Meet Ardipithecus ramidus

Posted Tuesday, December 29, 2009

Cleveland researchers and their international colleagues studied a 4.4 million-year-old skeleton from Ethiopia for the past 15 years; they say the result will completely shift understanding of human evolution. Ardipithecus ramidus walked upright but could also climb trees pretty well, though not as well as a chimp. A million years older than her more famous cousin Lucy(Australopithecus afarensis), Ardi, as she is now known, was closer to human size. Tuesday morning at 9, we rebroadcast the story of her discovery, how researchers pieced together an understanding of her life and our ancestors, and the debate she has opened on the exact shape of the hominid family tree.

Guests

Yohannes Haile-Selassie Curator and Head of Physical Anthropology, Cleveland Museum of Natural History
Scott Simpson Department of Anatomy, Case Western Reserve University
Bruce Latimer Department of Anthropology, Case Western Reserve University
Bernard Wood Department of Anatomy, George Washington University

Additional Information

Science Magazine has published a special issue on Ardi, with 11 papers from 47 researchers.
For those with less time, try coverage from National Geographic and Time.

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