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Article: Fossils Reveal Oldest Known Ancestor of Human Beings; New Species Closer to `Missing Link' With Apes
- Article from:
- The Washington Post
- Article date:
- September 22, 1994
- Author:
CopyrightThis material is published under license from the Washington Post. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Washington Post. (Hide copyright information)
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Scientists have discovered fossil evidence of a new species
that is the oldest known ancestor of human beings, and the closest
yet to the so-called missing link between humans and apes.
The remains, found in Ethiopia, are 4.4 million years old -
more than a half-million years older than any previously known human
ancestor. They also represent the first individuals from the era
during which Homo sapiens' predecessors still lived in the forest,
before their kind ventured onto open plains.
The new collection of bones and teeth from 17 individuals
provides "the oldest known link in the evolutionary chain that
connected us to our common ancestor with the living African apes,"
according to ...