What's the Buzz About The Link

What's the Buzz About??? Win one of 5 copies to be given away!!!! (see details below)

The Link
Uncovering Our Earliest Ancestor
by Colin Tudge, Josh Young



With exclusive access to the first scientists to study her, the award-winning science writer Colin Tudge tells the history of Ida and her place in the world. A magnificent, cutting-edge scientific detective story followed her discovery, and The Link offers a wide-ranging investigation into Ida and our earliest origins. At the same time, it opens a stunningly evocative window into our past and changes what we know about primate evolution and, ultimately, our own. (From Hachette Site)




May 19, 2009, NEW YORK, NY—Scientists have announced today the discovery of a 47-
million-year-old human ancestor. Discovered in the Messel Pit, Germany, the fossil is twentytimes older than most fossils that explain human evolution. Known as “Ida,” the fossil is atransitional species, showing characteristics of the very primitive nonhuman evolutionary line(prosimians, such as lemurs), but even more closely those of the human evolutionary line(anthropoids, such as monkeys, apes, and humans). This places Ida at the very root of anthropoidevolution—when primates were first developing the features that would evolve into our own.

The scientists’ findings are published today by PLoS One, the open-access journal of the Public Library of Science.

Little, Brown and Company, a division of Hachette Book Group, will publish THE LINK,
by Colin Tudge, on Wednesday, May 20, 2009. The book will reveal in full detail the entire story of the discovery, excavation, and preservation, and the revolutionary significance ofIda. THE LINK begins with a foreword by Norwegian fossil scientist Dr.Jørn Hurum ofthe University of Oslo’s Natural History Museum, who for the past two years has led an international team of scientists as they secretly conducted a detailed forensic analysis of the extraordinary fossil, studying the data to decode humankind’s ancient origins. At 95 percent complete, Ida is set to revolutionize our understanding of human evolution.

Unlike Lucy and other famous primate fossils found in Africa’s Cradle of Mankind, Ida is a European fossil, preserved in Germany’s Messel Pit, a mile-wide crater whose oil-rich shale is a significant site for fossils of the Eocene Epoch. Fossil analysis reveals that the prehistoric primate was a young female. Opposable big toes and nails rather than claws confirm that the
fossil is a primate, and the presence of a talus bone in the foot links Ida directly to humans. The fossil also features the complete soft body outline as well as the gut contents. A herbivore, Ida feasted on fruits, seeds, and leaves. X-rays reveal both baby and adult teeth, and the lack of a “toothcomb,” which is an attribute of lemurs. The scientists estimate Ida’s age when she died to be approximately nine months, and she measured approximately two feet in length.

 Ida lived 47 million years ago, at a critical period in the Earth’s history. Her life fell within the Eocene Epoch, a time when the blueprints for modern mammals were being established. After dinosaurs became extinct, early horses, bats, whales, and many other creatures, including the first primates, thrived on a subtropical planet. The Earth was just beginning to take the shape that we know and recognize today—the Himalayas were being formed and modern flora and fauna were evolving. Land mammals, including primates, lived amid vast jungles.

 Ida was found to be lacking two of the key anatomical features found in lemurs: a grooming claw on the second digit of the foot, and a fused row of teeth in the middle of her lower jaw, known as a toothcomb. She has nails rather than the claws typical of non-anthropoid primates such as lemurs, and her teeth are similar to those of monkeys. Her forward-facing eyes are like ours—which would have enabled her fields of vision to overlap, allowing 3-D vision and an ability to judge distance.

 The fossil’s hands show a humanlike opposable thumb. Like all primates, Ida has five fingerson each hand. Her opposable thumb would have provided a precision grip. In Ida’s case, this would have been useful for climbing and gathering fruit; in our case, it allows important human functions such as making tools and writing. Ida also would have had flexible arms, which would have allowed her to use both hands for any task that cannot be done with one—like grabbing a piece of fruit.

 Evidence of a talus bone links Ida to us. The bone has the same shape as it does in humans today, though the human talus is obviously bigger. Extensive X-rays, CT scanning, and computer tomography reveal Ida to have been about nine months old when she died and provide clues to her diet, which included berries and plants. Furthermore, the lack of a bacculum (penis bone) means that the fossil was definitely female.

 X-rays reveal that a broken wrist may have contributed to Ida’s death—her left wrist was healing from a bad fracture. The scientists believe she was overcome by carbon dioxide gas while she was drinking from the Messel Lake; the still waters of the lake were often covered with a low-lying blanket of the gas as a result of the volcanic forces that formed the lake and were still active. Hampered by her broken wrist, Ida slipped into unconsciousness, was washed into the lake, and sank to the bottom, where the unique conditions preserved her for 47 million years.

The above excerpt can be found as a pdf document on the Hachette Group Site.

If you are still as curious as I was, you can visit Revealing the Link to find more information, including an audio reading from the book. ENJOY! I am so excited about this book and I hope you will be too. here is a picture of the fossil of IDA.




Contest Rules:


Five books will be raffled off in a random drawing. The contest will end at 7:00PM on June 30th. You must have have a US address and no PO Box to win. Celebrate with me again and win a copy of Testimony. Yippee!!! All you have to do is make sure you are following my blog and leave a comment. The comment must include why you want to read this book to satisfy my curiosity. Good luck to everyone. :)