"Ida" not missing link in human evolution, claims scientist.Byline: ANI London, October 22 (ANI): A new analysis has determined that the exceptionally well-preserved fossil primate primate, member of the mammalian order Primates, which includes humans, apes, monkeys, and prosimians, or lower primates. The group can be traced to the late Cretaceous period, where members were forest dwellers. known as "Ida" is not a missing link as some have claimed, and it may have belonged to a group more closely linked to lemurs than to monkeys, apes or human beings. According to according to prep. 1. As stated or indicated by; on the authority of: according to historians. 2. In keeping with: according to instructions. 3. a report by BBC BBC in full British Broadcasting Corp. Publicly financed broadcasting system in Britain. A private company at its founding in 1922, it was replaced by a public corporation under royal charter in 1927. News, Dr Erik Seiffert from Stony Brook University The State University of New York at Stony Brook (SUNYSB), also known as Stony Brook University (SBU) is a public research university located in Stony Brook, New York (on the north side of Long Island, about 55 miles east of Manhattan, New York). , US, carried out the analysis. His team's conclusions come from an analysis of another fossil primate. The newly described animal - known as Afradapis longicristatus - lived some 37 million years ago in northern Egypt, during the Eocene epoch Eocene epoch (ē`əsēn'), second epoch of the Tertiary period in the Cenozoic era of geologic time, from approximately 54.9 to 38 million years ago. , and the researchers say it was closely related to Ida. Ida lived some 47 million years ago and was given the scientific name Darwinius masillae. Dr Seiffert and his colleagues say that both Afradapis and Darwinius were in a sister group to the so-called "higher primates", which includes humans. This extinct sister group, they say, was more closely related to lemurs and lorises. "The suggestion that Ida was specifically related to the higher primates, namely monkeys apes and humans, was actually a minority view from the start. So, it came as a surprise to many of us who are studying primate palaeontology," said Dr Seiffert. "Ida, which is a member of this genus called Darwinius, is in a fossil group Fossil Galaxy Groups, fossil Groups, or fossil clusters are believed to be the end-result of galaxy merging within a normal galaxy group, leaving behind the X-ray halo. Galaxies within a group interact and merge. called the Adapiforms which have traditionally been seen as more closely related to the lemurs and lorises - which live today in Madagascar, Africa and Asia - than to monkeys, apes and humans," he added. This group, including this new specimen, has a lot of traits that are found in apes and monkeys. "We have analysed a large data set based on observations we have made on almost 120 living and extinct primates and what we find is that Darwinius and this new genus that we've described are not part of our ancestry," said Dr Seiffert. "They are more closely related to lemurs and lorises than they are to tarsirs or monkeys, apes and humans. This study would effectively remove Ida from our ancestry," he added. (ANI) Copyright 2009 Asian News International The Asian News International (ANI) agency provides multimedia news to China and 50 bureaus in India. It covers virtually all of South Asia since its foundation and presently claims, on its official website, to be the leading South Asia-wide news agency. (ANI) - All Rights Reserved. Provided by Syndigate.info an Albawaba.com company |
|
||||||||||||||
Printer friendly
Cite/link
Email
Feedback
Reader Opinion