Meet Ardi, your distant ancestor

[Dittohead not!]

Meet Ardi, Your First Human Ancestor

Anthropologists are suddenly tearing up their long-held origin tale—that modern humans evolved from hunched, proto*human apes roaming the wide-open savannas of old. The discovery of a 4.4-million-year-old hominid named Ardipithecus ramidus (fondly shortened to “Ardi”) suggests that for a stretch during the early Pliocene, our ancestors instead lived in lush woodlands and walked on two feet. In fact, Ardi’s unexpected traits put to rest the whole idea of a chimplike missing link at the root of the human family tree.

The current thinking is that bipedalism evolved first, then human intelligence. I've also read that it is easier for the large brain associated with modern humans to have been supported in an upright posture. It makes sense to me.

 

[1069]

Interesting, but Ardi looks pretty much like I always figured the missing link would look; like a cross between a person and an ape.

A Fossil Named Ardi Shakes Up Humanity’s Family Tree | 80beats | Discover Magazine

I'm not sure what all the hubbub's about. :shrug:
Isn't this what we all pretty much thought?
What's the issue? It doesn't look ape-like enough?

 

[jamesrage]

I do not mean to sound like a skeptic but how do they get a complete skeletal structure from something as totally incomplete as this

 

[The_Penguin]

Meet Ardi, Your First Human Ancestor



The current thinking is that bipedalism evolved first, then human intelligence. I've also read that it is easier for the large brain associated with modern humans to have been supported in an upright posture. It makes sense to me.

I read Arbi and thought of the restaurant chain, then became hungry.

*shakes fist angrilly at ditto for making me hungry*

 

[The_Penguin]

I do not mean to sound like a skeptic but how do they get a complete skeletal structure from something as totally incomplete as this

Hmm... that looks interesting. Good find. But, to be fair, the article doesn't really mention the completeness of the skeleton, it only mentioned a few of the bones (which your pic has.)

 

[jamesrage]

Hmm... that looks interesting. Good find. But, to be fair, the article doesn't really mention the completeness of the skeleton, it only mentioned a few of the bones (which your pic has.)

The article has a drawing of what they claim the creature looks like and they are claiming it is our ancestor, so obviously they did speculate what its skeletal structure looks like to make that determination. The Lucy(Australopithecus afarensis) skeleton is no better. Its seems nothing more than a bunch of speculation based on totally incomplete worn down down bone fragments that they are trying to pass off as facts.

 

[Anarcho-fascist]

The article has a drawing of what they claim the creature looks like and they are claiming it is our ancestor, so obviously they did speculate what its skeletal structure looks like to make that determination. The Lucy(Australopithecus afarensis) skeleton is no better. Its seems nothing more than a bunch of speculation based on totally incomplete worn down down bone fragments that they are trying to pass off as facts.

Lucy's pelvic area is preserved well enough to tell it walked upright. You can mirror each side to get a more complete skeleton. Artistic interpretations of prehistoric life are by necessity semi-speculative. No one is claiming that the whole reconstructed skeleton is 100% correct.

 

[1069]

Yeah, even dinosaurs... I mean, they've found few if any complete skeletons.
They just have to make up some of it.

 

[Dittohead not!]

Interesting, but Ardi looks pretty much like I always figured the missing link would look; like a cross between a person and an ape.

A Fossil Named Ardi Shakes Up Humanity’s Family Tree | 80beats | Discover Magazine

I'm not sure what all the hubbub's about. :shrug:
Isn't this what we all pretty much thought?
What's the issue? It doesn't look ape-like enough?

The issue is that Ardi is not an ape, nor is she a human, nor sometihng in between. She is a creature that walked upright, but didn't have the big brain associated with humans.


I found this interesting (from your link):

Based on Ardi’s anatomy, it appears that chimpanzees may actually have evolved more than humans — in the scientific sense of having changed more over the past 7 million years or so

 

[Anarcho-fascist]

You can mirror each side to get a more complete skeleton.

Like this.

 

[Hoplite]

I do not mean to sound like a skeptic but how do they get a complete skeletal structure from something as totally incomplete as this

You'd be amazed at what can be done with modern physical anthropology. A single bone can give you a wealth of information as the structure of terrestrial life tends to follow certain patterns; you dont have something with the head the size of a cat on the body of a mouse.

With, say, a part of the skull, you can extrapolate the size of the skull which will give you good information about the rest of the body.