Re: Fossils fill gap in human lineage

>
> Could someone more knowledgeable than I comment on the significance of
> this? As an electrical engineer I can't tell if this is equivalent of
> adding the 3rd or the millionth digit to the value of pi. ie Is it
> important or just a nit.
>
> Dave Wallace
>
> http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/4900946.stm
> Fossils fill gap in human lineage
> By Paul Rincon
> BBC News science reporter
>
>
> * Fossil hunters have found remains of a probable direct ancestor of
> humans that lived more than four million years ago. *

Additional material, localities, and time slots for known species. I'd put
it about the eigth digit of pi-not much everyday practical need, in that it
doesn't provide any significant changes in the picture we already had of
human evolution, but useful details to the specialist who needs a more exact
answer.

It also goes to show the much higer level of publicity (both general media
and scientific journals) accorded to human fossils than to mollusks. I'd
have a hard time getting discovery of a known species in a new time and
location published anywhere, except maybe as an abstract.

--
> Dr. David Campbell
> 425 Scientific Collections
> University of Alabama
> "I think of my happy condition, surrounded by acres of clams"