47-million-year-old human link revealed

NEW YORK: Scientists in New York unveiled on 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 five per cent of the skeleton.



The finding was displayed at a press conference at New York’s Natural History Museum and is due to be the subject of a documentary showing on the History Channel, BBC and other broadcasters.



Organisers 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.



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. ‘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.—AFP