more technologically advanced than us Twenty First Century Homo Sapiens. Furthermore, they seem to have surpassed the very ethical and moral obstacles currently constraining stem cell and cloning research.

With such hybridization processes already mastered to such extraordinary plateaus, one would actually have to concede that we may in fact have regressed quite dramatically since then.

Consider for instance the physical constituton of some of these close Lucy relatives. Legs of an athlete; shoulders of Hercules; no nonsense teeth capable of tearing through just about any tissues, and evidently less susceptible to periodontal or dental decay, not to mention a more expeditious growth process, indicating fewer and less painful dental stages.

Ultimately they opted for a slower rate of maturing of the cerebral functions responsible for engaging in conflict, including emphasis upon the controlled engagement of religious superstition so as to minimize the erosion of such positive values as peaceful coexistence and intercourse with the 'other.'

My question is why are we still illuding ourselves with the myth of linear, and progressive evolution?

And the best part is that they probably communicated much more effectively with grunts and gestures versus the endless painful meanderings of those that love to hear their own voices and can drone on endlessly and wordily for many paragraphs about the history and efficacy of a bowel movement.

[Rissask]

Footballhooligenus

Those rowdy soccer fans!

Good book series. Our son loved it and Kathy wanted to be Ayla I enjoyed reading the whole series as well.

I used to want to be Ayla too. Her and Jondalar had such a great sex life!

There were thick, weren't they Rita? She was pretty descriptive. Not really accurate, but descriptive!

And the best part is that they probably communicated much more effectively with grunts and gestures versus the endless painful meanderings of those that love to hear their own voices and can drone on endlessly and wordily for many paragraphs about the history and efficacy of a bowel movement.

Have we evolved to the point of too much introspection and futile ponderings of our own meaning and worth? Probably.
But man, I am sure glad I live now and not then! Central heating and air travel and Godiva chocolates.

Hey, heretic. Those "fossils" they found were planted in the earth as "decoration" 3287 years ago when the FSM created this meatbally earth of ours.

Quit spreading your heresy or I'll declare a pastajihad on you!

Pastajihad. You goofball. Yeah, I know, they are just planted by the devil to stray us from the path. But still interesting!

[Mindbender]

... Central heating [/quote]

What is central heating? Mindbender not know this thing.

Is fiery ball in sky, God and life giver?

[Rissask]

Central heating

What is central heating? Mindbender not know this thing.

Is fiery ball in sky, God and life giver?

Fire, heap big fire, make house cozy and warm, MindBender.

Fiery ball in sky, only do much, during long cold Saskatchewan winters.

[Mindbender]

Not now BC, our new God is AC.