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New Fossil Hominid Found

By jrosenhouse on September 20, 2006.

The Washington Post reports the latest fossil hominid discovered in Africa:

Fossil hunters have unearthed the fossil skeleton of a baby who died 3.3 million years ago, marking the first time scientists have discovered the nearly complete remains of a child of an ancient human ancestor.

The child, a girl who was about 3-years-old when she perished in what may have been a flash flood, provides an unprecedented window into human evolution, in part because she belongs to the same species as “Lucy,” one of the most famous hominid specimens in paleontology, experts said.

Here's another interesting item:

Although scientists are still painstakingly extracting the fossilized bones from stone, they have already begun making striking discoveries, including a tiny throat structure that suggests that if the foot-and-a-half tall toddler cried out for its mother, her wails probably sounded more like a chimp than a human baby.

“If you imagine how this child would have sounded if it was crying out for its mother, its cry would appeal more to chimp ears than to human ears,” said Fred Spoor of University College in London, who is helping studying the remains. “Even though it's a very early human ancestor, she would sound more ape-like than human-like.”

Watch for the young-Earthers to sieze on this as evidence that Lucy was “just an ape.” Also watch for them to dismiss out of hand the next paragraph:

The remains also confirm how much of a hybrid these creatures were between humans and apes. While they had legs like humans that enabled them to walk upright on two feet, they had shoulders like gorillas that may have also enabled them to climb trees; while their teeth seem to have grown quickly, like chimps' teeth, their brains may have matured more slowly, like humans.

That paragraph is obviously the product of the reporter's anti-Christian bias.

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Oh, and the creationists will doubtless seize upon the apparent death of the poor little thing in a flood.

Aha! More proof of the Genesis Flood!!

I can hear the arch-idiot Ken Ham now . . . . .
"Another ape drowned in the Great Flood!" . . . . . .

Ugh.

By waldteufel (not verified) on 20 Sep 2006 #permalink

It's probably because I've had a drink or two but I first read the title of this blog as 'New Fossil Hovind' found. That brought a smile to my face, imagining a fossilized Kent Hovind (although give it time and the U.S. government may do equally a good job of fossilizing him in the Big House).

He shoots! He Scores!

Jason beats the NY Times in bringing me hard hitting science news!

Yea for Jason!

I was reading the article and the comment about Ken Ham and couldnt help but wonder if this discovery really makes any contribution at all to the whole debate. I mean it seems that both sides are using faith-based presuppositions to interpret the skeleton (by faith based I mean to include both the Evolutionists and the Creationists).

Watch for the young-Earthers to sieze on this as evidence that Lucy was �just an ape.�

Ray Davis:

So I'm no better than the animals
sitting in their cages in the zoo man

'Cos compared to the flowers and the birds and the trees
I am an ape man

The remains also confirm how much of a hybrid these creatures were between humans and apes.

The obvious explanation is that this was an antediluvian community that allowed gay marriage, which of course is followed by humans mating with animals.

sparc:
FYI, That should be Ray Davies.

I wonder how long it will be before the creationists turn this into:
"Anthropologists studied Aferensis remains and found them to be a 3 year old child."

thus implying that *all* Aferensis finds are simply the misidentified remains of children.

After all they did it with Neanderthal: "This skeleton is a 50 year old man with arthritis and rickets!"

dis is so sad to find a little childs fossil