05/20/2009 8:35 am

POV

47-Million-Year-Old Darwinius Masillae Fossil the Missing Link?

Darwinius masillae could be missing link between apes and humans.

© Getty Images

Scientists yesterday unveiled a 47-million-year-old fossil that they’re calling the "missing link" between primates and humans.

Technically called a Darwinius masillae, but nicknamed "Ida," the juvenile female primate was discovered in Germany’s Messel Pit and is one of the most intact fossils ever found. In fact, scientists were even able to identify her last meal: fruit, seeds and leaves.

Considering Ida’s remarkable physical characteristics — and estimated lifetime — researchers are convinced she proves human evolution. Jorn Hurum of Oslo’s Natural History Museum remarked, "This is the first link to all humans … The closest thing we can get to a direct ancestor."

Of course, we can’t be sure Ida’s the missing link, as Washington University’s Brian Richmond points out in National Geographic: "[Ida] is one of the important branching points on the evolutionary tree, but it’s not the only branching point."

2009_0520_Getty_Ida_Fossil.jpg
© Getty Images

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DaveSchmidt

I have some questions I’d like answered: how tall/long is it? why do it’s legs seem to be at a perpendicular angle to the vertebre? why is it’s muzzle so big?  (and, for judy’s sake,) why did we lose that tale?

I am not a believer in Evolution, and frankly I can’t see how this is anymore related to a human than a chimpanzee, which we have living along side us as a contemporary creature, not a dead ancestor.

By DaveSchmidt on 05/20/2009 11:25 am
RJBReed

Ah.  Your question is similar to asking how my grandmother is any more related to me than my cousin, who is alive with me right now.  My cousin and I are both descended from my grandmother, and thus have some genes in common that we both inherited from her.  However, we have received all of her genes.  Our children (who are second cousins) will share less genes from my grandmother and so on.

Given the changes that our species have caused in dogs by breeding for different traits, it seems weird to think that this couldn’t happen to humans due to environmental selections over 250,000 generations.

By RJBReed on 05/20/2009 6:59 pm
SteveR
At 47M years, it would probably be closer to 3M generations. Who can imagine the changes that occurred in that amount of time? The development of human societies from the Neolithic Revolution on took little more than 500-600 generations.
By SteveR on 05/21/2009 3:37 pm
Cjay

Dave, you’ll find your answers in it’s environment, how it found and consumed what foods, procreated, and survived, or didn’t. It’s all ‘there.’ Quite consistently, in fact, down though time. We, too, have adapted. Hence, we no longer need an appendix.

By Cjay on 05/21/2009 4:21 am
helenaperi

All of your questions have answers. There are some great books at the library…unless you think they’re all put there by the devil? as some ppl do… I don’t see how you don’t believe in evolution when it’s right here, all around you. That’s like saying you don’t believe in your great-great-great-great-great great grandparents. You are their evolutionary product as are your children yours. The only other reasons I can think of that people don’t believe that evolution is what brought us to this day is 1) They don’t want to…and 2) they just can’t get off the planet, out of the seat their mind sits in and really see the physical universe as it is…and 3) they just can’t comprehend the amount of time it took - 4.6 Billion years! It took that long to make me!!!!!!! :D  

13 billion if you include the age of the universe…

By helenaperi on 05/21/2009 2:45 pm
HABIBI
Dave a man after my own intellect!
By HABIBI on 05/21/2009 7:07 pm
KathleenOliver
For what it’s worth, my college physiology textbook says and illustrates that every human fetus develops a tail, although it is lost as development progresses.

As I kid I was fascinated to discover that some species of whale have hip bones.  Now a pelvis isn’t of much use except to connect legs to … but, of course, whales don’t have legs.  In fact, these whale hips aren’t connected to anything at all; they just float free out in the blubber.

Apparently the natural world abounds with vestigial parts … for reasons which (I hope) are, by now, apparent enough.

[Even DNA abounds with vestigial parts.]
By KathleenOliver on 05/22/2009 3:41 pm
laureenf
Hey Dave…we like the mans’ point of view here too! Don’t go away….
By laureenf on 05/20/2009 7:21 pm
deberB
I find all of the above posts most interesting.    There are so many different theories about how man evolved and it’s fun knowing how how people feel about it. 
By deberB on 05/20/2009 12:14 pm
unknownunknown
But what about lucy?
By unknownunknown on 05/20/2009 12:23 pm
GrammaJ
Lucy is further down the evolutionary line Ida.  Lucy moved human evolution back much further, but she was not from before the split ocurred.  At Lucy’s time, apes were already separated from humans.  She is from a much, much earlier time than had previously been established for humans, but she was not from before the apes went one way, and our ancestors went another.
By GrammaJ on 05/20/2009 2:12 pm
SlinkyBinx
This is all so interesting.  I love reading about new discoveries.  It’s fascinating whether it’s intact household from 6000BC, fossils, or space stuff—all very cool and exciting to contemplate.
By SlinkyBinx on 05/20/2009 3:39 pm
laureenf
Not too sure I’m going to take this one seriously…think I’ll wait for more digging…
By laureenf on 05/20/2009 7:23 pm
HABIBI
So wise you are Laureen! This is nothing more than a fossil of some animal, not a Human being! The only fascinating thing is the age of it, but nothing new under the sun here as we have found many archeological finds of same simularity. Flesh man did not live on the earth 47 Million years ago.
By HABIBI on 05/21/2009 1:25 pm
helenaperi

Noone said it was human, but a common ancestor…(might) be a link..and btw humans ARE animals. The thing that wouldn’t be animal if it were on earth? Angels, demons, vampires…GHOSTS!!…shapeshifters… and all that scifi stuff we love to make shows of.

The thing that seperated us from animals was teaching one another; speech…being able to communicate and organize each other…to pass on information about how to best do things from generation to generation and also to better it…technology and reorganizing the enviroment to suit us better for survival.

I’m sure everyone can add to this…

By helenaperi on 05/21/2009 2:55 pm
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