NEW YORK (AFP) — Scientists in New York unveiled Tuesday the
skeleton of what they said could be the common ancestor to humans, apes
and other primates.
The tiny creature, officially known as
Darwinius masillae, but dubbed Ida, lived 47 million years ago and is
unusually well preserved, missing only part of a leg, or five percent
of the skeleton.
The finding, described Tuesday in the PloS ONE
scientific journal, was displayed at a press conference at New York's
Natural History Museum, and is due to be the subject of a documentary
on the History Channel, BBC and other broadcasters.
Organizers
said that scientists led by Norway's fossil expert, professor Jorn
Hurum, worked for two years on Ida, first discovered in 1983 by private
collectors who failed to understand her importance -- and split the
bones into two lots.
The monkey-like creature was preserved through the ages in Germany's Messel Pit, a crater rich in Eocene Epoch fossils.
Although
bearing a long tail, she had several human characteristics, including
an opposable thumb, short arms and legs, and forward facing eyes.
She also lacked two key elements of modern lemurs: a grooming claw and a row of lower teeth known as the toothcomb.
"This is the first link to all humans -- truly a fossil that links world heritage," Hurum said in a statement.
David
Attenborough, the renowned British naturalist and broadcaster, said the
"little creature is going to show us our connection with all the rest
of the mammals."
"The link they would have said until now is missing... it is no longer missing," he said...