Scientists think they found remains of first human

ADDIS ABABA, Ethiopia (AP) — A team of U.S. and Ethiopian scientists
has discovered the fossilized remains of what they believe is
humankind's first walking ancestor, a hominid that lived in the wooded
grasslands of the Horn of Africa nearly 4 million years ago.

The bones were discovered in February at a new site called Mille, in
the northeastern Afar region of Ethiopia, said Bruce Latimer, director
of the Cleveland Museum of Natural History in Ohio. They are estimated
to be 3.8-4 million years old.

The fossils include a complete tibia from the lower part of the leg,
parts of a thighbone, ribs, vertebrae, a collarbone, pelvis and a
complete shoulder blade, or scapula. There also is an ankle bone
which, with the tibia, proves the creature walked upright, said
Latimer, co-leader of the team that discovered the fossils.

The bones are the latest in a growing collection of early human
fragments that help explain the evolutionary history of man.

"Right now we can say this is the world's oldest bipedal (an animal
walking on two feet) and what makes this significant is because what
makes us human is walking upright," Latimer said. "This new discovery
will give us a picture of how walking upright occurred."

The findings have not been reviewed by outside scientists or published
in a scientific journal.

Leslie Aiello, an anthropologist and head of the Graduate School at
University College in London said, however, that the new finds could
be significant.

"It sounds like a significant find, ... particularly if they have a
partial skeleton because it allows you to speculate on biomechanics,"
Aiello, who was not part of the discovery team, told The Associated
Press by telephone from Britain.

Paleontologists previously discovered in Ethiopia the remains of
Ardipithecus ramidus, a transitional creature with significant ape
characteristics dating as far back as 4.5 million years. There is some
dispute over whether it walked upright on two legs, Latimer and Aiello
said.

Scientists know little about A. ramidus. A few skeletal fragments
suggest it was even smaller than Australopithecus afarensis, the 3.2
million-year-old species widely known by the nearly complete "Lucy"
fossil, which measures about 4 feet tall.

Scientists are yet to classify the new find, which they believe falls
between A. ramidus and A. afarensis. The fossils would help "join the
dots" between the two hominids, said Yohannes Haile-Selassie, an
Ethiopian scientist and curator at the Cleveland Museum of Natural
History as well a co-leader of the discovery team.

"This discovery will tell us much about how our 4-million-year-old
ancestors walked, how tall they were and what they looked like," he
said. "It opens the door on a poorly known time period and (the
fossils) are important in that they will help us understand the early
phases of human evolution before Lucy."

The specimen is the only the fourth partial skeleton ever to be
discovered that is older than 3 million years. It was found after two
months of excavation at Mille, 37 miles from the famous Lucy
discovery.

"It is a once in a lifetime find," Latimer said.

http://www.usatoday.com/news/world/2005-03-05-ancestor-remains_x.htm