"Ardi" Humanity's Oldest Ancestor

Discovery of New Hominid Skeleton Displaces Lucy As Earliest Precursor to Humankind

(AP)  The story of humankind is reaching back another million years as scientists learn more about "Ardi," a hominid who lived 4.4 million years ago in what is now Ethiopia.

The 110-pound, 4-foot female roamed forests a million years before the famous Lucy, long studied as the earliest skeleton of a human ancestor.

This older skeleton reverses the common wisdom of human evolution, said anthropologist C. Owen Lovejoy of Kent State University.

Rather than humans evolving from an ancient chimp-like creature, the new find provides evidence that chimps and humans evolved from some long-ago common ancestor - but each evolved and changed separately along the way.

"This is not that common ancestor, but it's the closest we have ever been able to come," said Tim White, director of the Human Evolution Research Center at the University of California, Berkeley.

The lines that evolved into modern humans and living apes probably shared an ancestor 6 million to 7 million years ago, White said in a telephone interview.

But Ardi has many traits that do not appear in modern-day African apes, leading to the conclusion that the apes evolved extensively since we shared that last common ancestor.

A study of Ardi, under way since the first bones were discovered in 1994, indicates the species lived in the woodlands and could climb on all fours along tree branches, but the development of their arms and legs indicates they didn't spend much time in the trees. And they could walk upright, on two legs, when on the ground.

Formally dubbed Ardipithecus ramidus - which means root of the ground ape - the find is detailed in 11 research papers published Thursday by the journal Science.

"This is one of the most important discoveries for the study of human evolution," said David Pilbeam, curator of paleoanthropology at Harvard's Peabody Museum of Archaeology and Ethnology.

"It is relatively complete in that it preserves head, hands, feet and some critical parts in between. It represents a genus plausibly ancestral to Australopithecus - itself ancestral to our genus Homo," said Pilbeam, who was not part of the research teams.

Scientists assembled the skeleton from 125 pieces.

Lucy, also found in Africa, thrived a million years after Ardi and was of the more human-like genus Australopithecus.

"In Ardipithecus we have an unspecialized form that hasn't evolved very far in the direction of Australopithecus. So when you go from head to toe, you're seeing a mosaic creature that is neither chimpanzee, nor is it human. It is Ardipithecus," said White.

White noted that Charles Darwin, whose research in the 19th century paved the way for the science of evolution, was cautious about the last common ancestor between humans and apes.

"Darwin said we have to be really careful. The only way we're really going to know what this last common ancestor looked like is to go and find it. Well, at 4.4 million years ago we found something pretty close to it," White said. "And, just like Darwin appreciated, evolution of the ape lineages and the human lineage has been going on independently since the time those lines split, since that last common ancestor we shared."

Some details about Ardi in the collection of papers:

• Ardi was found in Ethiopia's Afar Rift, where many fossils of ancient plants and animals have been discovered. Findings near the skeleton indicate that at the time it was a wooded environment. Fossils of 29 species of birds and 20 species of small mammals were found at the site.

• Geologist Giday Wolde Gabriel of Los Alamos National Laboratory was able to use volcanic layers above and below the fossil to date it to 4.4 million years ago.

• Ardi's upper canine teeth are more like the stubby ones of modern humans than the long, sharp, pointed ones of male chimpanzees and most other primates. An analysis of the tooth enamel suggests a diverse diet, including fruit and other woodland-based foods such as nuts and leaves.

• Paleoanthropologist Gen Suwa of the University of Tokyo reported that Ardi's face had a projecting muzzle, giving her an ape-like appearance. But it didn't thrust forward quite as much as the lower faces of modern African apes do. Some features of her skull, such as the ridge above the eye socket, are quite different from those of chimpanzees. The details of the bottom of the skull, where nerves and blood vessels enter the brain, indicate that Ardi's brain was positioned in a way similar to modern humans, possibly suggesting that the hominid brain may have been already poised to expand areas involving aspects of visual and spatial perception.

• Ardi's hand and wrist were a mix of primitive traits and a few new ones, but they don't include the hallmark traits of the modern tree-hanging, knuckle-walking chimps and gorillas. She had relatively short palms and fingers which were flexible, allowing her to support her body weight on her palms while moving along tree branches, but she had to be a careful climber because she lacked the anatomical features that allow modern-day African apes to swing, hang and easily move through the trees.

• The pelvis and hip show the gluteal muscles were positioned so she could walk upright.

• Her feet were rigid enough for walking but still had a grasping big toe for use in climbing.

The research was funded by the National Science Foundation, the Institute of Geophysics and Planetary Physics of the University of California, Los Alamos National Laboratory, the Japan Society for the Promotion of Science and others.

[brinkly]

i agree with rrously and also would like to say,the ape foot in some scientist mouths has said there is no god and thank god that jesus walked upright just in time to carry the cross,oh,i guess the scientist still haven't found his fossils....thank you a fan of brinkly and chet

[helron]

hower4- I understand what evolutionists are saying. In this article it says this find "reverses the common wisdom" of "scientists". Doesn't that mean they were wrong? Before this find they (scientists) were pretty sure of their wisdom. Now not so much then, eh? Sorry for your anger.

[hower4]

helron - No, you quite obviously don't have a clue about how evolution works, otherwise you wouldn't say "a cat is a cat". No doubt you also think "a finch is a finch"....... and you don't have a clue what I'm talking about, do you?

I'm not angry. I'm just stating a fact - YOU ARE AN IDIOT..... though of course there is a margin of error. You might actually be a moron.

...... and scientists being PRETTY sure of their wisdom is exactly the point! Do you STILL not understand that?

[Sloughfoot]

Let us see the assembled bones? How much or how many bone fragments have been located that all these experts are making these outlandish claims about. And for "Anthropoligists" to be making cultural and social claims about animal life some 4.4 million years ago leaves little for one to accept with more then amusement.

[helron]

Hower4- I'm not religious at all. I just don't listen to these pseudo-intellectuals every time they want to toot their own horn. Why are there always parts missing? Is it possible they're wrong? Is it possible your "range of error" might include the whole idea of what evolution is? Life changes there is no doubt. However, a cat is a cat, a dog is a dog, birds are birds, etc. There are variations in species, but to say we all come from a single organism based on the finding of an odd partial skeleton is nuts. Also, I wonder in what stages of evolving were the other animals found with uncle Ardi? They didnt comment on that.

[hower4]

helron - You might at least take the trouble to find out what evolution is about before you start criticising it! You are an idiot!

[Dav_Victor]

I wish people would look at the evidence instead of arguing opinion.
Here are the hand bones or an Orangutan: http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Bone_hand_orangutan.svg They compare very nicely with this Ardi find -- you might check out other sites for the pictures of Ardi's hand bones. Notice the similarities. O's are "Apes" that hang from trees "Uprightly", and they are not a missing link. This find is nothing more than a farse to push forward an agenda and gain additional research monies. My goodness, for those of you who argue for evolution you all seem rather dim when it comes to rationally looking at the evidence. Evolution is a THEORY, not a fact. There is no proof, it's all conjecture. Millions of times a day tests are run in this country disproving evolution. I theory all you need is the right building blocks such as protiens and given enough time and randomization the theory says that new life will form. Well, every time you open a jar of peanut butter do you look for the new life form come crawling out? Or do you see it from that can of corn you opened for dinner last night? -- No. Evolution is NOT fact, it's a theory that's has no supporting facts other than some life forms on this planet appear similar. But things that LOOK similar does NOT prove they are linked in any way. And here we look at a ROCK that once was a bone (Evidence re-fashioned by minerals) and make broad claims -- and then bicker about it. All because some scientists wants a name for himself and to draw in funds to support his continued research; which is biased.

[ibzjem]

Look up what a scientific theory means. While your at it look up the definitions to the following as well...
evolution
science
religion
evidence

You don't get to make up your own definitions.

[Dav_Victor]

Use Theory in a Sentence
See web results for Theory
See images of Theory
?noun, plural -ries.
1. a coherent group of general propositions used as principles of explanation for a class of phenomena: Einstein's theory of relativity.
2. a proposed explanation whose status is still conjectural, in contrast to well-established propositions that are regarded as reporting matters of actual fact.
3. Mathematics. a body of principles, theorems, or the like, belonging to one subject: number theory.
4. the branch of a science or art that deals with its principles or methods, as distinguished from its practice: music theory.
5. a particular conception or view of something to be done or of the method of doing it; a system of rules or principles.
6. contemplation or speculation.
7. guess or conjecture.

[ibzjem]

Noun
Singular
theory


Plural
countable and uncountable; plural theories

theory (countable and uncountable; plural theories)

1. (countable) An unproven conjecture.

I have a theory about who broke into the school last night, but I have no proof to back it up.

2. (uncountable) An expectation of what should happen, barring unforeseen circumstances.

So we?ll be there in three hours? ? That?s the theory.

3. (countable) (sciences) A coherent statement or set of statements that attempts to explain observed phenomena.

There is now a well-developed theory of electrical charge.

4. (countable) (sciences) A logical structure that enables one to deduce the possible results of every experiment that falls within its purview.

The theory of relativity was proposed by Einstein.

5. (uncountable) (mathematics) A field of study attempting to exhaustively describe a particular class of constructs.

Knot theory classifies the mappings of a circle into 3-space.

6. (countable) (logic) A set of axioms together with all statements derivable from them.

A theory is consistent if it has a model.

The different definitions are used in different context. You can not accurately swap the contexts and retain the definition. Your definition 7 can not be used in place of definition 3 and so on.

[bubbadubba]

Oh boy, they dug up another deformed human skeleton.
Give them a bunch of grant money from my taxes!
Hooray!
What a bunch of garbage.

[helron]

I don't understand why "science" or "scientists" can't narrow it down to less than a million years. This story says "6 to 7 million years". A million years is a long time. Shouldn't "science" be a little more exact. What we have here are a bunch of people so full of themselves they can barely walk upright.

[hower4]

helron - No, a fundamental part of science is calculating the possible range of error. Blind religious believers like you simply change what you say is 'certain' whenever you feel like it!

Do you deny the possibility of Darminian evolution?

[babooph]

Must be a democrat ancestor-republicans came from some dirt 4000 years ago......

[robertbaileybeach1961]

Let's have our cake and eat it too:
God created a world in which evolution happens.

Now let's sit down together in peace and enjoy some cake and a cup of coffee, and discuss some constructive ways to help each other out, like umm....sharing our cake!

[Void_Master]

by Johnpoly October 1, 2009 10:13 PM EDT

Dear CBS,

Please be reminded regarding your story on "Ardi" that evolution is an unproven theory...

***

Actually, you are more than wrong. You're ignorant of the facts. Evolution has been proven many times and in many ways. Look around you and you will see it.

[Johnpoly]

Dear CBS,
Please be reminded regarding your story on "Ardi" that evolution is an unproven theory, and yet your coverage gave the distinct impression that it is an established fact. No matter how strong the assertions of the evolutionists on your program were, they, nevertheless, provided no real evidence for this speculation of life's origins, merely assumptions from a few bones.
The book "Origins" admits: ?As we move farther along the path of evolution towards humans the going becomes distinctly uncertain, again owing to the paucity of fossil evidence.? "Science" magazine adds: ?The primary scientific evidence is a pitifully small array of bones from which to construct man?s evolutionary history. One anthropologist has compared the task to that of reconstructing the plot of War and Peace with 13 randomly selected pages.

This is the obvious situation involving "Ardi." There is no clear proof that this is a humanoid speculated to be some 4.4 million years old. The public seems to be swayed by the overconfident manner of those who propound this theory rather than what is proven fact.
Note the following from Newsweek: ?You could put all the fossils on the top of a single desk," said Elwyn Simons of Duke University. The New York Times: ?The known fossil remains of man?s ancestors would fit on a billiard table. That makes a poor platform from which to peer into the mists of the last few million years.? "Science Digest": ?The remarkable fact is that all the physical evidence we have for human evolution can still be placed, with room to spare, inside a single coffin! . . . Modern apes, for instance, seem to have sprung out of nowhere. They have no yesterday, no fossil record. And the true origin of modern humans?of upright, naked, toolmaking, big-brained beings?is, if we are to be honest with ourselves, an equally mysterious matter.?
Regarding Lucy, a find in Africa some years back, ?Lucy,? for example, had a brain one third the size of a human?s. Clearly it was nothing more than a now extinct species of ape.
A Dr. Moya, an anthrolopologist from Spain had to make this admission after careful examination.
Rather than guess about the origin of man, why not put stock in one who would be in the know: Jesus Christ. Note his own words at Mark 10:6-8: "From the beginning of creation, he made them male and female. On this account a MAN will leave his father and his mother and the two will be one flesh." So, who are we to believe, the advocates of "Ardi," or God's own Son?

John Poly

[slownewsday_5]

"So, who are we to believe, the advocates of "Ardi," or God's own Son?"


Well, the advocates of "Ardi" have proof of its existence.

You, on the other hand.... not so much.

[ibzjem]

"The public seems to be swayed by the overconfident manner of those who propound this theory rather than what is proven fact."

What Is proven fact then? I guess a 17 year expedition and study over this one fossil find is not enough evidence and research for you? Let alone all the others. Any good scientist will tell you that the number of fossil finds is incredibly small. Some may say around 0.01%. Still, they don't tell us anything other than what we discover from them. You completely ignore the genetic and geographical evidence of evolution.

Bible quotes are not scientific evidence against descent with modification.

[formrusmcsgt]

"....the new find provides evidence..."
---
Exactly what makes science superior to dogma.

[John_Merritt]

Hey Ardi, why such a long face? I wonder how long they have been sitting on this nugget of evolution. I could give two hoots about Ardi or anything else. I want to know what lies beneath the desert floor in N. Mexico. Anybody know? Better yet let's have a show and tell, that might explain alot of things. If something does exist may lead to linking us with the heavens. If it is a UFO, their technology FAR SURPASSES anything we have I would venture. Take care Ardi.

[solokipper]

That is the worst picture ever! At least the last hoax used a lemur! What, they can't use the fragments as enough evidence? It's business as usual.
Oh, here we go again with all the new-be evolutionists flexing the same old outdated info piling up on more old outdated info.. Please, just start with David Berlinsky and move into the right century. Darwinian-evolution is on the ropes. The only thing keeping this dead horse alive are the promised and continued grants trying to justify the failed "Brave New World" concepts handed from the 1800s. . . of which most universities are still stuck in.
The same anti-religious comments made here are the same comments made by the foolishly educated of Europe the 1900s and 30s to usher in communism in the eastern block. Exact same reasoning with same examples, now here 80 years later! Guess some are determined to learn the hard way!

[rrousley]

Religion is changing; faith in Christ for ALL people is not. They are two different things and most people don?t seem to have enough faith to know that. Even the Christian Bible discounts religion, look it up. Ardi is a product of religious science and accomplishes nothing useful or productive for anything but scouring people out of more tax money and promoting make-believe reality. Even running this story is just another propaganda ploy without real substance. It's time to stop trying to prove fictitious stories and multiply the news about how serious the situations are for the millions of people in trouble in the US where profits are squeezed out of the poor and kids are raised to not know what reality is. Reality is not Lucy or Ardi, it is working at stopping the use of our workforce that is being "used" as slaves for elitists and revealing abusers of capitalism for the selfish, uncaring animals they are (many apologies to animals).

[slownewsday_5]

"Religion is changing; faith in Christ for ALL people is not. They are two different things and most people don?t seem to have enough faith to know that."


I don't believe in your Christianity because none of you I have seen acts like Christ would. It has nothing to do with blind faith.

[ibzjem]

This is a science report. Not a political or religious story. It's not a story about terrorism, or the economy. Go to those sections if you can't take it here. Those who are willfully ignorant about science should stop using technology (science) to promote their anti-science rhetoric.

[rrousley]

slownewsday said: "I don't believe in your Christianity because none of you I have seen acts like Christ would. It has nothing to do with blind faith."
.
Reply: AMEN TO THAT!!! I'm with you there slownewsday. Christianity has been high jacked and thrown out by the attention-getters of so-called Christian churches and most media has given the worst of them the most face-time. There are a growing number of people across the US and Canada still below the radar who are peacefully, gracefully, and faithfully encouraging openness to faith for all without exclusion and trying to help anyone without expectations or obligations. Check out my website at www.UNIDIVERSAL.com
.
.
ibzjem sees evolution as not being political, religious, destructive, or affecting the economy in any way. Stop trying to stop people from using science to disprove claims of scientific findings and see how far you get from any point of view. Stop accepting public funds for scientific research then it will not be political and won?t affect the economy. Stop generalizing everyone who disagrees with "most" forms of evolution, including a major portion of non-Christian scientists, and realize that the overwhelming majority of arguments are not anti-science rhetoric at all. Stopping the elitist power-hungry evolutionists from excluding non-evolutionists from being able to have a job and you will eliminate 100% of the terrorism you seem to be saying doesn't have anything to do with this article.
Admittedly, many on all sides are not willing to listen to each other calmly and reasonably. But, an overwhelming majority are and you don't sound like one of them.
.
Am I trying to get everybody to become a Christian? Not extremist right wing-nut Christian but reasonable Christians, yes or I wouldn't believe in what I live for; but even when not accomplishing that I want reasonableness between Christian and nonchristian alike. Nobody accomplishes anything with trying to exclude those of either. It would definitely help if nonevolutionists weren?t being taxed to pay for evolutionists incomes as the favor is definitely not being returned in kind.
.
Ibzjem said "Go to those sections if you can't take it here"
Reply: This assumption promoting ignorance has no place within reason. Truly sorry you have been affected so negatively by unreasonable religious sentiments. But you would make more progress not using the same tactic by generalizing everybody, including me, in that same category.
.
Thanks for responding, I really do appreciate your honest comments about my post.

[slownewsday_5]

I truly admire the anti-science crowd.

All they need is a nice story (if you don't count all of the encouragement to destroy villages in Deuteronomy) they were told is true, rather than pay attention to hard evidence.

Imagine their classes.... Answer "God did it" to everything, and get an A+!!

[drbad1]

I beleive the CBS news team probaly evolved from knuckle dragging ARDI, but leave me out of that gene pool. I love the way you report this as absolute fact. No wonder your market share keeps dropping like a rock. Your stories and news are so irrevelant in todays world. Keep up the good work!

[GOTHAM1963]

Does this mean that ARDI could be our missing link?

[ibzjem]

What missing link are you referring to? Every link uncovers two supposedly missing links.

[rf35]

The "missing link" is actually no longer something to be looked for. It referred to the presumed species that linked humans directly to apes. It is now accepted (and reinforced by this find) that humans did not evolve directly from an ancient ape, but that humans and apes evolved from a common ancestor that was technically neither at a time further back than originally hypothesized. The new equivalent to finding the "missing link" would be to identify this common ancestor.

[Void_Master]

The truly amusing thing about religion is that it, being a human construct, is also constantly changing.

[Void_Master]

by Mrgreggc October 1, 2009 5:28 PM EDT

...They have pushing this crap for how many year? And thwy haven't came up with one bit of evidence that evolution is real.

***

Not even a nice try. There is plenty of verifiable evidence that evolution is real and is a work in "progress." Actually, I strongly suspect that it is that non-static nature of evolution that most religious folks have a problem getting their heads around.

Most of them are far too used to seeing the universe two-dimensionally. I cannot speak for other religions, but I do know that contemporary Christianity teaches that God is unchangeable. Thus they are automatically suspect of anything that is constantly changing. Evolution ensures that we (all all other species) are constantly changing.