一组研究人员星期二推出了近乎完美的4700万年前的灵长类动物完整化石。他们说这是长期寻找的人与猿之间的联系。这是人类进化的圣杯。
该化石被正式命名为达尔文化石。这块化石揭示狐猴类动物有人类一样拇指和指甲而不是爪子。
科学家说，猫大小的动物的后腿提供了演进变化证据，这个进化导致灵长类直立。这个证据是一个突破，终于可以证实查尔斯
·达尔文的进化论。
“这相当于科学的圣杯。此化石照片可能在未来100年所有教科书中出现”，科学家胡鲁姆在美国自然历史博物馆的一个仪式上说。 （曹志良译）
图一、纽约美国自然历史博物馆的4700万年的灵长类动物化石
Missing link found? Scientists unveil fossil of 47 million-year-old
primate, Darwinius masillae
BY SAMANTHA STRONG AND RICH SCHAPIRO
DAILY NEWS WRITERS
Updated Tuesday, May 19th 2009, 12:57 PM
Feast your eyes on what a group of scientists call the Holy Grail
of human evolution.
A team of researchers Tuesday unveiled an almost perfectly intact
fossil of a 47 million-year-old primate they say represents the
long-sought missing link between humans and apes.
Officially known as Darwinius masillae, the fossil of the
lemur-like creature dubbed Ida shows it had opposable thumbs like
humans and fingernails instead of claws.
Scientists say the cat-sized animal's hind legs offer evidence of
evolutionary changes that led to primates standing upright - a
breakthrough that could finally confirm Charles Darwin's theory of
evolution.
"This specimen is like finding the Lost Ark for archeologists,"
lead scientist Jorn Hurum said at a ceremony at the American Museum
of Natural History.
"It is the scientific equivalent of the Holy Grail. This fossil
will probably be the one that will be pictured in all textbooks for
the next 100 years."
A team of amateur fossil hunters discovered the near-perfect
remains inside a mile-wide crater outside of Frankfurt in 1983.
Experts believe the pit was a volcanic caldera where scores of
animals from the Eocene epoch were killed and their remains were
kept remarkably well-preserved.
Though the pit has been a bountiful source of other fossils, the
inexperienced archeologists didn't realize the value of their find.
Years later, the University of Oslo bought the 95%-intact fossil,
and Hurum studied it in secret for two years.
His colleague, Jens Franzen, hailed the discovery as "the eighth
wonder of the world."
"We're not dealing with our grand, grand, grandmother, but perhaps
with our grand, grand, grand aunt," Franzen said.
The unveiling of the fossil came as part of a
carefully-orchestrated publicity campaign unusual for scientific
discoveries.
A History Channel film on the discovery will air next week.
A book release and a slew of other documentaries will follow.
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