Ardipithecus
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Ardipithecus Temporal range: Pliocene |
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| Ardipithecus ramidus skull | |
| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Mammalia |
| Order: | Primates |
| Family: | Hominidae |
| Subfamily: | Homininae |
| Tribe: | Hominini |
| Genus: | Ardipithecus White et al., 1995 |
| Species | |
Ardipithecus is a very early hominid genus, which lived during the late Neogene.
Two species are known: A. kadabba, dated to about 5.6 million years ago (late Miocene),[1] and A. ramidus, which lived about 4.4 million years ago during the early Pliocene.[2]
Because this genus shares several traits with the African great ape genera (Pan and Gorilla), some place it on the that branch rather than human branch.
Most consider it a proto-human because of a likeness in teeth with Australopithecus. Ardipithecus had bipedalism and reduced canines, like the Australopithecines.
References [change]
- ↑ White, Tim D.; Asfaw, Berhane; Beyene, Yonas; Haile-Selassie, Yohannes; Lovejoy, C. Owen; Suwa, Gen; WoldeGabriel, Giday (2009). "Ardipithecus ramidus and the paleobiology of early hominids.". Science 326 (5949): 75–86. doi:10.1126/science.1175802. PMID 19810190.
- ↑ Perlman, David (July 12, 2001). "Fossils from Ethiopia may be earliest human ancestor". National Geographic News. http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2001/07/0712_ethiopianbones.html. Retrieved July 2009. "Another co-author is Tim D. White, a paleoanthropologist at UC-Berkeley who in 1994 discovered a pre-human fossil, named Ardipithecus ramidus, that was then the oldest known, at 4.4 million years."
