Ardi - Missing Link revised

Galvasean

It's been a long time coming, but regular posters of this forum will be delighted to know that the first major analysis of 'Ardi' (Ardipithecus ramidus) has been released.
The findings are exremely important as it reveals 'Ardi' to be the earliest known upright ape, living some 1 million years before the famous 'Lucy' (Australopithecus afarensis). 'Ardi' would have been able to walk and probably even run upright, while retaining the ability to climb around in trees, albeit slowly. One thing which has been ruled out in 'Ardi' is knuckle walking, like that of modern apes such as gorillas and chimps. 'Ardi' also had human like canines, again, unlike the aforementioned apes. These two factors mean that the previously held assumption that human ancestors of the time would have looked and behaved like modern chimps to be wrong.

A DETAILED ANALYSIS of human-like fossils discovered in Ethiopia has taken mankind back in time, a million years closer to the “missing link” ancestor we share with the great apes. In the process, scientists have been forced to rethink human evolution and what the missing link must have looked like.

It overturns the widely held view that chimpanzees and gorillas must be typical of the look and behaviour of our shared ancestors. The research proves that the modern apes are very poor models for the last common ancestor, opening up a whole new perspective on the separate tracks taken by ape and human evolution. A staggering amount of data has come from an intensive study, lasting several years, of a human-like or hominid animal called Ardipithecus ramidus.

Full article here.