47 Million Year Old Monkey Fossil Found

"Missing Link: 47-Million-Year-Old Monkey Fossil Discovered in Collector’s Drawer

May 19, 2009

(ChattahBox)—The find of the century; a remarkably intact 47-million-year-old fossil of a monkey like creature, originally discovered in a pit in Germany 25-years ago, is about to be unveiled today in Washington, DC at the Museum of Natural History as part of a well coordinated media blitz campaign.

The fossil, dubbed Darwinius masillae is being hailed as the missing link in human evolution and yet such a monumental find sat in the drawer of a private German collector for 25 years, until discovered and purchased by the University of Oslo.

Jorn H. Hurum, a scientist at the University of Oslo, discovered the incredible fossil owned by the German collector in 2006, while he was on a collection junket to Hamburg’s mineral and fossil fair. After obtaining the fossil, Hurum put together a team of the world’s most renowned scientists and paleontologists to authenticate and study the monkey like missing link.

For three years, the find was treated as top secret and kept under wraps, requiring scientists involved in the project to sign non-disclosure agreements. During that time, a media blitz and PR campaign was taking place behind the scenes, the likes of which is unusual for a scientific discovery.

On Tuesday, in addition to the big media hoopla taking place at the Museum of Natural History, a peer-reviewed article will appear in PLoS, a scientific journal and that’s just the beginning.

The media campaign for Darwinius masillae also includes a book deal, the launching of a website and most importantly, an exclusive premier of a documentary detailing the find on the A&E owned History Channel, which debuts on Memorial Day. The BBC in Britain and ZDF, the German broadcaster, will be allowed to show the film after the History Channel’s world premier.

On Wednesday, the fossil will make an appearance in the Good Morning America studio as part of an exclusive media access deal. The book, entitled, “The Link” published by Little, Brown is already published and ready to go, with 110,000 advance copies already shipped out.

All of the media attention about to be awarded to this little monkey fossil is certainly exciting, but experts may differ after the media attention fades, on whether the fossil is indeed a precursor to higher primates, in other words, the so called missing link in the human evolutionary chain.

Meanwhile we all can enjoy the spectacle."

http://chattahbox.com/science/2009/...onkey-fossil-discovered-in-collectors-drawer/

 

+1 Atheist, -1 Christians

 

agreed, science has proof, religion has none.

 

If you guys have been watching the history channel lately, and have seen the obscure commercial for the date May 25, 2009, this fossil is what the show is going to be about.

 

I like how no thread can be started about anything remotely tied into religion without it resulting in morons starting a religion war.

 

Yeah but the reason this discovery is so monumental is that it would definitively disprove creation, so a religious war really is inevitable.

 

religious people are used to having things "test there faith", the're very good at being ignorant and narrow minded. I'm sure they will make up some bullshit in there head to justify there beliefs.

 

I agree, usually religious people are ignorant, and love to deny the truth.



Thank God, I'm an Athiest
Not really =D

 

A person had a pretty good argument on the news article yesterday. I would like to go look for them, because i'm tired of people bashing religion. It's not you, just shut the fuck up about it. I'm not even that religious and you kids are pissing me off.

 

Why? Are you scared of people challenging your beliefs?

 

This is a very remarkable find indeed, but its not uncommon that it came from a private collector from Germany.
What I feel the most amazing fossil ever found came from a private collector in Germany, It is a 5 ft long salamander preserved in such great detail that you could make out the individual patterns of the scales. The greatest pterodact(pterosaur) skull came from a private collector also.

 

Quit being a pompous fuck.

You believe in something with zero evidence and all the evidence in the world to disprove it, yet you get defensive. We were all raised to believe in God, and this perfect little world where everyone's deeds whether punishable by law or not get punished by this God, and how he will smite the people who do bad things, well look around you and enter the world of reality.

 

Umm I said I wasn't even that religous. All I said was, leave the religious shit alone, I'm tired of people bragging about religion to others.

I did not say I was an undoubtedly believer. I have my doubts. But I don't think I'll ever relinquish the flame. I am more against than I am.

You got more defensive than I did. I just didn't want people to completely be at war with each other about religion. That is how most wars are started. People think it's only by religious people, but atheists fuel the fire also. Being nice and logical is the key. You don't have to scream "There is no God" into someone's ear. If they don't believe you, then don't take it too hard. It isn't a big deal.


EDIT: Also, Case and Point.

 

Agreed that it's a great find, but evolution does not conflict with Christianity. Maybe to fundamentalists who believe that the Bible is 100% true scientifically and historically, but to most Christians evolution is fine.

 

I saw this on the local news station yesterday.

I think this particular discovery sort of puts the finishing blow on some Bible teachings. This connection really just shows people everywhere that evolution is almost proven and full-proof. Though they didn't find a fossil that yells "evolution ftw", this really opens the eyes of many people.

I say evolution is inevitable.

 

It's definitely a big deal. In a world where state and religion is mixed up, in a world where being an atheist or a non-believer is looked down upon, in a world where 5 billion people believe in religion, and in a world where people go to war over religion -- I'd say it's a pretty big deal.

I get defensive because people see the facts, people know the facts and people decide to ignore those facts.

When someone tells you that your faith is bullshit and here is some historical facts, some astronomical facts and some biological facts, you don't throw it in their face. If you have your doubts, then follow those doubts and arrive at an answer. Don't leave such a big question into your life. The burden of proof is on you since you are saying something is there when clearly, it isn't. A belief is only good if you fully believe in it; which you don't.

 

I go into deep thinking and I find it a self choice. The thought of proving God could be so advanced, you couldn't even dream bout the thought. And no one could know. The Supernatural hasn't been disproved but it involves spirits which are somewhat religious. Just because you can't explain it does not mean it isn't there/real. You say you can't prove a negative, but you haven't proved it to be a negative in the first place. I think of the Bible as a morals book. It says every situation in life can be solved by a single verse in the bible and it was written over a thousand years ago (I think). But, at the same time, is sort of vauge.

Do you remember the story of a man dead for a few minutes and comes back to life and says when he did die, he went to hell? Did he have any substantial proof of the occurrence? No. But it happened within him and only he can/will ever know. Science is mainly used because it is thought to have worked and is thought to stay constant. But in fact, Science is trully nothing more than a time line being unfolded.

 

Self explanatory sentences are self explanatory.

Also: I'm not denying supernatural occurrences or supernatural beings, I'm denying the fact that there is a God. I'm not saying by any means that there's no such thing as supernatural things beyond peoples understanding going on; there's just not a religious definition of a God present.

 

Said something, but didn't feel like explaining. Don't really care. My main thing is, don't make a big deal of religion. You are just fueling the fire by fighting back with the religious people. And it isn't helping anything. You can always ignore them. Which I rarely see happen.


Also, I will go look up what the man said about the fossil.

 

nice find
i hope they find more