Topic ID #7770 - posted 6/3/2010 2:03 PM
Jennifer Palmer
Webmaster
Out of the Woods for 'Ardi' - Early Human Habitat Was Savanna, Not Forest, Scientists Argue
Jennifer Palmer
Webmaster
ScienceDaily (May 28, 2010) — Ardipithecus ramidus -- a purported human ancestor that was dubbed Science magazine's 2009 "Breakthrough of the Year" -- is coming under fire from scientists who say there is scant evidence for her discoverers' claims that there were dense woodlands at the African site where the creature lived 4.4 million years ago.
Instead, "there is abundant evidence for open savanna habitats," says University of Utah geochemist Thure Cerling, lead author of a critique published as a "technical comment" in the May 28 issue of Science.
The criticism -- by eight geologists and anthropologists from seven universities -- is important because the claim that the 4.4-million-year-old fossil nicknamed Ardi lived in woodlands and forest patches was used as an argument against a longstanding theory of human evolution known as the savanna hypothesis.
That hypothesis holds that an expansion of savannas -- grassy plains dotted with trees and shrubs -- prompted ape-like ancestors of humans to descend from the trees and start walking upright to find food more efficiently or to reach other trees for shelter or resources.
Read the rest of the article here.
Instead, "there is abundant evidence for open savanna habitats," says University of Utah geochemist Thure Cerling, lead author of a critique published as a "technical comment" in the May 28 issue of Science.
The criticism -- by eight geologists and anthropologists from seven universities -- is important because the claim that the 4.4-million-year-old fossil nicknamed Ardi lived in woodlands and forest patches was used as an argument against a longstanding theory of human evolution known as the savanna hypothesis.
That hypothesis holds that an expansion of savannas -- grassy plains dotted with trees and shrubs -- prompted ape-like ancestors of humans to descend from the trees and start walking upright to find food more efficiently or to reach other trees for shelter or resources.
Read the rest of the article here.
|
Next topic: "Neanderthals Walked Into Frozen Britain 40,000 Years Earlier Than First Thought, Evidence Shows" |
|
Previous topic: "History dig debris is eyesore no more" |
|
Looking for something else? Show recent posts in Discussion |