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Meet ‘Ida‘: Our 47 Million Year Old Ancestor

Today an international team of scientists announced the discovery of a 47 million year old human ancestor found in the Messel Pit, Germany.  The European fossil is 95% complete, providing the most comprehensive understanding of the paleobiology of any Eocene primate yet. Named ‘Ida,‘ she was a young female with opposable big toes and a talus bone linking her directly to humans.

Read the full article available free at PLoS ONE…

May 19th, 2009 Tags: ancestor, fossil, Ida
by Sheril Kirshenbaum in Evolution, at the interSeCtion | 12 comments | RSS feed | Trackback >

12 Responses to “Meet ‘Ida‘: Our 47 Million Year Old Ancestor”

1. 1.   Linda Says:
   May 19th, 2009 at 1:52 pm

   WOW!
   Ida is amazing!

2. 2.   Aidan Says:
   May 19th, 2009 at 4:03 pm

   That’s crazy awesome. What a find.

3. 3.   Fossil Ida: Missing link now found « Skepacabra Says:
   May 20th, 2009 at 1:15 am

   [...] They found Ida in Germany: The European fossil is 95% complete, providing the most comprehensive understanding of the paleobiology of any Eocene primate yet. Named ‘Ida,‘ she was a young female with opposable big toes and a talus bone linking her directly to humans. [...]

4. 4.   the domestic fringe Says:
   May 20th, 2009 at 1:44 am

   Looks like it might be my Aunt Ida.

   -FringeGirl

5. 5.   Michael A. P. Says:
   May 20th, 2009 at 4:00 am

   Hey … I wonder. If this is a primate. Then she got 48 crommosons.
   The human race have 46.

   How many times has nature gone backwords..?

6. 6.   i dont giv emy name out Says:
   May 20th, 2009 at 12:11 pm

   Before we jump to conlusions you should think about this,what if when the world was created that man was there, if animals were our ansestors than wouldn’t they be the ones living in houses, wouldn’t they be the ones working, but no. They eat off the floor and wag their tales when they are happy. Our brains are so much more complex, most likely this is just another animal that that crawled beside humans when the world began. so mabey you should think harder before you start saying that that thing is my great- grandmother

7. 7.   Google Mind Reader | The Intersection | Discover Magazine Says:
   May 20th, 2009 at 12:36 pm

   [...] [We love today’s Google logo and associated search!] [...]

8. 8.   Fascinating Ida « everyONE – the PLoS ONE community blog Says:
   May 20th, 2009 at 1:05 pm

   [...] The Intersection [...]

9. 9.   SLC Says:
   May 20th, 2009 at 3:22 pm

   It should be noted that this story is being seriously over hyped according to PZed and Laelaps.

   http://scienceblogs.com/laelaps/?utm_source=bloglist&utm_medium=dropdown

10. 10.   Descubren un fósil de transición entre primates y lemures que confirma las teorías de Darwin « Paulo Arieu Theologies Web Says:
    May 20th, 2009 at 3:40 pm

    [...] The Intersection: Meet ‘Ida’: Our 47 Million Year Old Ancestor [...]

11. 11.   Wes Rolley Says:
    May 22nd, 2009 at 11:14 am

    Chris, I am surprised that your co-blogger Sheril did not find this one: The Dissing Link.
    

    But Ida has now shocked the scientific community even further for apparently coming out in favor of biblical creationism after an encounter with televangelist and faith healer Benny Hinn.

    According to Hinn’s website, Ida met with Hinn and was healed of a chronic and painful wrist fracture (see photo below released by Hinn Ministries). The pastor convinced Ida that Darwin was wrong, prompting Ida to re-examine her entire existence.

    and this is just a tease.

12. 12.   Weekly PLoS Blog and Media Round-up « everyONE – the PLoS ONE community blog Says:
    May 22nd, 2009 at 7:50 pm

    [...] The Evilutionary Biologist, Coffee and Sci(ence), Providence Daily Dose, Starts With a Bang, The Intersection, Pro-science, RichardDawkins.net, TED Blog, The Science Pundit, Coyote Crossing, Tom Paine’s [...]

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