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.
Comments
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.
Posted by: waldteufel | September 20, 2006 5:56 PM
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).
Posted by: Timcol | September 20, 2006 8:41 PM
He shoots! He Scores!
Jason beats the NY Times in bringing me hard hitting science news!
Yea for Jason!
Posted by: Kevin | September 20, 2006 9:34 PM
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).
Posted by: Stephen | September 20, 2006 10:20 PM
Posted by: sparc | September 20, 2006 11:18 PM
Posted by: mark | September 21, 2006 12:41 PM
sparc:
FYI, That should be Ray Davies.
Posted by: Jim | September 21, 2006 4:36 PM
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!"
Posted by: KeithB | September 22, 2006 12:37 PM
RE: fossils
Fossil Find Is Missing Link in Human Evolution
http://beepbeepitsme.blogspot.com/2006/09/fossil-find-is-missing-link-in-human.html
Posted by: beepbeepitsme | September 24, 2006 6:38 AM
dis is so sad to find a little childs fossil
Posted by: BELINDA | June 15, 2009 8:29 PM