Uncovering Ida: The Link to Our Earliest Ancestors

Profound moments of discovery are once in a lifetime opportunities to participate in something larger than ourselves. Science has recently unveiled a fossil of monumental proportions. Discovered over 25 years ago, information about Ida is beginning to coming to light. The Link, is the title of a book released in May, 2009, and it chronicles Ida's historic discovery. Written by Colin Tudge, this book begins a discourse amongst scientists and laymen about the origins of humanity.

Not since Donald Johanson found the infamous fossil of Lucy back in 1974, has there been such a buzz about an archaeological find. By comparison, Lucy's remains were dated to about 3.2 million years ago, whereas Ida's remains predate Lucy's discovery by 44 million years! There was only 40 percent of Lucy retrieved, however Ida was discovered completely intact, stomach contents and all.

This is quite an astonishing 47 million year old find, and helps researchers to better understand early primate development. Lucy was only able to further scientific knowledge toward modern primate development. The fact that Ida was discovered in the oily shale deposits in Messel Germany, flies in the faces of scientists who look toward East Africa as the birth place of early humanity. History is unfolding before our very eyes, and when it comes to revealing a clearer description of where humanity originated, few scientific discoveries can compete, to the discovery of Ida.

The University of Oslo's Natural History Museum agreed to purchase the specimen following a verification that the fossil was legal in all respects, and that Germany would allow it to leave the country. With the help of a dream team of scientists, Dr. Jorn Hurum began the fossil's authentication process in 2007. Scientific examination began in May of that year, at the Senckenberg Institute in Frankfurt, and after extensive X-ray and dating techniques were applied to the fossil, and the matrix in which the fossil was found, Ida was released for further scientific study.

Keeping Darwin's theories of evolution in mind, it has long been thought that man evolved from other primates. Now, the consensuses of the matter states that we didn't simply evolve from these others species, but rather split with them. These splits throughout Earth's history suggest a hypothetical missing link could possibly be discovered. Scientists may have just uncovered the missing link, the transitional species, that they call Ida. She walked upright, had an over-sized brain cavity, and most importantly had opposable thumbs.

Along with other phenomenal characteristics that will help scientists piece together the myriad of puzzling questions, Ida will certainly continue to captivate the imaginations of scientists and laymen alike. The skeptics will be sure to contribute their two cents toward the debate, but as all science matures through contention, so will our understanding of where we truly came from.