Scientists Discover Common Ancestor of Monkeys, Apes, and Humans 391
reporter writes "According to a report by the Wall Street Journal, scientists have discovered the common ancestor of monkeys, apes, and Slashdotters. The 47 million year old fossils were discovered in Germany. The ancestor physically resembles today's lemur. Quoting: 'The skeleton will be unveiled at New York City's American Museum of Natural History next Tuesday by Mayor Michael Bloomberg and an international team involved in the discovery. According to Prof. Gingerich, the fossilized remains are of a young female adapid. The skeleton was unearthed by collectors about two years ago and has been kept tightly under wraps since then, in an unusual feat of scientific secrecy. Prof. Gingerich said he had twice examined the adapid skeleton, which was "a complete, spectacular fossil." The completeness of the preserved skeleton is crucial, because most previously found fossils of ancient primates were small finds, such as teeth and jawbones.'"
Oh this is gonna be fun :) (Score:5, Funny)
Trying to learn what we don't know is how we grow.
I found the missing link a little while ago though- I had a conversation over coffee a couple of weeks ago with someone who turned out to be a creationist. We ended up having the dreaded creationism-vs-darwinism "discussion". The gentleman in question was extremely stubborn, and his coffin-nail-arguement against darwinism, believe it or not, was that there was "no proof of evolution". I spewed trying to contain my laughter. Needless to say, the conversation ended at that point quite abruptly.
A fascinating discovery though.
Re:Oh this is gonna be fun :) (Score:5, Funny)
Give him time. I once believed in creationism, but slowly, over time, I changed. Now I believe in evolution.
Slashdotters? (Score:5, Funny)
Disappointing (Score:3, Funny)
I wanted to see pictures of this fossil. Preferably high-resolution images that I can gaze and and imagine what it looked like with flesh and fur, climbing, running and using simple tools. But no... no such thing. Just a picture of a lemur.
Re:In Germany???? (Score:5, Funny)
"Is this a revolutionary finding? Shouldn't the common ancestors be in Africa?"
If this is really a common ancestor of Slashdotters, the maternal basement/cave will be nearby and yield further clues.
claws (Score:2, Funny)
Since the fossilized creature found in Germany didn't have features like a tooth comb or grooming claw, it could be argued that it gave rise to monkeys, apes and humans, which don't have these features either.
humans don't have a grooming claw? I've got 2 of them!
Re:Slashdotters? (Score:5, Funny)
Not true. We're social, but only with our own kind. For instance, I saw the new Star Trek movie last night. When the house lights went up afterwards, I looked around and noticed the kids had already left and those who remained were my fellow nerds. It was so obvious that we all kind of laughed about it on the way out of the theater.
Re:In Germany???? (Score:5, Funny)
No he's not confusing anything. These lemur-like creatures were the nerds of their day. Of course they lived in maternal basement caves. Look at their eyes, man. Probably hopped up on Mountain Cacao Pods all the time. They invented the net, and spent all their time trying to find interesting things to put in their nets.
Sadly, this race of proto-nerds did not survive, as the males of the species were singularly unattractive to the females and they were unable to procreate.
This is old news (Score:4, Funny)
We've actually known about Rosie O'Donnell for some time now.
Re:"World's Most Overhyped Science Headline?" ... (Score:3, Funny)
"How is the news being anticipated in the scientific community? 'I honestly think this is an incredible job of marketing,' says paleontologist K. Christopher Beard of the Carnegie Museum of Natural History in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, who has not seen the report but has read the news. He points out that other fossils of similar age from China, Myanmar, and India have also been proposed as some of the earliest anthropoids. 'At this stage, color me skeptical.'"
So he admits to not RTFA but won't believe it? Yup, clearly a slashdotter.
Re:Evolution is real -- even for modern man. (Score:4, Funny)
You should ask one of them to explain "anecdotal evidence" to you. Then maybe some statistics, including significance levels and sampling theory.
Re:How can that be? (Score:3, Funny)
I always thought it was in January of 1970...
Re:In Germany???? (Score:4, Funny)
Okay, maybe they died out because they had no sense of humor.
Re:creationism/evolution (Score:3, Funny)
Re:"World's Most Overhyped Science Headline?" ... (Score:3, Funny)
A guy from a competing institution who hasn't even seen the report, is skeptical?
No shit - how is that a point?
and slashdotters to? (Score:5, Funny)
Then the only appropriate classificaiton name would be "Cowardus Anonymous Vulgaris".
Re:creationism/evolution (Score:5, Funny)
(Boy, is this going to cost me karma...)
Hey, would you mind if I borrowed that next time I want to get modded up? Thanks!
Are you suggesting that fossils migrate . . . ? (Score:3, Funny)
If the fossils are 47 million years old, they had about 45 million years in which to migrate.
. . . of course, they might have been carried by a unladen European Swallow from Africa to Germany . . .
Poster has a different opinion than the article (Score:2, Funny)
Slashdotters Evolved From Penguins (Score:3, Funny)
"According to a report by the Wall Street Journal, scientists have discovered the common ancestor of monkeys, apes, and Slashdotters."
Defaming monkeys and apes are we?
Re:creationism/evolution (Score:1, Funny)
Obviously, thousands of years ago, we were different
Thousands of years ago, we were not different. Tens of thousands of years ago, we may have been slightly different.
The earth is less than ten thousand years old, you ignorant pagan.
His noodley precursor. (Score:2, Funny)
Re:Oh this is gonna be fun :) (Score:3, Funny)
apparently, the ability to get a joke is not a trait that is naturally selected for.
Re:Oh this is gonna be fun :) (Score:3, Funny)
I agree: the author of the comment, most probably, is not Wittgenstein.
Re:This is old news (Score:1, Funny)
DO NOT tell me we are evolved from Rosie O'Donnell! Otherwise I am with the creationists!