Archaeologica.org

Shared Ancestor To Humans, Present-day Non-human Primates May Be Linchpin In Evolution Of Language

Scientists Discover Evolutionary Origin Of Fins, Limbs
Performance on the dance floor may not always show it, but people are rarely born with two left feet. We have genes that instruct our arms and legs to grow in the right places and point in the right directions. They also provide for the spaces between our fingers and toes and every other formative detail of our limbs.

"It's a missing link between older forms (species) of the Jurassic period found in England about 170 million years ago and the much younger ones found in Antarctica and Patagonia which are about 65 million years old," Kear said.

Both creatures lived in a freezing polar sea that covered what is now Australia 115 million years ago, when the continent was located much closer to Antarctica. Kear said he expected more discoveries, which together could open a window on a period which he said had been largely unexplored in Australia.

"We're just scratching the surface and recognizing these new species are here," Kear said. "These species fill a time frame not represented in the world. There are older (fossils) from Europe and younger (fossils) in North America and not much in between. We have the missing pieces in the puzzle."