Missing evolutionary link discovered

[Losonti Tokash]

SKY

Scientists have unveiled a 47-million-year-old fossilised skeleton of a monkey hailed as the missing link in human evolution.

Fossil

This 95%-complete 'lemur monkey' is described as the "eighth wonder of the world"

The search for a direct connection between humans and the rest of the animal kingdom has taken 200 years - but it was presented to the world today at a special news conference in New York.

The discovery of the 95%-complete 'lemur monkey' - dubbed Ida - is described by experts as the "eighth wonder of the world".

They say its impact on the world of palaeontology will be "somewhat like an asteroid falling down to Earth".

Researchers say proof of this transitional species finally confirms Charles Darwin's theory of evolution, and the then radical, outlandish ideas he came up with during his time aboard the Beagle.

Sir David Attenborough said Darwin "would have been thrilled" to have seen the fossil - and says it tells us who we are and where we came from.

Pictures From Atlantic Productions

"This little creature is going to show us our connection with the rest of the mammals," he said.

"This is the one that connects us directly with them.

"Now people can say 'okay we are primates, show us the link'.

"The link they would have said up to now is missing - well it's no longer missing."

A team of the world's leading fossil experts, led by Professor Jorn Hurum, of Norway's National History Museum, have been secretly researching the 1ft 9in-tall young female monkey for the past two years.

And now it has been transported to New York under high security and unveiled to the world during the bicentenary of Darwin's birth.

Charles Darwin

Darwin caused storm with his theory

Later this month, it will be exhibited for one day only at the Natural History Museum in London before being returned to Oslo.

Scientists say Ida - squashed to the thickness of a beer mat by the immense passage of time - is the most complete primate fossil ever found.

With her human-like nails instead of claws, and opposable big toes, she is placed at the very root of human evolution when early primates first developed features that would eventually develop into our own.

Another important discovery is the shape of the talus bone in her foot, which humans still have in their feet millions of lifetimes later.

Ida was unearthed by an amateur fossil-hunter some 25 years ago in Messel pit, an ancient crater lake near Frankfurt, Germany, famous for its fossils.

This fossil is really a part of our history; this is part of our evolution, deep, deep back into the aeons of time, 47 million years ago.

Fossil expert Professor Jorn Hurum

She was cleaned and set in polyester resin - and incredibly, was hung on a mystery German collector's wall for 20 years.

Sky News sources say the owner had no idea of the unique fossil's significance and simply admired it like a cherished Van Gogh or Picasso painting.

But in 2006, Ida came into the hands of private dealer Thomas Perner, who presented her to Prof Hurum at the annual Hamburg Fossil and Mineral Fair in Germany - a centre for the murky world of fossil-trading.

Prof Hurum said when he first saw the blueprint for evolution - the "most beautiful fossil worldwide" - he could not sleep for two days.

A home movie records the dramatic moment.

"This is really something that the world has never seen before, this is a unique specimen, totally unique," he says, clearly emotional.

The missing link fossil

X-ray of Ida's badly fractured left wrist

He says he knew she should be saved for science rather than end up hidden from the world in a wealthy private collector's vault.

But the dealer's asking price was more than $1 million (£660,000) - ten times the amount even the rarest of fossils fetch on the black market.

Eventually, after six months of negotiations, he managed to raise the cash in Norway and brought Ida to Oslo.

Attenborough: The Link Is No Longer Missing

Prof Hurum - who last summer dug up the fossil remains of a 50ft marine monster called Predator X from the permafrost on Svalbard, a Norwegian island close to the North Pole - then assembled a "dream team" of experts who worked in secret for two years.

They included palaeontologist Dr Jens Franzen, Dr Holly Smith, of the University of Michigan, and Philip Gingerich, president-elect of the US Paleontological Society.

Researchers could prove the fossil was genuine through X-rays, knowing it is impossible to fake the inner structure of a bone.

Through radiometric dating of Messel's volcanic rocks, they discovered Ida lived 47 million years ago in the Eocene period.

This was when tropical forests stretched right to the poles, and South America was still drifting and had yet to make contact with North America.

During that period, the first whales, horses, bats and monkeys emerged, and the early primates branched into two groups - one group lived on mainly as lemurs, and the second developed into monkeys, apes and humans.

The experts concluded Ida was not simply a lemur but a 'lemur monkey', displaying a mixture of both groups, and therefore putting her at the very branch of the human line.

This little creature is going to show us our connection with the rest of the mammals. This is the one that connects us directly with them.

Sir David Attenborough

"When Darwin published his On the Origin of Species in 1859, he said a lot about transitional species," said Prof Hurum

"...and he said that will never be found, a transitional species, and his whole theory will be wrong, so he would be really happy to live today when we publish Ida.

"This fossil is really a part of our history; this is part of our evolution, deep, deep back into the aeons of time, 47 million years ago.

"It's part of our evolution that's been hidden so far, it's been hidden because all the other specimens are so incomplete.

"They are so broken there's almost nothing to study and now this wonderful fossil appears and it makes the story so much easier to tell, so it's really a dream come true."

Up until now, the most famous fossil primate in the world has been Lucy, a 3.18-million-year-old hominid found in Ethiopia in 1974.

She was then our earliest known ancestor, and only 40% complete.

Descended from the apes! My dear, let us hope that it is not true, but if it is, let us pray that it will not become generally known.

Bishop of Worcester's wife to Charles Darwin

But at 95% complete, Ida was so well preserved in the mud at the bottom of the volcanic lake, there is even evidence of her fur shadow and remains of her last meal.

From this they concluded she was a leaf and fruit eater, and probably lived in the trees around the lake.

The absence of a bacculum (penis bone) confirmed she was female, and her milk teeth put her age at about nine-months-old - in maturity, equivalent to a six-year-old human child.

This was the same age as Prof Hurum's daughter Ida, and he named the fossil after her.

The study is being published and put online by the Public Library of Science, a leading academic journal with offices in Britain and the US.

Dr Hurum also found Predator X

Co-author of the scientific paper, Prof Gingerich, likens its importance to the discovery of the Rosetta Stone, an ancient Egyptian artefact found in 1799, which allowed us to decipher hieroglyphic writing.

One clue to Ida's fate - and her remarkable preservation as our oldest ancestor - was her badly fractured left wrist.

The team believes this stopped her from climbing and she had to emerge from the trees to drink water from the 250-metre-deep lake.

They think she was overcome by carbon dioxide gas from the crater, and sunk to the bottom where she was preserved in the mud as a time capsule - and a snapshot of evolution.

But amazingly this final piece of Darwin's jigsaw was almost lost to science when German authorities tried to turn Messel into a massive landfill rubbish dump.

Eventually, after campaigning by Dr Franzen, the plans were rejected and the fossil-rich lake was designated a World Heritage Site.

But no doubt there would have been one person happy for the missing link to have remained hidden.

When Darwin famously told the Bishop of Worcester's wife about his theory of evolution, she remarked: "Descended from the apes! My dear, let us hope that it is not true, but if it is, let us pray that it will not become generally known."

Now, it certainly is.

To be honest, I think the most amazing thing about this (beyond the obvious) is how complete the fossil was, in addition to the fact that it was just sitting in some guy's house for over 25 years.

[Crossroads Inc.]

How much has this been authenticated? I would hate to have such an amazing discovery turn into another Putmin Man 'discovery'

[Lonestar]

How much has this been authenticated? I would hate to have such an amazing discovery turn into another Putmin Man 'discovery'

That's okay, the evolutionists won't be able to explain the TWO NEW GAPS that have just opened up on either side of this so-called "transitional fossil".

[Mr Bean]

I... ugghhh
Did Sky fire all of it's scientific correspondents? Seriously who the fuck wrote this?
Alex Watts?

Ok lets look Mr Watts up..
Ok... can't find anything on him except the fact he's an online producer and worst of all a correspondent. He's not their science writer as per their bio page Sky News does not even have a science writer.

Lovely
I don't even know where to begin with Alex's piece here but I'll call two points forward is that one this is not the missing link that the media generally refers to, those have long since found. Which is the missing link between man and his ape ancestors. This is the link between mammals and general and primates. Perhaps she is the common ancestors all primates share however it is unlikely, she still seems higher up the tree than that so to speak.

Second is the fact his "reporting" largely consists of repeating verbatim the claims of these researchers, and all the damn warning signs are there, found by an amateur who preserved her quite well, left somewhere for twenty years and then purchased for an obscene amount of money and the showmanship.

I hope this story is true but every thing about it screams that it's not yet been reviewed by the scientific community at large and that the scientists went right to the media instead of right to peer review, another troubling indicator.

[Darth Wong]

The writing screams of ignorance. This "finally confirms" the theory of evolution? As if it was not confirmed before this? Who wrote this garbage?

[Mr Bean]

The writing screams of ignorance. This "finally confirms" the theory of evolution? As if it was not confirmed before this? Who wrote this garbage?

Alex Watts Online.. Correspondent
And I assume international man of mystery since both of his job titles and tiny bio's list only the fact he's a long time "Online" something. I'm convinced at this point if he has a degree, it's not related to science.

Or journalism for that matter.

[Patrick Degan]

Eat it, creatinists:

Missing link’ likely to stir debate
Scientists announce 47 million-year-old find amid media hoopla
LiveScience
updated 7:06 p.m. CT, Tues., May 19, 2009

A discovery of a 47 million-year-old fossil primate that is said to be a human ancestor was announced and unveiled Tuesday at a press conference in New York City.

Known as "Ida," the nearly complete transitional fossil is 20 times older than most fossils that provide evidence for human evolution.

It shows characteristics from the very primitive non-human evolutionary line (prosimians, such as lemurs), but is more related to the human evolutionary line (anthropoids, such as monkeys, apes and humans), said Norwegian paleontologist Jørn Hurum of the University of Oslo Natural History Museum. However, she is not really an anthropoid either, he said.

The fossil, called Darwinius masillae and said to be a female, provides the most complete understanding of the paleobiology of any primate so far discovered from the Eocene Epoch, Hurum said. An analysis of the fossil mammal is detailed Tuesday in the journal PLoS ONE.

"This is the first link to all humans ... truly a fossil that links world heritage," Hurum said.

Here is some context for the age of the new primate fossil: Anatomically modern humans (Homo sapiens) first emerged about 200,000 years ago, but early humans such as Australopithecus afarensis and Australopithecus anamensis reach back 3 million to 4 million years ago or even earlier. Humans are thought to have split off from a group that includes chimpanzees and gorillas about 6 million years ago. And a group that includes all the great apes (including us) and Old World monkeys (called simians or anthropoids) diverged from New World monkeys in the Eocene, just after the time of Ida. So our primate roots reach back to this time.

History of discovery
For the past two years, an international team of scientists led by Hurum has conducted a detailed forensic analysis of the fossil.

The fossil was apparently discovered in 1983 by private collectors who split and eventually sold two parts of the skeleton on separate plates: The lesser part was restored and, in the process, partly fabricated to make it look more complete.

This part was purchased for a private museum in Wyoming, and then described by Jens L. Franzen, part of Hurum's team, who recognized the fabrication. The more complete part has just come to light, and it now belongs to the Natural History Museum of the University of Oslo.

Ida was preserved in Germany’s Messel Pit, a mile-wide crater containing oil-rich shale that is a significant site for fossils of the Eocene Epoch. Opposable big toes and nail-bearing tips on the fingers and toes confirm that the fossil is a primate, and a foot bone called the talus bone links Ida directly to humans, Hurum said.

The fossil also preserved the primate's gut contents, including fruits, seeds and leaves. X-rays reveal both baby and adult teeth, plus the lack of a "toothcomb" or a "grooming claw," which is an attribute of lemurs (which are also primates, like us, but are considered more primitive and part of a family different from great apes and us).

The scientists estimate that Ida was about 9 months old at death, and measured about 3 feet in length. Her forward-facing eyes are like ours — which would have enabled her fields of vision to overlap, allowing 3-D vision and an ability to judge distance. She was probably nocturnal, Hurum and his colleagues say.

Death scenario
Ida lived at a time when mammals were evolving quickly on a planet that was basically a vast jungle. Early horses, bats, whales and many other creatures, including the first primates, thrived at this time when the climate was subtropical. The Himalayas were being formed.

X-rays reveal that a broken wrist may have contributed to Ida’s death — her left wrist was healing from a bad fracture, Hurum said.

She could have been overcome by carbon dioxide gas while drinking from the Messel lake: the still waters of the lake were often covered by a low-lying blanket of the gas as a result of the volcanic forces that formed the lake and which were still active.

Hampered by her broken wrist, Ida possibly slipped into unconsciousness, was washed into the lake and sunk to the bottom, where the unique conditions preserved her for 47 million years, Hurum said.

A replica of Ida will go on display later this week at the American Museum of Natural History's new "Extreme Mammals" exhibition. A book and a TV documentary, both titled "The Link," have been timed for release to coincide with the publication of the research.

Dozens of reporters swarmed to the museum for Tuesday's announcement at the museum, where even New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg was on hand to extol the discovery. The fossilized creature lay on its side, suspended in a block of amber-colored material sitting in a brightly lit specimen case.

Before Tuesday's event, the fossil was shrouded in secrecy, and its unveiling unfolded more like a Hollywood production than a scientific discovery. When asked if the publicity was overdone, Hurum said he didn't think so.

"That's part of getting science out to the public to get attention," he said. "I don't think that's so wrong."

This report was supplemented by msnbc.com. LiveScience provides further coverage of the celebrity treatment surrounding the fossil.

© 2009 LiveScience.com. All rights reserved.

© 2009 MSNBC.com

Link to the website with the full dissertation. A downloadable .pdf link is also provided.

[Darth Yoshi]

Already posted, although at first glance your source is definitely better.

[Tolya]

Putting Mr. Watts obvious ignorance, today's journalism isn't about news reporting but rather than reporting news. If it doesn't have a big flashy headline then the editor will just dump it somewhere near the garbage can at best.

Of course, it's no excuse for poor science skills, but especially TV & Internet journalism prefers quantity and flashiness over quality.

[Tolya]

Putting aside Mr. Watts obvious ignorance, today's journalism isn't about news reporting but rather than reporting news. If it doesn't have a big flashy headline then the editor will just dump it somewhere near the garbage can at best.

Of course, it's no excuse for poor science skills, but especially TV & Internet journalism prefers quantity and flashiness over quality.

Ghetto edit: Argh, stupid omission mistake.

[Medic]

I like these stories inasmuch as they bring the crazies out of the woodworks:
http://blog.ted.com/2009/05/darwin_validate.php

The blog itself is just a short summation which isn't as over-the-top as this article:

What makes Ida so special is that despite her classification as an early prosimian (lemurs), she has certain undeniable human characteristics such as forward facing eyes and even an opposable thumb.

Which is short and to the point. I love the comments though:

Is this really a 'missing link' or is this just another plain species of monkeys that have gone extinct? What proof do they have of it being 46 million years old? Maybe we're all just too naive and believe whatever scientists claim because they're suppose to be 'educated' and 'know' things. Also, I agree with a part of what Zen Faulkes had to say. He said, "The "Darwin validated" headline makes it sound like evolutionary biologists were waiting for this one fossil to prove that evolution is true -- which is not the case. " The words "Darwin validated" makes it sound like they've been waiting a long time for just this fossil to show up so that the Darwinists could laugh and say, "We were a part of the animal kingdom afterall! We're nothing but animals that have evolved over millions and billions of years!" Shouldn't the other aspects be considered? What if that fossil is nothing but a fake, just like all the hoaxs that were suppose to support evolution from the past? Think about it.

Worthless appeal to incredulity combined with derisive "quoting" as if it strengthens his argument beyond the baseless, unattributed slander it is and of course, the time-honored plea to 'think about it' to make himself just look the part of arbiter of rationality. I mean seriously, what did he say? The headline makes it sound dumb, everything else is just cheap jabs and fluff.

Wow! What a terrible headline. This discovery helps to support evolution, not validate it. I would also like to add that this discovery helps to support the existence of God, the creator of evolution.

Really... wtf. That just sounds weird, if not outright wrong. It's beliefs like this (that something as passive as evolution by natural selection could be called "created") that Hitchens' argues against when he says "so we're just supposed to believe that for several hundred thousand years, man was born, led a short, nasty brutish life and died before 30 (we're talking anatomically modern human beings) before god started to care" or give a fuck. Yes, man wasn't man until about, what, 2000 B.C.? All before then, and before most civilization god just dispassionately watched from the sidelines before deciding to throw jesus on our penis? Army recruiters are more believable.

Key words like "Darwin" and "Missing Link" really prime the hype pump and bring the nutters out of the woodwork. Surely sane debate and rational science occur sans hype, so other agendas must be being served. Enjoy the circus.

I actually didn't even read this before beginning this post.

The fossil discovery is fascinating but calling it a missing link or 'darwin validated' is very premature. There is plenty of evidence to be collected before a solid statement can be made.

All that hula balo makes me feel that the book and the documentary is more important to them.

While this is just an appeal to motive (which might just as well be true; I don't care) ... there isn't exactly a dearth of evidence in favor of natural selection, just an inability to get that fact out to the public to ignorant fools like this guy.

The timing is eerie. I have just today been learning about NASA's Project Bluebeam. All part of the NWO,. Phase 1 is a major archaelogical find that shakes the foundations of religion. My whole life I have been a staunch Darwinist, but after researching The New World Order and Project Bluebeam, I am not so sure.... check it out for yuorselves

Right.

Circus indeed.

[Losonti Tokash]

The writing screams of ignorance. This "finally confirms" the theory of evolution? As if it was not confirmed before this? Who wrote this garbage?

Well yeah, I rolled my eyes more than a few times while reading it, but the fossil itself is such a cool discovery and I was too lazy to come up with a better thread title.

[Patrick Degan]

Perhaps the two threads can be merged.

[TheManWithNoName]

I just noticed this, but this is on the front page of Google...

[Surlethe]

Merging ... now.

[Vendetta]

Who wrote this garbage?

A journalist, with no formal science education beyond secondary school, at the behest of editors with no interest in the subject but with a distinct interest in attracting readers/viewers/page hits.

Science journalism is shit. Don't be surprised or shocked about that.

[Eris]

You fools! Don't you realise the world shattering significance of the discovery of THE MISSING LINK?

Yesterday, the entire world changed noticeably as the media, accompanied by some scientists, unveiled a stunning fossilised primate. The creature has been named Darwinius masillae, but also goes by Ida, the Link, the Chosen One and She Who Will Save Us All.

The new fossil is remarkably complete and well-preserved, although the media glossed over these facts in favour of the creature's ability to cure swine flu. Ida was hailed as a "missing link" in human evolution, beautifully illustrating our transition from leaping about in trees to rampant mass-media sensationalism.

Speaking to a group of international reporters, the scientists who discovered Ida described the animal in painstaking detail to the sound of Wagner's Ride of the Valkyries played from 50-foot speakers. As a barrage of fireworks launched in the background, one journalist said, "The release of 30 doves just at the right moment really helped to drive home the unique paleoecological perspective that Ida provides."

Evolutionary biologist Stephen Wilton added, "Ida has been waiting for us for 47 million years so I'm grateful that the publication of the paper wasn't rushed and that the whole thing didn't turn into some sort of media circus. You never know when that might happen."

Businesses around the world are also hoping that demand for Ida merchandise will stimulate an ailing global economy out of recession. Retailer Bud Hornblower said, "We're seeing a massive spike in demand for fainting couches as ordinary lay people fail to cope with the total change brought on by this small, weird-lookin' monkey thing."

Scientists and people who actually know a thing or two about evolution warned of hype and exaggeration but were forced to abandon their reason and critical analysis in the face of incontrovertible speculation that Ida could convert base metals into gold and has already led to the invention of flying cars.

"I didn't believe it at first," said Professor Adam Templesmith from the University of Slough. "When I read the press release about a fossil that would change everything, I naturally assumed that it was some sort of poorly conceived and overly exaggerated PR claim. But now that the total reversal of climate change is underway, I'm forced to reconsider my prejudices."

Already the star of her own website, book and documentary, little Ida will soon have her own action figure, underwear range, three-album deal and seat in Parliament. "Ida's brand is a hot as Obama's right now," said Don Chumleigh, market analyst. "I'm just sad that her fossilised hand isn't doing that fist-bump thing."

Recreated through CGI, Ida is also set to play a pivotal role in the climax of the new Harry Potter film, where she will be voiced by Keira Knightley and wield a powerful 'Changus Totalus' spell. Special effects will also be used to insert Ida into previous seasons of the Wire and past G8 summits.

Around the world, signs that everything has changed have already begun to appear. Jeanette Gould from Stoke-on-Trent was shocked to discover the outline of Darwinius emblazoned on her morning toast. "Well, it ruined breakfast," said Ms Gould, failing to appreciate the detail of the creature's stomach contents outlined in bread crumbs. "I couldn't very well spread raspberry jam over the direct ancestor of my children, could I?"

[HamsterViking]

I'm watching the History Channel special on this fossil at my dad's place now. My dad and fiance are getting mad at me for arguing at the TV, but I suspect that you guys are going to be a bit more receptive to my complaints. This show is really over-simplifying how evolution works. It's bothering me because it gives an incomplete and potentially incorrect view on evolution. I understand that they need to simplify things or people who don't understand - I'm sure there are PLENTY of things in the show I wouldn't have understood without simplification, but when they just dumb it down they can give people completely wrong impressions. Aren't nearly all fossils "transitional fossils" because all creatures are constantly developing from one generation to the next? This show makes transitional species look like the exception rather than the rule, as if the development of creatures was nearly always static.

[DPDarkPrimus]

What do you expect from the Hitler Channel?

[PeZook]

What do you expect from the Hitler Channel?

I'm afraid to ask...

Hitler Channel?

[Zac Naloen]

I think it refers to the over abundance of WW2 shows on that channel.

[Dooey Jo]

This show makes transitional species look like the exception rather than the rule, as if the development of creatures was nearly always static.

Species do remain fairly static for most of their existence. This is (among other things) because a large population tends to drown out any drastic variations, while such changes can propagate much more quickly through small populations. That's why we usually find several fossils from one species, and several from its ancestor, but not many from the "transitional" period in-between them, because it was a geologically short period and the population was most likely rather small.

Note that these transitional fossils have nothing to do with creationists' delusions about transitional fossils.

[Superman]

I wish journalists would stop using the term "link." I recently explained to an uncle of mine, one who is totally fascinated by evolutionary biology but doesn't know jack about it, that evolution works through populations, not individual "links." Ignorant people tend to see headlines like these and assume that a monkey gave birth at some point to an individual that also just happened to be an entirely new species. Most don't seem to understand that this was probably a member of a transitional species, not some super mutant that later evolved into a human.

As for the original article, I guess the author has never heard of Turkana Boy, Lucy, or any other hominid that clearly shows how humans evolved.

[Mr Bean]

What do you expect from the Hitler Channel?

I'm afraid to ask...

Hitler Channel?

It refers to the fact your average day of History Channel programing used to contain 10% Hitler Biography's, 20% History of World War II and 20% Nazi History. They did this for about a solid two years giving them the nickname the "Hitler channel" All Hitler all the time! Because 8 hours of every 24 hours of programing would World War II related, and there would be 8 more hours of repeat's of that program(In case you wanted your Hitler news in the morning or evening you know)

They have improved since then but Hitler related programing does make up a good two hours of every day's programs.

[Nephtys]

What do you expect from the Hitler Channel?

I'm afraid to ask...

Hitler Channel?

It refers to the fact your average day of History Channel programing used to contain 10% Hitler Biography's, 20% History of World War II and 20% Nazi History. They did this for about a solid two years giving them the nickname the "Hitler channel" All Hitler all the time! Because 8 hours of every 24 hours of programing would World War II related, and there would be 8 more hours of repeat's of that program(In case you wanted your Hitler news in the morning or evening you know)

They have improved since then but Hitler related programing does make up a good two hours of every day's programs.

Instead of Hitler related programming, it's now shows about hunting ghosts (not to be confused with busting them), and the potential secrets that could be held in a code inserted by Picasso into the King James edition of the Liverpool phonebook. Oh, and the adventures of EXTREME TRUCKERS. I don't think that's an improvement.