Uncovering.Our.Earliest.Ancestor.The.Link.WS.PDTV.XVID-FTP

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Release Name: Uncovering.Our.Earliest.Ancestor.The.Link.WS.PDTV.XVID-FTP
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Rls Date: 26 May 2009 Air Date:26 May 2009
Format: PDTV Resolution: 640 X 352
Audio: 128 ish VBR Size: 50 Files 700MB
Genre: Documentary
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Description:
The story behind one of the 21st century's most ground-
breaking scientific discoveries, which is set to change
humanity's understanding of the mechanics of evolution.
David Attenborough narrates


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The discovery of the 95%-complete 'lemur monkey' - dubbed Ida - is described by experts as the "eighth wonder of the world".

They say its impact on the world of palaeontology will be "somewhat like an asteroid falling down to Earth".

Researchers say proof of this transitional species finally confirms Charles Darwin's theory of evolution, and the then radical, outlandish ideas he came up with during his time aboard the Beagle. [SkyNews]

May 16 Primate Fossil Could Be Key Link in Evolution (ABC)
May 16 German Fossil Found to Be Early Primate (NYT)
May 19 Scientists hail stunning fossil (BBC)

wiki: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Darwinius_masillae

"The significance of the fossil was first recognised by vertebrate palaeontologist Dr Jørn Hurum from the Natural History Museum, University of Oslo, who uncovered the specimen through a chance encounter at the Hamburg Fossil and Mineral Fair, Germany, in 2006 where a dealer offered him the fossil for $1 million. It had been discovered 25 years earlier by an amateur fossil hunter, but remained hidden from the world in a private collection. Hurum acquired the specimen for his museum based on photographs alone, allowing it to be seen and scientifically studied for the first time.

Since its rediscovery it has been studied in secret for two years by a team of scientists; Hurum was joined by primate evolution expert Professor Philip Gingerich of the University of Michigan, and palaeontologists Dr. Jens Franzen and Dr. Jörg Habersetzer of the Senckenberg Museum's Research Institute. They revealed their findings to the world in a paper published on 19th May 2009 in PLoS ONE, the open source journal of the Public Library of Science."