 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
Identity Of Ancient Child Skeleton Found In Ethiopia Challenged
Pittsburgh PA (SPX) Oct 03, 2006 According to University of Pittsburgh anthropology professor Jeffrey Schwartz, author of the four-volume The Human Fossil Record (Wiley-Liss, 2002-05), "the discovery of any largely complete skeleton of an ancient human relative would be unique. The fact that it is a child makes it even more exciting because of what its bones and teeth might reveal that an adult's cannot." However, Schwartz said, there are questions about the species this specimen represents. He explained that the problem is that "Lucy" and this child specimen from Dikika have been placed in Australopithecus afarensis, which is not from Ethiopia but from Laetoli, a site in Tanzania thousands of kilometers to the south. But while other specimens from Laetoli are similar to this specimen, defined as A. afarensis, a recent study of virtually all the fossils from Lucy's region of Hadar by Schwartz and Ian Tattersall, curator of anthropology at the American Museum of Natural History in New York, has revealed that none is similar in detail to the fossils from Laetoli. "This means, of course, that no Hadar specimen is A. afarensis," said Schwartz, a fellow of the prestigious World Academy of Arts and Science. Just as Donald Johanson, discoverer of the 3.2 million-year old Lucy, initially suggested, Schwartz and Tattersall found there is more than one kind of hominid represented in the Hadar material. "Since the chewing surfaces of the Dikika child's teeth have not yet been exposed, one cannot compare it with any of the Hadar specimens or with the type specimen of A. afarensis from Laetoli," Schwarz explained. "Until this can be done, one cannot tell whether the Dikika child really is the first specimen of Ethiopian A. afarensis or, if not, whether it compares favorably with one of the hominids from Hadar or it represents a different taxon altogether." Community Email This Article Comment On This Article Related Links University of Pittsburgh Darwin Today At TerraDaily.com All About Human Beings and How We Got To Be Here All About Human Beings and How We Got To Be Here
Family Tree Of Confucius Has One And A Half Million Members
Qufu, China (XNA) Sep 28, 2006The family tree of Confucius, the revered Chinese thinker and educator, will number 1.5 million when the current update is completed. "More than 1 million descendants of Confucius will be added to the family tree in this update. Women members will be recorded for the first time," said Kong Dehong, a Confucius descendant directing the fifth update of the family tree, at a festival commemorating Confucius in his hometown -- Qufu in east China's Shandong province. |
|
|
| The content herein, unless otherwise known to be public domain, are Copyright 1995-2006 - SpaceDaily.AFP and UPI Wire Stories are copyright Agence France-Presse and United Press International. ESA PortalReports are copyright European Space Agency. All NASA sourced material is public domain. Additionalcopyrights may apply in whole or part to other bona fide parties. Advertising does not imply endorsement,agreement or approval of any opinions, statements or information provided by SpaceDaily on any Web page published or hosted by SpaceDaily. Privacy Statement |
