Ardipithecus ramidus
Until 1994, the oldest fossil of a possible ancestor of ours was a mere three and a quarter million years old,. Then some teams of excavators in Ethiopia’s Afar Depression began turning up pieces from some three dozen individuals, all from the same species of hominid, called Ardipithecus ramidus, and dated at 4,400,000 years Before Present. Of all those fragments by far the greatest number — 125 or so — came from a single female, not more than four feet tall and with a brain not a lot bigger than a chimpanzee’s, named for short Ardi.
Ardi doesn’t look exactly like a chimpanzee, though she’s (probably) furred and with a less jutting jaw than a great ape. If one of them were to turn up next to you at the pool, the most unexpected feature you would see would be the long, dexterous opposable big toe on each foot. This made it easier for Ardi to get around on tree branches, and that made it probable that she lived in a wood, rather than the soggy swamp that some Hollywood designers prefer to show.
Bill Goodwin says:
She was also rather thin, therefore not named Ardi Gras. Likely because of a narrow esophagus, which would’ve made Ardichoke if she ate too quickly. No beads or carvings were found, so she wasn’t very Ardi Fardi. And of course, hunting made Ardi-miss her brother Apollo…
I’ll be so disappointed in you if you post this.
August 3, 2010, 2:10 pmgottacook says:
For the most thorough coverage, please go to the original source:
http://www.sciencemag.org/ardipithecus
(Science, 2 October 2009)
My favorite data analysis point among the many presented in this package of articles (which took years to prepare): Without the big-toe development seen in Ardi, upright walking might never have occurred.
August 3, 2010, 3:36 pmTroll says:
Oh, my, god!
August 4, 2010, 12:08 amNO! NO! NO!
DON’T ENCOURAGE HIM!
Quick!, sombody smack Goodwin on the back of the head!
Bill Goodwin says:
And with a mother like that, who could have an ardi-pal complex? (Oh don’t grimace, my humor may be labored but it’s not ardi-facial. Getting worked up is bad for your ardi-ries You ardi be more forgiving…)
August 7, 2010, 4:07 amAnton Sherwood says:
Ardi ar ar. Ave you nothing better to do?
August 9, 2010, 10:12 pmBill Goodwin says:
Ardi bears sitting in di woods?
August 11, 2010, 7:28 pm