This 47 million-year-old primate (Darwinius Masillae) unveiled yesterday at the American Museum of Natural History in New York, is the long-sought missing link in mankind’s family tree. Known as Ida, the lemur-like creature had opposable thumbs like humans, fingernails instead of claws and hands that can grasp things.

Ida, the 47million-year-old lemur could be the missing link in human evolution

First discovered outside of Frankfurt in 1983 in a fossil treasure trove called the Messel Pit (probably a volcanic caldera), Ida has been a collector’s item ever since. But after a million-dollar deal, researchers got their hands on something that could change the way we understand human evolution. Could it be the link between humans and apes that would confirm Charles Darwin’s theory?

“This specimen is like finding the Lost Ark for archeologists. 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,” said lead scientist Jorn Hurum at the unveiling ceremony.

Unlike Lucy— the famous Ethiopian fossil (Australophithecus afarensis) that was 3.2million years old and only 40 per cent complete, Ida is roughly 95 per cent complete with individual hairs preserved imprinted into the rock and traces of her last meal in her stomach.

Rather than being our “grandmother” Ida is more like a “grand aunt”. That’s because she’s supposed to come from a time when the primate family tree was splitting into two groups. One with humans, apes and monkeys, and the other one with lemurs and bush babies. Tests on her teeth revealed that although she appears more similar to a lemur, she is actually closer to the line that resulted in apes, monkeys and humans.

Although there’s no solid evidence to say that this is part of the evolutionary chain and not a previously undiscovered entity, could Ida be the answer we’ve all been waiting for? We can’t wait the documentaries to start airing …

Images by MatrixPhotos and Reuters

The tracks reveal that there must have been four species of dinosaurs ranging from the young to the adults that traveled all the way to the watering hole to quench their thirst. When Dr. Chan first saw these footprints in 2005, she thought that they were probably potholes created by erosion but on closer examination she noticed some prominent signs of claw, toe and heel marks.

These tracks had been hidden all these years under shifting dunes that later turned to Navajo Sandstone which then slowly eroded to reveal the fascinating footprints. But to the disappointment of Dr. Chan and all other geologists, these marvelous footprints too will slowly erode with time.

I wonder if Sarah Palin knows these interesting facts about dinosaurs … – via DailyMail