Please Register or Log in to view the hidden image!A unique and ancient fossil has been discovered that is the most complete primate fossil ever found and is 47 million years old. It is the link between the two branches of primates (lemurs on the one side; apes, monkeys and humans on the other). The fossil, ironically, had been hanging on the wall of an amateur fossil hunter for over 20 years! http://news.sky.com/skynews/Home/Wo...Lemur_Monkey_Hailed_As_Mans_Earliest_Ancestor
It's almost too good to be true. Are you sure it isn't a hoax ? Please Register or Log in to view the hidden image! I haven't heard about on the news or anything.
Wait, I thought the missing link was the one between cro-magnon and humans, not just a monkey primate.
There's no missing link between Cro-magnon and human. Cro-magnons were human. Cro-magnon is simply a term used to describe a group of early modern humans that lived in Europe. If one were sitting next to you on the bus, you wouldn't look twice at him. A 2003 study on Cro-Magnon and Neanderthal mitochondrial DNA, published by an Italo-Spanish research team led by David Caramelli, concluded that Neanderthals were far outside the modern human range, while Cro-Magnons were well in the average of modern Europeans. MtDNA retrieved from two Cro-Magnon specimens was identified as Haplogroup N.[10] Haplogroup N is found among modern populations of the Middle East, North Africa and Central Asia, and its descendant haplogroups are found among modern Eurasian and Native American populations.[11] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cro-Magnon
Thank you for posting that. It's one of my biggest pet peeves. Please Register or Log in to view the hidden image!
There apparently is going to be a 2 hour special on this discovery on the History Channel Monday May 25th at 9pm I think. They are calling it the biggest discovery in 44 million years ! They have exlcusive interviews with the scientific team working with the fossil.
I didn't realize it was so tiny. Was its fur fossilized as well? (dark shadow around it) Please Register or Log in to view the hidden image!
I read in other articles that impressions of its fur, internal organs and even its last meal (fruit, seeds and leaves) were left. As for the collector, the private collector sold it to a dealer. The dealer then sold it to the scientist in question for $1 million. The scientist then named the fossil after his daughter. At least that is how I read this article.
It was sold for a million dollars, way above the typical amount. And yes, there is a fur shadow captured there. (You're so curious, Orleander, I think you are among those here that are most interested in actual sciency stuff!).
