Show Notes
Ardi is the name of the most complete early hominid specimen found to date. The Ardi skeleton was discovered in 1994 near the Awash River in Ethiopia. The first piece uncovered was a partial piece of a hand bond discovered by a college student, Yohannes Haile-Selassie. The discovery was made by a team of scientists led by UC Berkeley anthropologist, Tim D. White.
Even after humans evolved to walk upright, the opposable big toe stuck around.
The Bonobo also called the pygmy chimpanzee is an endangered primate located in Central Africa.
Bipedalism - form of terrestrial locomotion where an organism moves by means of its two rear limbs or legs
The Lucy specimen is an early hominin skeleton dated to about 3.2 million years ago.
Haile Selassie was the last Ethiopian emperor, which he held from 1930 until he was overthrown in 1974.
Image of the Ardi skeleton skull
Why herbivore chimpanzees have massive canines
Human’s canine teethes differ from chimpanzee’s likely due to monogamy in humans and the lack of aggression needed between males.
Modern humans originated in Africa approximately 270,000 years ago.
Other hominid species mentioned - Homo Floresiensis, Denisovan
Movies & Books mentioned
Fossil Men: The Quest for the Oldest Skeleton and the Origins of Humankind by Kermit Pattison