On May 19, 2009 researchers revealed a beautiful fossilized skeleton of a lemur-like creature that died 47 million years ago.
The name of this animal is Ida, 0.9m tall and if scientists are not mistaken, it is likely the common ancestor of apes and monkeys.
Scientists admit that it is an important ‘missing link’ in the human family tree and will shed light on the most important part of evolution.
The lemur’s fossilized skeleton shows recognizable human physical features, like opposable thumbs or hands that can grasp things.
This sketch shows what Ida used to look like
This is a perfect fossil skeleton, one can still see the outline of its fur imprinted on the rock. Ida was discovered in 1983 in a fossil treasure trove called Messel Pit
Dr. Hurum was lecturing next to a slideshow of Ida at the American Museum of Natural History in New York when it was revealed on May 19.
Ida, a 47-million-year-old fossil skeleton, will likely change the way people understand evolution.
Ida was so perfectly preserved that she still left traces of her last meal in her stomach and the lines of her feathers were embedded in the rock.
X-ray images of Ida show that until she died, all of her baby teeth had not yet fallen out. Scientists think it is only about 8 months old.
CT scan of Ida’s skull, including jaw and teeth
The skeleton was separated into two parts when discovered in 1983.
