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n2doc

(47,953 posts)
Wed Mar 4, 2015, 02:18 PM Mar 2015

Oldest Human Fossil Discovered In Ethiopia

Source: Voactiv

This 2.8 million-year-old jawbone may be the oldest human fossil in existence, according to two papers published simultaneously in Science. Researchers now suspect that Homo (the genus that includes modern humans) dates back at least 400,000 years earlier than previously thought.

For decades scientists have been scouring Africa for ancient human remains. Archaeologists think Homo habilis, the first truly “human-like” primate, lived about 2.5 million years ago, and Lucy, the human-ape mashup who is perhaps our most famous ancestor, lived about 3.2 million years ago.

But this particular fossil, found in the Afar region of Ethiopia and temporarily named LD 350-1, appears to be a new type of Homo that falls right between Lucy and Homo habilis. The fossil’s slim molars and proportionate jaw are hallmarks of habilis, for instance, but its primitive chin looks a lot more like Lucy’s. For now, the researchers are calling their discovery “Homo species indeterminate,” as they still aren’t exactly sure what it is.

Most 2.8 million-year-old fossils are too ancient to date by conventional means, so the researchers sampled volcanic ash above and below the jawbone and then used argon40 dating to determine the age of the eruption that formed each sample. The results give us the youngest and oldest dates that the hominin who owned LD 350-1 could have lived—2.5 and 2.8 million years ago, respectively.

Read more: http://www.vocativ.com/culture/science/oldest-human-fossil/



32 replies = new reply since forum marked as read
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Oldest Human Fossil Discovered In Ethiopia (Original Post) n2doc Mar 2015 OP
A story to come out is Billo interviewed the person belonging to this jawbone. kairos12 Mar 2015 #1
Right. Let's call it Fred or Barney. Spitfire of ATJ Mar 2015 #7
Despite this, Dr. Ben Carson still says it's a choice underpants Mar 2015 #2
Imagine what it was like pulling that out of the dirt. progressoid Mar 2015 #3
Looks like god is testing us again. Such a prankster is god.... Moonwalk Mar 2015 #4
Well man was and then women was made from him ybbor Mar 2015 #20
Does this mean that both Adam and Eve were Scorpios? Moonwalk Mar 2015 #21
Well I'm not sure ybbor Mar 2015 #25
Adam does strike me as a Libra. Unable to make up his mind about eating the fruit... Moonwalk Mar 2015 #28
Wait, does this mean Dr. Xavier Mar 2015 #5
It depends on whether you mean "homo" in the Greek or the Latin sense. Lionel Mandrake Mar 2015 #11
If you are in prison, Ben Carson says yes. And it's your choice. Thor_MN Mar 2015 #23
The missing link is now found? Botany Mar 2015 #6
Arrrrrgggggghhhh!!! My eyes, they burn!!! VWolf Mar 2015 #9
Needs his own TV SHOW. The Walker Dead. Brain dead as he is. kairos12 Mar 2015 #10
No, no a thousand times NO! The species Homo-Republicono is not a link in the rhett o rick Mar 2015 #14
Please... Neanderthals had yuiyoshida Mar 2015 #16
Genus/Species: Dumphuccis/Yoosless tomm2thumbs Mar 2015 #15
Thank goodness we've evolved so far since people used to look this primitive, slimy, and sleazy! n/t Judi Lynn Mar 2015 #29
The paleoanthropologist who discovered "Lucy" Jimbo S Mar 2015 #8
Oldest human fossil in existence? ashling Mar 2015 #12
Well there is the oldest living fossil n2doc Mar 2015 #17
Actually, there is an entire group of these ashling Mar 2015 #18
bravo! haha.... dhill926 Mar 2015 #27
He should make that one his official portrait! Judi Lynn Mar 2015 #30
Sheldon adelstein Doctor_J Mar 2015 #19
Planet of the Apes science is anti-Jesus! valerief Mar 2015 #13
Has to be. Otherwise Jesus would be descended from an Ape, too... Moonwalk Mar 2015 #22
I would have loved to spend a year with our ancestors jpak Mar 2015 #24
Don't tell Sarah........... raven mad Mar 2015 #26
Seems almost magical to me that it's more than just some dust, lost amid other dust. Wonderful. n/t Judi Lynn Mar 2015 #31
Abe Vigoda is reported to have said, "THAT'S MY BOY!!" bullwinkle428 Mar 2015 #32

kairos12

(12,851 posts)
1. A story to come out is Billo interviewed the person belonging to this jawbone.
Wed Mar 4, 2015, 02:29 PM
Mar 2015

Wait--he confused this story with watching the Flintstones.

Moonwalk

(2,322 posts)
4. Looks like god is testing us again. Such a prankster is god....
Wed Mar 4, 2015, 02:43 PM
Mar 2015

...he does love to fool these gullible anthropologists. We all know this is a fake and that the world and people were created only 6000 years ago. Right?

ybbor

(1,554 posts)
20. Well man was and then women was made from him
Wed Mar 4, 2015, 05:33 PM
Mar 2015

And yes I believe the date was 9 am, Saturday, October 23, 4004 BC. Times and dates are different depending on the website, but it was that week anyway.

We should ask Billo, I believe he saw Michealangelo's painting, "Creation of Adam" once so he was there.

ybbor

(1,554 posts)
25. Well I'm not sure
Wed Mar 4, 2015, 10:04 PM
Mar 2015

Some "text" say October 22, some say October 23. So they're on the cusp. Well at least Adam is. I'm not sure when Eve arrived. She was probably spending a lot of time primping. So I'm betting she is a Scorpio, probably had a vanity plate to signify it. No one else was ahead of her to get it before she could.

But what a really good question! I can't believe answers in Genesis didn't address that! Hmm, makes you wonder ...

Moonwalk

(2,322 posts)
28. Adam does strike me as a Libra. Unable to make up his mind about eating the fruit...
Thu Mar 5, 2015, 08:48 PM
Mar 2015

Weighing the options, etc. So, maybe October 22, end of the Libra cycle there. I don't imagine that god let Adam be lonely for long, so Eve had to have been made within the month that followed, making her a Scorpio. She's definitely knows what she wants and how to talk Adam into it. There's no saying "no" to a Scorpio when they've made up their minds.

Lionel Mandrake

(4,076 posts)
11. It depends on whether you mean "homo" in the Greek or the Latin sense.
Wed Mar 4, 2015, 03:47 PM
Mar 2015

The genus Homo comes from the Latin noun homo, hominis, which means man.

The English combining form "homo-" (as in "homogeneous" or "homosexual&quot comes from the Greek adjective ὁ?ό?, ή, ό?, which means same.

VWolf

(3,944 posts)
9. Arrrrrgggggghhhh!!! My eyes, they burn!!!
Wed Mar 4, 2015, 03:43 PM
Mar 2015

Jesus, couldn't you at least post a warning in the subject line?

 

rhett o rick

(55,981 posts)
14. No, no a thousand times NO! The species Homo-Republicono is not a link in the
Wed Mar 4, 2015, 03:56 PM
Mar 2015

line to normal current humans. That species branch goes clear back to the Neanderthals.

Judi Lynn

(160,515 posts)
29. Thank goodness we've evolved so far since people used to look this primitive, slimy, and sleazy! n/t
Thu Mar 5, 2015, 11:47 PM
Mar 2015

Jimbo S

(2,958 posts)
8. The paleoanthropologist who discovered "Lucy"
Wed Mar 4, 2015, 03:31 PM
Mar 2015

was on Wisconsin Public Radio yesterday. I believe he was in Madison for a conference(?) Anyhow, he mentioned a big story was going to break that night, but wasn't in a position to reveal it over the air at that time.

ashling

(25,771 posts)
12. Oldest human fossil in existence?
Wed Mar 4, 2015, 03:51 PM
Mar 2015

Or the oldest human fossil which has been unearthed. Unless, of course it does not become a fossil until somebody finds it.

ashling

(25,771 posts)
18. Actually, there is an entire group of these
Wed Mar 4, 2015, 04:49 PM
Mar 2015

You have supplied a picture of Densus Arizonus Mavrickus
It also includes Chenesus Horibilis,


Patrickus Fraudulus



and others

all are a subset of Subhomo Ignoramus Ubiquitous

Judi Lynn

(160,515 posts)
31. Seems almost magical to me that it's more than just some dust, lost amid other dust. Wonderful. n/t
Thu Mar 5, 2015, 11:55 PM
Mar 2015
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