Discovering Ardi
Posted: Sat Oct 17, 2009 1:05 am
Discovery channel documentary on the discovery of Ardipithecus Ramidis, a 4.4M yr old homonid.
Mike Rowe narrates and it's very well produced. however, 2 hours is somewhat tedious for the tidbits of good stuff. The subsequent hour-long "Understanding Ardi" was much more rich in content but required a little back knowledge.
Anyway, worth DVR'ing a rerun if you're interested in evolution, transitional species, or pictures of naked homonids.
Highlights.
- 4.4M yr old skeleton vice 3.2M yr old Lucy (Australopithecus)
- Definitely Bipedal (the single determining factor of human lineage)
- Had a grasping big toe like apes, so lived in trees, had a different bipedal gate than us, and could not walk/run long distances.
- Came from woodlands, not Savannah (other flora fossils found provided this data)
- Had small canine which meant some way other than fighting to get mate (brought food?)
- Had small brain like apes.
Mike Rowe narrates and it's very well produced. however, 2 hours is somewhat tedious for the tidbits of good stuff. The subsequent hour-long "Understanding Ardi" was much more rich in content but required a little back knowledge.
Anyway, worth DVR'ing a rerun if you're interested in evolution, transitional species, or pictures of naked homonids.
Highlights.
- 4.4M yr old skeleton vice 3.2M yr old Lucy (Australopithecus)
- Definitely Bipedal (the single determining factor of human lineage)
- Had a grasping big toe like apes, so lived in trees, had a different bipedal gate than us, and could not walk/run long distances.
- Came from woodlands, not Savannah (other flora fossils found provided this data)
- Had small canine which meant some way other than fighting to get mate (brought food?)
- Had small brain like apes.