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Post #1 Wed, Sep 20, 6:10 PM |
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Big Rob
Big Rob - 66800
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Nature Article Extract (full article available with subscription) and Reuters Wire.
Nature 443, 296-301(21 September 2006) | doi:10.1038/nature05047; Received 22 April 2006; Accepted 6 July 2006
A juvenile early hominin skeleton from Dikika, Ethiopia
Abstract
Understanding changes in ontogenetic development is central to the study of human evolution. With the exception of Neanderthals, the growth patterns of fossil hominins have not been studied comprehensively because the fossil record currently lacks specimens that document both cranial and postcranial development at young ontogenetic stages. Here we describe a well-preserved 3.3-million-year-old juvenile partial skeleton of Australopithecus afarensis discovered in the Dikika research area of Ethiopia. The skull of the approximately three-year-old presumed female shows that most features diagnostic of the species are evident even at this early stage of development. The find includes many previously unknown skeletal elements from the Pliocene hominin record, including a hyoid bone that has a typical African ape morphology. The foot and other evidence from the lower limb provide clear evidence for bipedal locomotion, but the gorilla-like scapula and long and curved manual phalanges raise new questions about the importance of arboreal behaviour in the A. afarensis locomotor repertoire.
Top of page
UPDATE 1-Remains of earliest child discovered in Ethiopia
(Updates with quotes from Addis news conference, adds details)
By Patricia Reaney
LONDON, Sept 20 (Reuters) - A 3.3 million-year-old skeleton
of the earliest child ever found shows the ancient ancestor of
modern humans walked upright but may also have climbed trees,
scientists said on Wednesday.
They found the well-preserved remains of a three-year-old
girl of the species Australopithecus afarensis -- which includes
the fossil skeleton known as "Lucy" -- in the Dikika area of
Ethiopia, 400 kms northeast of the capital Addis Ababa.
"It represents the earliest and most complete partial
skeleton of a child ever found in the history of
paeleoanthropology," said Dr Zeresenay Alemseged, of the Max
Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology in Leipzig,
Germany.
The skull, torso and upper and lower limbs, including the
hand, show both human and ape-like features. The state of the
ancient bones suggest she was buried in a flood which may also
have caused her death.
The remains provide the first evidence of what babies of
early human ancestors looked like. The nearly complete skeleton
will also provide information about the child's height and
structure.
"This child will help us understand a lot about the species
to which it belongs," said Alemseged, leader of the
international team of scientists who reported the findings in
the journal Nature.
"The lower part of the body, which includes the foot, the
shin bone and the thigh bone clearly shows us that this species
was an upright walking creature," he told Reuters.
But some of the features from the upper part of the body,
including the shoulder blade and arms are more ape-like. The
fingers are long and curved which suggest she might have been
able to swing through trees.
"The finding is the most complete hominid skeleton ever
found in the world," Zeresenay Alemseged, who is head of the
Paleoanthropological Research Team, told a news conference in
Addis Ababa.
He said the fossil was older than the 3.2-million-year-old
remains of "Lucy" discovered in 1974 and described by scientists
as one of the world's greatest archaeological finds.
"The new bones belong to a three-year-old girl who lived 3.3
million years ago, 150,000 years before Lucy," Zeresenay said.
The fossil has been named "Selam", which means peace in
Ethiopia's official Amharic language.
JUVENILE "LUCY"
Dr Simon Underdown of Oxford Brookes University in England
described it as a massively exciting discovery of a juvenile
"Lucy". "This tremendous fossil will make us challenge many of
the ideas we have about how and why we came to walk on two
feet," he said.
An analysis of the sediment in which the remains were found
enabled researchers to build a picture of the type of
environment in which the child lived.
It was a lush area with flowing water, forests and grassland
which was also affected by volcanic eruptions. The range of
habitats was suitable for hippos, crocodiles and relatives of
the wildebeest.
"We can see from the sediment that the region was very much
characterised by a mosaic of environment that ranged from
forests and woodlands near the rivers, to seasonally flooded
grasslands to a flood plain that would have supported more open
vegetation," said Dr Jonathan Wynn of the University of South
Florida who dated the sediments surrounding the remains.
REUTERS
I like Lotus.The cool,fast cars they,I like cars.
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Post #2 Wed, Sep 20, 6:11 PM |
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AMGrulz
Supercar Messiah - 54398
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That's one ugly baby
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Post #3 Wed, Sep 20, 6:12 PM |
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944turb0
Supercar Messi - 130735
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3.3 million years is hella ago.
One of my favorite misinformed "opinions" about the 9/11 event is the hilariously overblown claims that part of the reason the Twin Towers collapsed was the extremely high temperature of burning jet fuel caused the steel structures to warp and partially melt. Anybody that knows anything about both fire and metal should recognize this is a complete fallacy and utter lunacy. Steel is a conductor of heat, it isn't something that just absorbs it and melts down. Have you ever tried to burn a paper clip, or a nail? Fire just doesn't work like that.
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Post #4 Wed, Sep 20, 6:13 PM |
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Big Rob
Big Rob - 66800
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Quote from 944turb0
3.3 million years is hella ago.
I like Lotus.The cool,fast cars they,I like cars.
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Post #5 Wed, Sep 20, 6:13 PM |
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Baker427
Supercar Messiah - 3023
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blasphemy
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Post #6 Wed, Sep 20, 6:14 PM |
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Robot Jim
Supercar Messiah - 17813
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Quote from Big Rob
Before the Bible even! How can that be?!
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Post #7 Wed, Sep 20, 6:14 PM |
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PandaBeat
TROLLTASTIC - 96799
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+1
Go get #$%#ed by your dog and eat his shit, you pathetic moronic cum guzzling worm
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Post #8 Wed, Sep 20, 6:15 PM |
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NB
Supercar Messiah - 37366
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Quote from 944turb0
3.3 million years is hella ago.
GET #$%#ED! I KNOW PETER MELICAN TOO!
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Post #9 Wed, Sep 20, 6:15 PM |
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AMGrulz
Supercar Messiah - 54398
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Quote from NB
Stangman was but a wee lad. He'll be pissed they've disturbed his twin brother's grave.
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Post #10 Wed, Sep 20, 6:28 PM |
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stewacide
Supercar Messiah - 55907
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Satan deceives you.
Hepatitis B is a real bad rap!
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Post #11 Wed, Sep 20, 6:29 PM |
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clever robot
Supercar Messiah - 4636
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Quote from stewacide
Satan deceives you.
"Did you like it 'cus the dog just had licked itself in the butt?" - Marcotarma
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Post #12 Wed, Sep 20, 6:53 PM |
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stewacide
Supercar Messiah - 55907
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Quote from clever robot
That icon is amazing.
Hepatitis B is a real bad rap!
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Post #13 Wed, Sep 20, 6:59 PM |
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Comunista
Supercar Messiah - 66377
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Quote from stewacide
Once I get CS2 by Photoshop skillz will reach critical mass and the line between what is real and what is fabricated will be exonerable torn asunder.
ЯOSӘS ARЄ ЯӘD,
VЮLӘГS ARЄ БLЦӘ;
IИ СOVIЭГ ЯUSSIA,
POӘMS ЩЯЇТЄ УОЦ!
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Post #14 Wed, Sep 20, 6:59 PM |
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clever robot
Supercar Messiah - 4636
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Quote from stewacide
Once I get CS2 by Photoshop skillz will reach critical mass and the line between what is real and what is fabricated will be exonerable torn asunder.
"Did you like it 'cus the dog just had licked itself in the butt?" - Marcotarma
Edited by clever robot - Wed, Sep 20, 7:00 PM
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Post #15 Wed, Sep 20, 9:07 PM |
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MooSquad
dus - 101991
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This needs a bump because it's a bloody impressive find. The article that is.
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Post #16 Wed, Sep 20, 9:10 PM |
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NB
Supercar Messiah - 37366
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IS IT APE OR MAN>
GET #$%#ED! I KNOW PETER MELICAN TOO!
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Post #17 Wed, Sep 20, 9:11 PM |
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Big Rob
Big Rob - 66800
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Quote from NB
IS IT APE OR MAN>
I like Lotus.The cool,fast cars they,I like cars.
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Post #18 Wed, Sep 20, 9:14 PM |
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NB
Supercar Messiah - 37366
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AN
GET #$%#ED! I KNOW PETER MELICAN TOO!
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Post #19 Wed, Sep 20, 9:14 PM |
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stewacide
Supercar Messiah - 55907
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I was hella-into this kind of stuff as a kid. What's more interesting/puzzleing IMHO than this kind of stuff is the more recent history or how the world was populated/our species evolved over the past few hundred thousand years...
Hepatitis B is a real bad rap!
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Post #20 Wed, Sep 20, 9:15 PM |
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m0nsta
Supercar Messi - 4214
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Quote from NB
IS IT APE OR MAN>
are starwberrys any good i want one of those phiones with kybaord so looks like im improtant buizness man
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Post #21 Wed, Sep 20, 9:16 PM |
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NB
Supercar Messiah - 37366
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Quote from m0nsta
ITS A NIGGLET!1!~
GET #$%#ED! I KNOW PETER MELICAN TOO!
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Post #22 Wed, Sep 20, 9:17 PM |
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lizardmech
Supercar Messiah - 11101
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This thread needs m777.
Alfa Romero is the gayest type of car. Try the Ferrari F430. It owns all of the gay alfa romero. Heck, the alfa rovero dosen't deserve to be spelled right or have a capital letter. Gayness floods alfa rovera. - Spank
Oh yeah, and I really hate direct sunlight of any kind. - M777
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Post #23 Wed, Sep 20, 9:46 PM |
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RLQ
new member - 71375
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That skull pretty much relates to todays Ethiopians.
"People who own guns but don't support abortion don't matter anyway because their penises are so small that they can't even get a girl pregnant." SupraMan
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Post #24 Wed, Sep 20, 9:51 PM |
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TransSportRacer
Supercar Messiah - 8732
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Quote from RLQ
That skull pretty much relates to todays Ethiopians.
No Xombies
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Post #25 Wed, Sep 20, 9:54 PM |
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RLQ
new member - 71375
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Quote from TransSportRacer
it pretty much relates to every human ever.
"People who own guns but don't support abortion don't matter anyway because their penises are so small that they can't even get a girl pregnant." SupraMan
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Posted: Today |
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Superbot
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