On May 19, 2009 a
47-million-year-old fossil was revealed to the public for the first time. This
primate, nicknamed “Ida” was proclaimed by the media to be the “missing link”
in human evolution and showed great promise in the quest to understand our species’
past. However, as the first descriptions of the fossil were released the
excitement dwindled as scientists realized that the missing puzzle piece was
still a mystery.
Ida
has been found to be a “new genus and species of adapiform primates, Darwinius massillae.” While Ida is
clearly a primate, she lacks certain characteristics that would put her in the Homo sapiens lineage. She is therefore
not a close relative to anthropoids, the group of primates that include humans,
monkeys, and apes.
Adapiforms, such as Ida, did not
have grooming claws or toothcombs. Despite the lack of these characteristics,
Ida’s anatomy is very similar to the living lemur. As seen in the diagram
above, her new lineage broke away from lemurs about three million years after
lemurs evolved. Despite the controversy surrounding Ida’s relatives, her
well-preserved form is very enlightening. Her stomach contents as well as some
details of her soft anatomy were well preserved. While Ida is clearly not a
link in our side of evolution, she may turn out to be a “missing link” between
certain species of Eocene adapiforms.
More recently, the discovery of a fossilized jaw bone has subtracted some of Ida's excitement. In 2009 a 4.4 million year old fossil thought to be a human ancestor was found. Called Ardipithecus, this fossil was intact with complete fur and skeletal framework. This discovery has caused a lot of debate about its relevance to human evolution as some people are skeptical about where it would fall in the evolutionary timeline.
Personally, I find both discoveries intriguing and questionable. Other than the fact that we will never truly know the origins of the human species, it is hard for me to believe such a simple looking creature could have evolved into the blog writing "intellectuals" that we are now. As with Ida, Ardi will help to fill in a missing puzzle piece from the past, but it will never be proven that she is that closely related to you and I.
Sources: Beard, Chris. "Why Ida fossil is not the missing
link." New Scientist. n. page. Web. 22 Feb. 2013.
<http://www.newscientist.com/article/dn17173-why-ida-fossil-is-not-the-missing-link.html>.
Weiss, Ken, Anne Buchanan, Holly Dunsworth, and Dan Parker. "A Chimp in Our Ancestry?." Mermaid's Tail. n. page. Web. 23 Mar. 2013. <http://ecodevoevo.blogspot.com/2009/11/chimp-in-our-ancestry.html>.
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How big was Ida, given that her anatomy resembles that of a lemur? Also, she joins Lucy among the "missing links" we periodically get excited about :)
ReplyDeleteWhere was Ida found? Did her location and/or surroundings/environment provide any other clues about possible similarities between humans? It seems like Ida is barely connected to human history at all. It's still extremely interesting to find another new species/genus!
ReplyDelete- Stella Keck
Have any possible descendants of Ida been identified? If not, then it would be a curious exploration finding out the reasons Ida's species went extinct. What made lemurs and lorises better adapted to survive than Ida? The lack of a toothcomb and grooming claw tells us that Ida was not one of the most primitive primates
ReplyDeleteLike Stella, I would also like to know where Ida was found and what clues that gives us? The exploration of surrounding areas could lead to the discovery of other fossils related to Ida, making her less of a mystery and more of a gateway for expanding the evolution tree.
ReplyDelete-Mary Morales
The environment of Ida could possibly provide some clues as to why her adaptations were not as suitable for survival as those of lemurs and lorises, or perhaps a change in the environment over time could provide insight into why Ida's species couldn't survive as well.
ReplyDeleteThe fact that Ida was found very well preserved potentially offers exciting insight into her species. I wonder what aspects of her existence were able to be discovered because of her condition - what sorts of clues were scientists able to uncover that can't be discerned from other fossils of related species? Knowledge of her environment would be especially helpful in this case coupled with the information available from her well-preserved remains, like the contents of her stomach.
ReplyDelete-Fatima Alvi
This was very interesting! Where exactly did they find Ida? I agree with Fatima that it would be helpful if we knew more about her environment.
ReplyDeleteLike Aydan, I'm curious to know how big Ida was given that it is similar to living lemur.
ReplyDeleteThis was very interesting, but I am kind of curious to know what characteristics was Ida lacking that would not put her in the same lineage as Homo sapiens. Also, I would like to know where Ida was found, how large Ida was, and if her stomach contents and the remains of her soft anatomy could possibly be used to classify and determine the evolutionary origin/past of Ida.
ReplyDelete-Daniel Johnson
What I am wondering is why this newly discovered species is named for Charles Darwin and not whoever classified or discovered it. This is a very interesting topic and a great example of sensationalism in the media confusing scientific issues.
ReplyDelete