Our World

Skeleton of a 3.3 million year old child found.

Scientists have discovered a complete 3.3 million year old skeleton of a female child from the ape-man species. The skeleton has caused a lot of debate on whether it walked more upright like a human or more hunched like a gorilla. The skeleton was found in the year 2000 in Ethiopia. The skeleton was very preserved and near complete which may be because of sediments from a flood. Scientists have been removing the skeleton for 5 years and it should take years more to complete.
So far they have found that the lower body is very human like and the upper body is very ape like. The shoulder blades look more like a gorilla and the neck is short and thick like an ape’s. The organ of balance in the inner ear is also more like an ape’s. The fingers are very curved which could indicate climbing ability but that theory has been disputed.I think that this could be a great discovery and could help us understand what the ape-human race was more like 3 to 4 million years ago. It also could help us better understand the theory of evolution. The near complete skeleton is a very helpful discovery because it could help us better understand the other afarensis find of an adult named Lucy.

posted by Anonymous @ 9/20/2006 08:09:00 PM