Research argues that 'long lost ancestor of humanity' is actually just a different kind of primate

Tear up the wallchart documenting "humanity's long lost ancestor". Correct the recently altered "primate family tree" [pdf]. Dismiss the 3.7bn year timeline "from bacteria to mammals" [pdf]. Ignore the front page comment by Sir David Attenborough.

Ida, the 47 million-year-old fossil described as the "first link in human evolution" and vociferously championed by the media (including the Guardian) earlier this year, is no such thing, according to a team of scientists. They say that Ida is, instead, from a "group of extinct primates" that are "not ...

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