Early Hominid Fossil Find

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10/02/2009

Oct. 02, 2009

Early Hominid Fossil Find

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This week, researchers unveiled several studies of an early hominid known as Ardipithecus ramidus. The fossil skeleton of the female homind, nicknamed 'Ardi,' was found in the Ethiopian desert. It has been dated to be 4.4 million years old, 1.2 million years older than the famous skeleton of 'Lucy,' an Australopithecus afarensis. Writing in the journal Science this week, teams of scientists lay out their analysis of different parts of the Ardi find. We'll find out how those studies affect our understanding of human and ape evolution.

Produced by Christopher Intagliata, Associate Senior Producer

Guests

Ian Tattersall
Author, "The Fossil Trail: How We Know What We Think We Know About Human Evolution" (Oxford University Press, 2008)

Curator, Anthropology

American Museum of Natural History

New York, New York

Oct. 02, 2009