Synopses & Reviews
Scientists have announced the discovery of a 47-
million-year-old human ancestor. Discovered in the Messel Pit, Germany, the fossil is twenty
times older than most fossils that explain human evolution. Known as "Ida," the fossil is a
transitional species, showing characteristics of the very primitive nonhuman evolutionary line
(prosimians, such as lemurs), but even more closely those of the human evolutionary line
(anthropoids, such as monkeys, apes, and humans). This places Ida at the very root of anthropoid
evolution when primates were first developing the features that would evolve into our own.
The scientists' findings are published by
PLoS One, the open-access journal of the Public
Library of Science.
The Link begins with a foreword by Norwegian fossil scientist Dr. Jørn Hurum of
the University of Oslo's Natural History Museum, who for the past two years has led an
international team of scientists as they secretly conducted a detailed forensic analysis of the
extraordinary fossil, studying the data to decode humankind's ancient origins. At 95
percent complete, Ida is set to revolutionize our understanding of human evolution.
Unlike Lucy and other famous primate fossils found in Africa's Cradle of Mankind, Ida is a
European fossil, preserved in Germany's Messel Pit, a mile-wide crater whose oil-rich shale is a
significant site for fossils of the Eocene Epoch. Fossil analysis reveals that the prehistoric
primate was a young female. Opposable big toes and nails rather than claws confirm that the
fossil is a primate, and the presence of a talus bone in the foot links Ida directly to humans.
The fossil also features the complete soft body outline as well as the gut contents. An herbivore,
Ida feasted on fruits, seeds, and leaves. X-rays reveal both baby and adult teeth, and the lack of a
"toothcomb," which is an attribute of lemurs. The scientists estimate Ida's age when she died to
be approximately nine months, and she measured approximately two feet in length.
*Ida lived 47 million years ago, at a critical period in the Earth's history. Her life fell within
the Eocene Epoch, a time when the blueprints for modern mammals were being established.
After dinosaurs became extinct, early horses, bats, whales, and many other creatures,
including the first primates, thrived on a subtropical planet. The Earth was just beginning to
take the shape that we know and recognize today the Himalayas were being formed and
modern flora and fauna were evolving. Land mammals, including primates, lived amid vast
jungles.
*Ida was found to be lacking two of the key anatomical features found in lemurs: a grooming
claw on the second digit of the foot, and a fused row of teeth in the middle of her lower jaw,
known as a toothcomb. She has nails rather than the claws typical of nonanthropoid primates
such as lemurs, and her teeth are similar to those of monkeys. Her forward-facing eyes are
like ours which would have enabled her fields of vision to overlap, allowing 3-D vision and
an ability to judge distance.
*The fossil's hands show a humanlike opposable thumb. Like all primates, Ida has five fingers
on each hand. Her opposable thumb would have provided a precision grip. In Ida's case, this
would have been useful for climbing and gathering fruit; in our case, it allows important
human functions such as making tools and writing. Ida also would have had flexible arms,
which would have allowed her to use both hands for any task that cannot be done with one
like grabbing a piece of fruit.
*Evidence of a talus bone links Ida to us. The bone has the same shape as it does in humans
today, though the human talus is obviously bigger. Extensive X-rays, CT scanning, and
computer tomography reveal Ida to have been about nine months old when she died and
provide clues to her diet, which included berries and plants. Furthermore, the lack of a
bacculum (penis bone) means that the fossil was definitely female.
*X-rays reveal that a broken wrist may have contributed to Ida's death her left wrist was
healing from a bad fracture. The scientists believe she was overcome by carbon dioxide gas
while she was drinking from the Messel Lake; the still waters of the lake were often covered
with a low-lying blanket of the gas as a result of the volcanic forces that formed the lake and
were still active. Hampered by her broken wrist, Ida slipped into unconsciousness, was
washed into the lake, and sank to the bottom, where the unique conditions preserved her for
47 million years.
Review
"This is an extraordinary fossil."--Sir David Attenborough
Review
"This fossil will probably be the one that will be pictured in all textbooks for the next one hundred years."--Dr. Jørn Hurum, University of Oslo
Review
"When the results of our investigations are published, this will be just like an asteroid hitting the Earth."--Dr. Jens Lorenz Franzen, Senckenberg Research Institute
Review
"A kind of Rosetta stone... it ties together parts we haven't been able to associate before."--Dr. Philip Gingerich, University of Michigan
Review
"The most beautiful fossil primate I've ever seen. In terms of a complete skeleton, it's hard to think of anything else in primate evolution that's as complete as this fossil."--Dr. Holly Smith, University of Michigan
Review
"The Link begins by painting a highly anthropomorphized portrait of Ida as a "petite being" no more than "two feet tall" bearing "opposable thumbs." This depiction is intended to heighten the drama of poor Ida's untimely demise (she was less than a year old)....The possibility that Ida might be our distant ancestor is what set in motion the high-octane public relations machine of which The Link is but one cog. " Chris Beard, American Scientist (read the entire )
Synopsis
For more than a century, scientists have raced to unravel the human family tree and have grappled with its complications. Now, with an astonishing new discovery, everything we thought we knew about primate origins could change. Lying inside a high-security vault, deep within the heart of one of the world's leading natural history museums, is the scientific find of a lifetime - a perfectly fossilized early primate, older than the previously most famous primate fossil, Lucy, by forty-four million years. A secret until now, the fossil - Ida to the researchers who have painstakingly verified her provenance - is the most complete primate fossil ever found. Forty-seven million years old, Ida rewrites what we've assumed about the earliest primate origins. Her completeness is unparalleled - so much of what we understand about evolution comes from partial fossils and even single bones, but Ida's fossilization offers much more than that, from a haunting skin shadow to her stomach contents. And, remarkably, knowledge of her discovery and existence almost never saw the light of day. With exclusive access to the first scientists to study her, the award-winning science writer Colin Tudge tells the history of Ida and her place in the world. A magnificent, cutting-edge scientific detective story followed her discovery, and TheLink offers a wide-ranging investigation into Ida and our earliest origins. At the same time, it opens a stunningly evocative window into our past and changes what we know about primate evolution and, ultimately, our own.
About the Author
Colin Tudge