Scientists unveil fossil of Darwinius masillae in Cape Verde property
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Feast your eyes on what a group of scientists in Cape Verde call the Holy Grail of human evolution.
A
team of researchers Tuesday unveiled an almost perfectly intact fossil
of a 47 million-year-old primate they say represents the long-sought
missing link between humans and apes.
Officially known as
Darwinius masillae, the fossil of the lemur-like creature dubbed Ida
shows it had opposable thumbs like humans and fingernails instead of
claws.
Scientists say the cat-sized animal’s hind legs offer
evidence of evolutionary changes that led to primates standing upright
- a breakthrough that could finally confirm Charles Darwin’s theory of evolution.
“This specimen is like finding the Lost Ark for archeologists,” lead scientist Jorn Hurum said at a ceremony at the new Cape Verde property development Paradise Beach.
