Post by Deleted on Aug 10, 2017 16:42:26 GMT
... what human ancestors may have looked like
...What the team later excavated would end up being what is thought to be the most complete skull of an extinct ape species in the fossil record. After more than two years of sophisticated imaging work and additional geological research at the dig site, the discovery was published in the Aug. 10 issue of the journal Nature.
According to the article, “younger” fossil finds — those 6- to 7-million-years-old — have shed light on humans' common ancestors with chimpanzees. However, far less is known about the common ancestors of all living apes and humans from before 10 million years ago.
“Relevant fossils are scarce, consisting mostly of isolated teeth and partial jaw bones,” a statement accompanying the Nature article reads. “It has therefore been difficult to find answers to two fundamental questions: Did the common ancestor of living apes and humans originate in Africa, and what did these early ancestors look like?”
The discovery of the infant ape skull — nicknamed “Alesi” after the local Turkana word for “ancestor” — helps bridge some of those gaps, not only because of how intact the outside of the skull is but for what was preserved on the inside...
www.washingtonpost.com/news/speaking-of-science/wp/2017/08/09/discovery-of-13-million-year-old-ape-skull-shows-what-human-ancestors-may-have-looked-like/?utm_term=.d9ff4376b55f
...What the team later excavated would end up being what is thought to be the most complete skull of an extinct ape species in the fossil record. After more than two years of sophisticated imaging work and additional geological research at the dig site, the discovery was published in the Aug. 10 issue of the journal Nature.
According to the article, “younger” fossil finds — those 6- to 7-million-years-old — have shed light on humans' common ancestors with chimpanzees. However, far less is known about the common ancestors of all living apes and humans from before 10 million years ago.
“Relevant fossils are scarce, consisting mostly of isolated teeth and partial jaw bones,” a statement accompanying the Nature article reads. “It has therefore been difficult to find answers to two fundamental questions: Did the common ancestor of living apes and humans originate in Africa, and what did these early ancestors look like?”
The discovery of the infant ape skull — nicknamed “Alesi” after the local Turkana word for “ancestor” — helps bridge some of those gaps, not only because of how intact the outside of the skull is but for what was preserved on the inside...
www.washingtonpost.com/news/speaking-of-science/wp/2017/08/09/discovery-of-13-million-year-old-ape-skull-shows-what-human-ancestors-may-have-looked-like/?utm_term=.d9ff4376b55f
