Man came down from the trees much later than thought: New analysis of 3.3m-year-old girl shows shoulders adapted for climbing. Fossilised shoulder blades of three-year-old Australopithecus afarensis from Ethiopia show her kind were still adapted for tree climbingShe is of the same species as Lucy, the famous 3.2million year old skeleton discovered in partial form in 1974 By Damien Gayle Published: 11:02 GMT, 26 October 2012 | Updated: 16:07 GMT, 26 October 2012 One ancient little girl: The skull of Selam, whose remains have now revealed that human ancestors remained tree-climbers for longer than thought Analysis of the bones of a girl who died 3.3million years ago in East Africa suggests our ancestors came down from the trees later than many scientists thought.
The fossilised shoulder blades of Selam, a three-year-old unearthed in Dikika, Ethiopia, show features that suggest she and her family were able climbers - despite also being adapted for walking on the ground. Selam is a remarkably well-preserved example of Australopithecus afarensis, thought to be an important forerunner of modern human beings. Our ancestors speak out after 3 million years - life - 23 November 2011. By Charles Harvey Listen to simulations of our ancestors’ first sounds YOU may think humanity’s first words are lost in the noise of ancient history, but an unlikely experiment using plastic tubes and puffs of air is helping to recreate the first sounds uttered by our distant ancestors.
Many animals communicate with sounds, but it is the variety of our language that sets us apart. Over millions of years, changes to our vocal organs have allowed us to produce a rich mix of sounds. One such change was the loss of the air sac – a balloon-like organ that helps primates to produce booming noises. All primates have an air sac except humans, in whom it has shrunk to a vestigial organ. To find out how this changed the sounds produced, Bart de Boer of the University of Amsterdam in the Netherlands created artificial vocal tracts from shaped plastic tubes. De Boer played the sounds to 22 people and asked them to identify the vowel. What, then, might our ancestors’ first words have been?
Evolution. Geologists fight for paleontological park in Peru desert where extraordinary fossils can be preserved. Strong winds are 'worst enemy of the fossils' according to excavation team Discovered remains of minke whale believed to be 3.6 million years oldThe fossilized remains of roughly 15 of the marine mammals are currently on view in the Ocucaje desert, southern Peru By Jill Reilly Published: 16:16 GMT, 12 July 2012 | Updated: 08:58 GMT, 13 July 2012 As the strong winds blow across the vast sandy expanse, the future of the ancient fossils residing in a Peruvian desert are in jeopardy.
Geologists have spent the past few years painstakingly exploring the vast whale cemetery which dates back millions of years, but today the biggest threat to the ancient find is a battle against the abrasive elements. The fossilised remains of roughly 15 of the majestic marine mammals were discovered in the Ocucaje desert some 310 kilometers (190 miles) south of the capital Lima. Painstaking work: An archeologist brushes the fossilized jaw of a whale lying on the desert pavement of Ocucaje, 310 km south of Lima.