Scientists Unveil Missing Link In Evolution

[anonymaus]

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

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.

Source

[Osweo]

Researchers say proof of this transitional species finally confirms Charles Darwin's theory of evolution,

What a silly thing to say. As though this were needed, or this were the sort of evidence the opponents would accept anyway!

Let's hope it's not another Piltdown Man...
http://www.talkorigins.org/faqs/piltdown.html

[Pino]

what I want to know is what methods do they use to determine this fossil is 47 million years old? I mean how can you tell the difference between a 47 million year old fossil and a 46 million year old one?

I'm failing to see how this fills a missing link as well.

[Beorn]

[YOUTUBE]xLbL1OHU9ZM[/YOUTUBE]

[Lenny]

The most fascinating thing about this was that it was found in Germany. Lower-primates in Europe? See here for why that is so intriguing.

missing link in human evolution

I thought "missing link" refered to the jump between lower apelike humanoids (erectus and lower) and homo-sapiens; not to something from only a couple million years shy of the Dinosaur Age

[Psychonaut]

I thought "missing link" refered to the jump between lower apelike humanoids (erectus and lower) and homo-sapiens; not to something from only a couple million years shy of the Dinosaur Age

There are plenty of missing links in our evolutionary chain. This might not be the one that bridges the gap to homo sapiens, but it's an important link nonetheless.