A team led by a Los Alamos scientist has emerged from the deserts of Ethiopia with new evidence for the evolution of our first upright-walking ancestor 4 million years ago.
The bones of Australopithecus anamensis capture a moment in pre-history when our ancestors were emerging from the woods on two legs, freeing up their hands for the evolutionary adventure that led to modern humans….
Scientists say that an evolutionary split in eastern Africa about 6 million years ago sent chimpanzees down one branch of our family tree and the hominids— our ancestors— down another.
In a couple of million years more, our ancestors had begun walking upright, freeing their hands and leading to a flurry of evolutionary change that included dexterous hands, large brains, and eventually space flight and the Survivor television franchise.
jfleck at inkstain
A few thoughts from John Fleck, a writer of journalism and other things, living in New Mexico
