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Results tagged “Fossils”

Friday, October 2, 2009
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Oldest Human Ancestor Skeleton Found

Illustration: "Ardi"
The oldest known fossil skeleton of a human ancestor--a female Ardipithecus ramidus specimen nicknamed "Ardi" (pictured)--has been found, scientists revealed yesterday.

The find reveals that our ancestors underwent a previously unknown stage of evolution more than a million years before Lucy, the early human ancestor specimen that walked the Earth 3.2 million years ago. Ardi lived 4.4 million years ago, according to researchers.

See more pictures, a map, and read a report of the discovery on National Geographic News.

Learn more from Science magazine.

Illustration courtesy J. H. Matternes via Science/AAAS
 
Tuesday, February 10, 2009
kidssuperadmin

Oldest Human Hair Found in Hyena Poop Fossil?

The oldest human hairs ever found were discovered in an unusual place--hyena poop! Researchers found the rock-hard dung in a cave in South Africa. They used tweezers to extract 40 fossilized hairs resembling glass needles from one of the hyena coprolites, or fossil turd.

Read the whole story on National Geographic News.

Get the scoop on spotted hyenas in the Creature Feature.
 

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