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Most complete skeleton of ancient relative of man found
Telegraph UK ^ | Thursday, July 13, 2012 | AFP

Posted on 07/13/2012 5:18:56 PM PDT by SunkenCiv

The remains of a juvenile hominid skeleton, of the newly identified Australopithecus (southern ape) sediba species, are the "most complete early human ancestor skeleton ever discovered," according to Lee Berger, a paleontologist from the University of Witwatersrand.

"We have discovered parts of a jaw and critical aspects of the body including what appear to be a complete femur (thigh bone), ribs, vertebrae and other important limb elements, some never before seen in such completeness in the human fossil record," said Prof Berger.

The latest discovery was made in a one-metre-wide rock that lay unnoticed for years in a laboratory until a technician incidentally saw a tooth sticking out of the black stone last month.

It was then scanned to reveal significant parts of A. sediba, whose other parts were discovered in 2009 in the world-famous Cradle of Humankind north of Johannesburg.

It is not certain whether the species, which had long arms, a small brain and a thumb, was a direct ancestor of humans' genus, Homo, or simply a close relative.

"It appears that we now have some of the most critical and complete remains of the skeleton," said Berger.

Other team members were equally enthusiastic.

"It's like putting together the pieces of a puzzle," university laboratory manager Bonita De Klerk said.

The skeleton is thought to be around two million years old and would have been aged between nine and 13 years when the upright-walking tree climber died.

De Klerk said: "It was in packing this (stone) up in the vehicle to go and be scanned that one of our technicians actually noticed a tooth sticking out on the surface and he called Lee over and said, 'Oh, I think this is a hominid tooth', and he was right."

(Excerpt) Read more at telegraph.co.uk ...


TOPICS: History; Science; Travel
KEYWORDS: africa; australopithecus; godsgravesglyphs; southafrica
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To: al baby

Great, now I’m hungry.


21 posted on 07/13/2012 6:14:57 PM PDT by SunkenCiv (https://secure.freerepublic.com/donate/)
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To: cripplecreek

:’D


22 posted on 07/13/2012 6:15:32 PM PDT by SunkenCiv (https://secure.freerepublic.com/donate/)
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To: umgud

And not *just* the first one...


23 posted on 07/13/2012 6:17:42 PM PDT by SunkenCiv (https://secure.freerepublic.com/donate/)
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To: Kenny Bunk

During prohibition he took up a different kind of smuggling working as a diver for the Purple gang in Detroit. They smuggled alcohol on the hulls of boats crossing the Detroit river.


24 posted on 07/13/2012 6:18:39 PM PDT by cripplecreek (What does it profit a man if he gains the whole world but loses his soul?)
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To: SunkenCiv; a fool in paradise

Relative of a man? What man? Names, please!


25 posted on 07/13/2012 6:19:39 PM PDT by Revolting cat! (Bad things are wrong!)
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To: cripplecreek

They don’t make great-grandfathers like that anymore. And thanks for answering the question. I was secretly hopping that he had not changed his ways.


26 posted on 07/13/2012 6:23:31 PM PDT by Kenny Bunk (So, Scalia, Alito, Thomas, and FU Roberts can't figure out if Obama is a Natural Born Citizen?)
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To: Kenny Bunk

He and my great grandmother used to go drinking and dancing into their 80s.


27 posted on 07/13/2012 6:28:33 PM PDT by cripplecreek (What does it profit a man if he gains the whole world but loses his soul?)
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To: Kenny Bunk
I was secretly hopping

Like that?


28 posted on 07/13/2012 6:30:23 PM PDT by Revolting cat! (Bad things are wrong!)
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To: Revolting cat!

Is that James Whitmore?


29 posted on 07/13/2012 7:06:08 PM PDT by al baby (Hi Mom)
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To: al baby

Spencer Tracy (not the one hopping!)


30 posted on 07/13/2012 7:10:30 PM PDT by Revolting cat! (Bad things are wrong!)
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To: Revolting cat!

Tanks i should have known


31 posted on 07/13/2012 7:15:16 PM PDT by al baby (Hi Mom)
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To: SunkenCiv

yep, some pieces of the puzzle found in ‘09 in Johannesburg ..... so they say....


32 posted on 07/13/2012 7:50:17 PM PDT by nevermorelenore
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To: SunkenCiv

“Most complete skeleton of ancient relative of man found”

Somehow, this story seems linked with “old mail day” in Hooterville.


33 posted on 07/13/2012 7:56:48 PM PDT by aMorePerfectUnion ("I'm comfortable with a Romney win." - Pres. Jimmy Carter)
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To: nevermorelenore

No, “they” don’t.


34 posted on 07/13/2012 8:14:58 PM PDT by SunkenCiv (https://secure.freerepublic.com/donate/)
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To: al baby

Those mushrooms went straight to her ass.


35 posted on 07/13/2012 8:21:36 PM PDT by SunkenCiv (https://secure.freerepublic.com/donate/)
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To: cripplecreek

That’s interesting. What year did your great grandfather sail?


36 posted on 07/13/2012 10:26:07 PM PDT by Melian ("Where will wants not, a way opens.")
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To: Revolting cat!
You in a heap'o'trouble if I ever learn how to HTML that kinds stuff.

LOL. & don't be a-tellin' my English treacher.

37 posted on 07/13/2012 11:29:09 PM PDT by Kenny Bunk (So, Scalia, Alito, Thomas, and FU Roberts can't figure out if Obama is a Natural Born Citizen?)
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To: Revolting cat!; cripplecreek

Enough fooling around. Obama and ACORN want that South African Ancestor registered immediately. Get her an EBT card and a hoodie, while you’re at it.


38 posted on 07/13/2012 11:32:55 PM PDT by Kenny Bunk (So, Scalia, Alito, Thomas, and FU Roberts can't figure out if Obama is a Natural Born Citizen?)
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To: SunkenCiv

Upon seeing the pic, Helen Thomas immediately identified it as her ex-husband.


39 posted on 07/13/2012 11:36:46 PM PDT by dfwgator (FUJR (not you, Jim))
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To: Melian

He arrived in Detroit in 1912.


40 posted on 07/14/2012 2:39:40 AM PDT by cripplecreek (What does it profit a man if he gains the whole world but loses his soul?)
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