Thread: Missing link found? Scientists unveil fossil of 47 million-year-old primate, Darwiniu

Originally Posted by min0 lee

Missing link found? Scientists unveil fossil of 47 million-year-old primate, Darwinius masillae



BY SAMANTHA STRONG AND RICH SCHAPIRO
DAILY NEWS WRITERS

Tuesday, May 19th 2009, 12:57 PM

Feast your eyes on what a group of scientists claim is the Holy Grail of human evolution.

A team of researchers Tuesday unveiled an almost perfectly intact fossil of a 47 million-year-old primate they say represents the long-sought missing link between humans and apes.

Officially known as Darwinius masillae, the fossil of the lemur-like creature dubbed Ida shows it had opposable thumbs like humans and fingernails instead of claws.

Scientists say the cat-sized animal's hind legs offer evidence of evolutionary changes that led to primates standing upright - a breakthrough that could finally confirm
Charles Darwin's theory of evolution.

"This specimen is like finding the Lost Ark for archeologists," said lead scientist Jorn Hurum during a ceremony at the American Museum of Natural History.

"It is the scientific equivalent of the Holy Grail. This fossil will probably be the one that will be pictured in all textbooks for the next 100 years."

A team of amateur fossil hunters discovered the near-perfect remains inside a mile-wide crater outside of Frankfurt, Germany, in 1983.

Experts believe the pit was a volcanic caldera where scores of animals from the Eocene period were killed and their remains were kept remarkably well-preserved.

Though the pit has been a bountiful source of other fossils, the inexperienced archeologists didn't realize the value of their find.

Years later, the University of Oslo bought the 95%-intact fossil, and Hurum studied it in secret for two years.

His colleague, Jens Franzen, hailed the discovery as "the eighth wonder of the world."

"We're not dealing with our grand, grand, grandmother, but perhaps with our grand, grand, grand aunt," Franzen said.

The unveiling of the fossil came as part of a carefully-orchestrated publicity campaign unusual for scientific discoveries.

A History Channel film on the discovery will air next week. A book release, and a slew of other documentaries will follow.

Men from apes? Poppycock.

very interesting!

Originally Posted by Dale Mabry

Men from apes? Poppycock.

What you do with your poppy's cock is your business!

carbon dating is bs. i knw this was probably dated using uranium -235 but not everybody knows about that so i cant rant
47 million, puh!

Creationists will believe in carbon dating if it proves a wooden ship is dated to around the time Noah lived, or if DNA can prove the blood and fossilized brain matter found embedded in cracks in an ancient stone belonged to a man suffering from Gigantism and the dating put's it around David's time. But it is all false and marred in evil error if it tells them something living existed millions of years ago....

I'm pretty sure there was a time when radio activity didn't hit the earths surface. Ancient global warming. Then again, i'm just a loser that posts random information.

Originally Posted by ROID

I'm pretty sure there was a time when radio activity didn't hit the earths surface. Ancient global warming. Then again, i'm just a loser that posts random information.

Well before radio we had to entertain ourselves with books and music and lots of sex, my kind of living!

i just like looking at my name, stop screwing with my monoply

Originally Posted by maniclion

Creationists will believe in carbon dating if it proves a wooden ship is dated to around the time Noah lived, or if DNA can prove the blood and fossilized brain matter found embedded in cracks in an ancient stone belonged to a man suffering from Gigantism and the dating put's it around David's time. But it is all false and marred in evil error if it tells them something living existed millions of years ago....

Not really. Most creationalists (Christians) believe the world has only existed for around 4000 years so anything before that is incorrect information anyways regardless of which piece of evidence it is for. I'm not saying it's evil from a creationalists' view, i'm talking even from a scientific view we do not know what changes occured back then.
And if the carbon found is like 400 million years old, it might not have been eaten by the primate until maybe even 40000 years ago but it still shows up as 400 million. Or does it "reset". And even if it resets the whole idea of using isotopes its just... watever.
Furthermore the atmospheric conditions, even "proved" by science were much different, and correct me if i'm wrong but conditions in which the compound is in changes its chemical 'features' like half-lifes, due to different pressure, heats, radiation, etc.

Do you believe that also?