The ape-like missing link

The oldest complete skeleton and skull of a human ancestor -- a 4ft-tall ape-creature who died up to 3.6 million years ago -- has been di...

The oldest complete skeleton and skull of a human ancestor 8212; a 4ft-tall ape-creature who died up to 3.6 million years ago 8212; has been discovered in a cave near Johannesburg, South African researchers said. The figure, temporarily christened Little Foot and to be named formally as soon as palaeontologists are sure of its sex 8212; is older than Lucy, fragments of which were discovered in Ethiopia in 1974 and named after the Beatles record playing at the time, Lucy In The Sky With Diamonds.

The South African scientists, led by Ron Clarke, a British paleoanthropologist at the University of Witwatersrand, said the find would provide new clues as to when the apelike progenitors of humans first came down from the trees. They said the skull and skeleton of the Australopithecus hominid was the only one to be found near-complete.

Clarke, director of excavations at Sterkfontein cave near Johannesburg, where the specimen was discovered, said he had not been able to determine its sex, but said it had heelsadapted for standing upright, walked on two legs, and used distended big toes to climb trees. Its life would have been similar to that which is led by chimpanzees today8217;.

Clarke, from Witwatersrand University, said: 8220;This is every paleontologist8217;s dream. The find will move us closer to understanding the link between man and ape. Until now we have had skulls and skeletons but never both together.8221;

Clarke said his team had chiselled out the 8220;little creature8221; 8212; it is only 4ft tall 8212; from a stalagmite created by the dripping of lime-charged water 50ft below ground.

Phillip Tobias, who led the Witwatersrand team, said: 8220;For those of us seeking to bring out the roots of humanity from the African soil, this is probably the most important paleo-anthropological find ever on the continent.8221;

Professor Tobias said the fossil would help discover when some apes evolved into humans. Clarke said the first piece of the hominid 8212; a foot bone 8212; was unearthed by limestone miners at the cave in the 1920s. Hefound it in a box four years ago. 8220;I knew there must be more of this little creature,8221; he said. 8220;Carnivores always go for extremities like the feet, the hands, the head. If the feet were intact, I knew the rest of the skeleton was somewhere in the cave.8221;

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The oldest complete skeleton before this discovery dates back 1.8 million years and was found in Kenya.

The Observer News Services