ZOMG, THE MISSING LINK!!!

[Iason Ouabache]

Yawn... we found yet another "missing link" in human evolution.  Where ever are we going to be able to store all of these?

http://scienceblogs.com/pharyngula/2009/05/darwinius_masillae.php

This is an important new fossil, a 47 million year old primate nicknamed Ida. She's a female juvenile who was probably caught in a toxic gas cloud from a volcanic lake, and her body settled into the soft sediments of the lake, where she was buried undisturbed.

What's so cool about it?

Age. It's 47 million years old. That's interestingly old...it puts us deep into the primate family tree.

Preservation. This is an awesome fossil: it's almost perfectly complete, with all the bones in place, preserved in its death posture. There is a halo of darkly stained material around it; this is a remnant of the flesh and fur that rotted in place, and allows us to see a rough outline of the body and make estimates of muscle size. Furthermore, the guts and stomach contents are preserved. Ida's last meal was fruit and leaves, in case you wanted to know.

Life stage. Ida is a young juvenile, estimate to be right on the transition from requiring parental care to independent living. That means she has a mix of baby teeth and adult teeth — she's a two-fer, giving us information about both.

Phylogeny. A cladistic analysis of the fossil revealed another interesting point. There are two broad groups of primates: the strepsirrhines, which includes the lemurs and lorises, and the haplorhines, which includes monkeys and apes...and us, of course. Ida's anatomy places her in the haplorhines with us, but at the same time she's primitive. This is an animal caught shortly after a major branch point in primate evolutionary history.

It is a very nice looking fossil and is extremely important in understanding the primate line. The media is running with this as "THE MISSING LINK FOR US HUMANZ, ZOMG!!!1!" which is always annoying. 1) It's not missing.  2) This fossil is too far back to really say anything about humans. But if they want to get super exciting about science every once in a blue moon then I guess we shouldn't stop them.

[Corvidia]

Still fucking neat. And kind of cute.

[LMNO]

They had an "artist's rendition" of it on the news last night.  Looked like a screaming lemur.



Then I realized that "Screaming Lemur" is an awesome band name.

[Jenne]

I think it's cute.  Was probably a vicious little cur while it was alive, however.

[Richter]

There's no support for the fact that it is the missing Link.  If it was found with a sword, shield, fairy in a jar, and weird green hat, I might accept it, but the evidence just isn't there.
Where do we get these scientists anyways?

[LMNO]

There's no support for the fact that it is the missing Link.  If it was found with a unopened jar of peanut butter, I might accept it, but the evidence just isn't there.
Where do we get these scientists anyways?
    \

Fixxed for ID.

[Cain]

Clearly a fake placed there by Loki to test our Faith in Odin, the All-Father.

[Richter]

Of course.  Humans are descendents of ash trees.  It says so plainly in the Edas, which are the absolute truth.

Edit:

ODIN!

hxxp://www.thepaincomics.com/weekly041229a.htm

[AFK]

Hey it's that thing from Zaboomafoo

[Corvidia]

Hey it's that thing from Zaboomafoo

[Kai]

Hey it's that thing from Zaboomafoo

[Cain]

Of course.  Humans are descendents of ash trees.  It says so plainly in the Edas, which are the absolute truth.

Edit:

ODIN!

hxxp://www.thepaincomics.com/weekly041229a.htm

[Mesozoic Mister Nigel]

Hey it's that thing from Zaboomafoo

OSHI...!

[Dalek]

OMG IT'S A LIE!!! FUCK YEAH!!! AND WE ARE ALL FREEMASONS!!! IT'S A LIE!!! IT'S PUT THERE BY THE FUCKING REPTILIANS TO MAKE US BELIEVE GOD DOESN'T EXIST !!! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6JZUOQAnzck