Prehistoric Cultures

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"'Ardi' stood about 47 inches (120 centimeters) tall and weighed about 110 pounds (50 kilograms)."
National Geographic

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"Ardi"

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Ardipithecus -- Wikipedia

search Ardipithecus on JSTOR

"This row of images shows the male canine condition of Ardipithecus ramidus (center digital image) intermediate in size between humans (left) and chimpanzees. The reduced size of canine teeth is an indication of a shift in social behavior away from male-male aggression, and is one of the hallmarks of the human lineage."
National Geographic

"A fairly complete skeleton of Ardipithecus ramidus, which replaced Lucy as the earliest known skeleton from the human branch of the primate family tree."
National Geographic

• 'Ardi' Skull Reveals Links to Human Lineage -- ScienceNews (06 January 2014)
  
  
• Ardi’s Kind Had a Skull Fit for a Hominid -- ScienceNews (15 April 2013)
  
  
• River Bank Life of Early Humans -- Past Horizons (15 January 2012)
  
  
• Humans Originated Near Rivers, Evidence Suggests -- Live Science (20 December 2011)
  
  
• Human Ancestors Have Identity Crisis -- DiscoveryNews (17 February 2011)
  
  
• Scientists Challenge ‘Breakthrough’ on Fossil Skeleton -- New York Times (25 May 2010)
  
  
• 'Ardi' Questioned as Human Ancestor -- DiscoveryNews (27 May 2010)
  
  
• Ardi - Cousin of the 'Missing Link' - Named Scientific Breakthrough of 2009 -- Telegraph (18 December 2009)
  
  
• Human-like fossil find is breakthrough of the year -- BBC News (17 December 2009)
  
  
• Primatologists Go Ape Over Ardi -- Science (26 October 2009)

In the news . . .

PCforum: Topic 2 -- Why the Big Fuss Over "Ardi"?
f2009

In one of it's biggest splashes ever, Texas A&M's "Anthropology in the News" on 10 October 2009 announced "Ardi" Ardipithecus ramidis, a species featured in this week's Science <http://www.sciencemag.org/ardipithecus/> "A fairly complete skeleton of Ardipithecus ramidus, which replaced Lucy as the earliest known skeleton from the human branch of the primate family tree." More photos from The New York Times Fossil Skeleton From Africa Predates Lucy -- New York Times (01 October 2009) 1 - Ancient Skeleton May Rewrite Earliest Chapter of Human Evolution - Science (01 October 2009) 2 - Our Ancestor: Not Chimp, Not Human -- Live Science (01 October 2009) 3 - Before 'Lucy,' There Was 'Ardi': First Major Analysis Of Early Hominid Published In Science -- Science Daily (01 October 2009) 4 - Move Over, Lucy; Ardi May Be Oldest Human Ancestor -- NPR (01 October 2009) 5 - Discovery in Ethiopia casts light on human origins -- Reuters (02 October 2009) 6 - Fossils radically alter ideas about the look of man's earliest ancestors -- Los Angeles Times (01 October 2009) 7 - Oldest "Human" Skeleton Found--Disproves "Missing Link" -- National Geographic News (01 October 2009) 8 - PHOTOS: Oldest "Human" Skeleton Refutes "Missing Link" -- National Geographic News (01 October 2009) 9 - Fossil Ardi reveals the first steps of the human race -- Guardian (01 October 2009) 10 - 'Ardi:' 4.4 Million-Year-Old Fossil is Oldest Human Ancestor -- ABC News (01 October 2009) 11 - Oldest hominid skeleton provides new evidence for human evolution -- EurekAlert (01 October 2009) 12 - 'Ardi,' Oldest Human Ancestor, Unveiled -- Discovery News (01 October 2009) 13 - Partial skeleton gives ancient hominids a new look -- Science News (01 October 2009) 14 - World’s oldest human-linked skeleton found -- MSNBC (01 October 2009) 15 - 'Ardi' May Rewrite the Story of Humans -- Washington Post (02 October 2009) 16 - Oldest hominid skeleton revealed -- Nature (01 October 2009) 17 - Our ancestor Ardi walked tall -- New Scientist (01 October 2009) 18 - Fossil finds extend human story -- BBC News (01 October 2009) 19 - Humanity Has New 4.4 Million-Year-Old Baby Mama -- Wired (01 October 2009) 20 - Ardi's Secret: Did Early Humans Start Walking for Sex? -- National Geographic News (01 October 2009) 21 - Researchers Unearth A Hominid More Ancient Than Lucy -- NPR (02 October 2009) 22 - Creationists Say Science and Bible Disprove 'Ardi' Fossil Is Evidence of Evolution -- ABC News (2009-10-07) 23 - Fossil rewrites early human evolution -- Nature (2009-10-06) 24 - Yes, Ardi Evolved From Apes -- Science (2009-10-07) 25 - Early hominid first walked on 2 legs in the woods -- EurekAlert (2009-10-08) 26 - Early Hominid First Walked On Two Legs In The Woods -- ScienceDaily (2009-10-08)   Have a look at two or more of the above articles, and the course Ardipithecus ramidis page <http://www.d.umn.edu/cla/faculty/troufs/anth1602/pcardipithecus.html#title> Questions: Why do you think there is this big fuss over "Ardi"? Do you think this qualifies as "a major discovery" talked about on the first day of class? Why or why not?   From the text . . . Key Pre-Australopith Discoveries. Understanding Humans, 10th Ed., p. 216 Table 9-3 estimated Cranial Capacities in Early Hominins with Comparable Data for Modern Great Apes and Humans. Understanding Humans, 10th Ed., p. 225

• ramidus
  
  
  • Ardipithecus ramidis -- Lorraine Dallmeier
    
    
  • Ardipithecus ramidis -- James Q. Jacobs
    
    
  • Discovering Ardi -- Discovery Channel

• Fossils From Ethiopia May Be Earliest Human Ancestor -- National Geographic News
  
  
• Our Ethiopian Ancestors -- Part 1: Ardipithecus ramidus kadabba -- About.com
  
  
• Ardipithecus ramidus -- archaeologyinfo.com
  
  
• Australopithecus / Ardipithecus ramidus -- A Look at Modern Human Origins
  
  
• Fossils Suggest Earliest Human Ancestor -- washingtonpost.com
  
  
• New early human fossils -- Nature
  
  
• One Giant Step for Mankind -- TIME.com (good maps)
  
  
• Bickering Over Old Bones -- MSNBC
  
  
• Teeth and bones stir human debate -- BBC News

Orrorin / Ardipithecus / Australopithecus / Kenyanthropus Early Human Phylogeny -- National Museum of Natural History Times to Remember Timeline -- Maricopa College Hominids | Primates -- Contemporary | Primates -- Prehistoric   to top of page / A-Z index
Subfamily	Genus	Species	Example	Alternative Name
	Ardipithecus	ramidus	"Ardi"
Australo- pithecines	Australo- pithecus	anamensis
		afarensis	"Lucy"
		africanus	Taung
		garhi
		aethiopicus	"Black Skull"	Paranthropus (aka A. robustus)
		boisei	"Zinj"
		robustus	Swartkrans
	Kenyanthropus	platyops	"Flat-faced Kenya Man"
	Orrorin	tugenensis	"Millenium Man"
Adapted from Intoduction to Physical Anthropology, 8th ed, Jurmain, Nelson, Kilgore, and Trevathand (Belmont, CA: Wadsworth/Thomson Learning, 2000, pp. 285 - 290).

"The Middle Awash study area, where the Ardipithecus bones were found,
is on the Awash River about 140 miles (230 kilometers) from the Ethiopian capital of Addis Ababa."
National Geographic

"A. ramidus (artist's reconstruction, center) was adapted both to climbing in the trees and walking on the ground, according to researchers who studied its fossils. In this illustration, a reconstruction of A. ramidus appears between a silhouette of a chimpanzee (left) and one of Australopithecus afarensis, all scaled to be the same height."
National Geographic