Missing Link Found that may Show Ancestry of Humans
A possible missing link to the evolution of primates was found in Germany, creating a big splash in the media. Paleontologist Jorn Hurum, the leader of the team who analyzed the fossil, which they call ‘Ida’, suggests that the 47-million-year-old find is a critical link in primate evolution.
According to Hurum, this fossil is a bridge for the evolutionary split between primates like apes, monkeys and humans compared to the lemur, a more distant relative. He said that Ida is the first link of evolution to humans, and the fossil represents the closest that they have gotten to a direct ancestor. Ida, which is known properly as Darwinius masillae, is a skeleton like a lemur that features characteristics of primates, including relatively short limbs, clawless digits with nails, opposable thumbs, and grasping hands.
Also involved in the study, was a biological anthropologist at Washington, DC’s George Washington University, Brian Richmond, who said that the fossil looks really close to an early fossil of a monkey that belongs to the same category as humans. However, he noted that there is a large gap in the record for the time period that his specimen belongs to. Researchers aren’t positive when or where the primate group of humans split from the lemur group. Richmond added that Ida is an important branching point on the tree of evolution, but the fossil isn’t the only branching point.
Ida has been incredibly preserved, which is unheard of in fossils that are from the Eocene era. Scientists have been able to examine soft tissue and fur from the fossil, as well as pick through what was left of Ida’s last meal, which included leaves, seeds, and fruits.