11
July 2002
Human evolution: The earliest known hominid
 |
| (Photo: Michel Brunet) |
At between 6 and 7 million years old, the skull on the cover is the
earliest
known record of the human family. Discovered in Chad in Central Africa,
the new find, nicknamed 'Toumaï', comes from a crucial yet little-known interval
when the
human lineage was becoming distinct from that of chimpanzees. The
skull's combination of primitive and advanced features suggests remarkable past
diversity in the human family tree, and should ensure that the term 'missing link'
is consigned to history.
A new hominid from the Upper Miocene of Chad, Central
Africa
MICHEL BRUNET, FRANCK GUY, DAVID PILBEAM,
HASSANE TAISSO MACKAYE, ANDOSSA LIKIUS, DJIMDOUMALBAYE AHOUNTA, ALAIN BEAUVILAIN,
C�CILE BLONDEL, HERV� BOCHERENS, JEAN-RENAUD BOISSERIE, LOUIS DE BONIS, YVES COPPENS,
JEAN DEJAX, CHRISTIANE DENYS, PHILIPPE DURINGER, V�RA EISENMANN, GONGDIB� FANONE,
PIERRE FRONTY, DENIS GERAADS, THOMAS LEHMANN, FABRICE LIHOREAU, ANTOINE LOUCHART,
ADOUM MAHAMAT, GILDAS MERCERON, GUY MOUCHELIN, OLGA OTERO, PABLO PELAEZ CAMPOMANES,
MARCIA PONCE DE LEON, JEAN-CLAUDE RAGE, MICHEL SAPANET, MATHIEU SCHUSTER, JEAN
SUDRE, PASCAL TASSY, XAVIER VALENTIN, PATRICK VIGNAUD, LAURENT VIRIOT, ANTOINE
ZAZZO & CHRISTOPH ZOLLIKOFER
Nature 418, 145–151 (2002);
doi:10.1038/nature00879
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Geology and palaeontology of the Upper Miocene Toros-Menalla
hominid locality, Chad
PATRICK VIGNAUD, PHILIPPE
DURINGER, HASSANE TAÏSSO MACKAYE, ANDOSSA LIKIUS, C�CILE BLONDEL, JEAN-RENAUD
BOISSERIE, LOUIS DE BONIS, V�RA EISENMANN, MARIE-ESTHER ETIENNE, DENIS GERAADS,
FRANCK GUY, THOMAS LEHMANN, FABRICE LIHOREAU, NIEVES LOPEZ-MARTINEZ, C�CILE MOURER-CHAUVIR�,
OLGA OTERO, JEAN-CLAUDE RAGE, MATHIEU SCHUSTER, LAURENT VIRIOT, ANTOINE ZAZZO
& MICHEL BRUNET
Nature 418, 152–155 (2002); doi:10.1038/nature00880
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Palaeoanthropology: Hominid revelations from Chad
BERNARD WOOD
The story of human origins in Africa takes
a twist with the description of a 6-7-million-year-old cranium from Chad. The
discovery hints at the likely diversity of early hominids.
Nature 418,
133–135 (2002); doi:10.1038/418133a
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