"Missing Link" Found -- Earliest Primate

A fossil of the earleist primate relative ever found was unearthed and displayed to the media recently. Some think of it as another missing link in the long story of human development.

The Wall Street Journal reports:

"Researchers ... unveiled the fossil of a 47 million-year-old creature that offered clues about what some of our earliest ancestors might have looked like. The animal was the size of a cat, had a long tail, and died at nine or 10 months old. Several of its features can be commonly seen in modern-day primates, including baby teeth and an opposable big toe. Instead of claws, "she's got fingertips with nails like we do," said Jorn Hurum of the Natural History Museum in Oslo, who led the research.

The fossil was displayed to the media and a small number of invited guests at New York's American Museum of Natural History in an event hyped to an unusual degree for a scientific unveiling. Visitors to the museum will be able to see a replica cast of the fossil.
It is a rare and valuable discovery because it is a nearly intact skeleton." See full article.