Times
By Mark Henderson, Science Correspondent
THE remains of at least nine ape-like creatures of a species that was one of humanity’s oldest known ancestors have been discovered in Ethiopia, shedding important light on the first chapters of human evolution.
The new fossils belong to a hominid species known as Ardipithecus ramidus that lived 4.5 million years ago, of which only a handful of examples have been identified previously.
The find, by a team led by Sileshi Semaw, of Indiana University in the United States, promises to transform scientists’ understanding of the evolution of primitive, chimp-like early hominids into more recognisably human creatures.
Ardipithecus ramidus, which was first identified in Ethiopia 11 years ago, is widely thought to belong to the first hominid genus — making it among the earliest human ancestors after Man’s family tree split from the chimpanzees. It would have looked more like a chimpanzee than a modern human, but has several characteristics that marks it out as a member of the evolutionary lineage that led ultimately to Homo sapiens.
The creature’s remains show clearly that it walked on two legs, rather than crouching on all fours like a modern ape, and it has diamond-shaped upper canine teeth that are more reminiscent of a human being’s than the V-shaped canines of chimps.
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,3-1447706,00.html
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