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The Link: Uncovering Our Earliest Ancestor

Uncovering Our Earliest Ancestor: The Link, tells the story of an important scientific development that could tell us more about where we come from.

The fossil, known as Ida, could be an indication of one of the roots of anthropoid evolution — the point at which our primate ancestors began first developing the features that would evolve into our own.

Is David Attenborough set to reveal the Missing Link in human evolution?

The BBC has made an extraordinary new documentary, presented by Sir David Attenborough, which will reveal the discovery of a fossilised skeleton that may be a vital ‘missing link’ in human evolution.

The centrepiece of the programme is the unveiling of the first-ever complete skeleton of an extinct animal called an adapid.

The fossilised bones, which are thought to be between 37 and 47million years old, were found in Germany’s Messel Shale Pit, a disused quarry near Frankfurt famous for its fossils.

The team who examined the young female animal say it has some resemblance to a lemur, a mammal with a distinctive tail that is found to this day in the forests of Madagascar.

But Sir David’s documentary will explain that the researchers have, controversially, concluded the fossil ‘is not simply a lemur’ but from a related group of primates which evolved into monkeys, apes and human beings.

The BBC programme is based on a scientific study to be published by the Public Library of Science, a leading academic journal with offices in Cambridge and San Francisco.

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  1. I have the many times of seeing this monkey in Gandhinagar. Not interesting film for me (Nidhish).

  2. good thing nobody gives a shit what “you believe” wise one.

  3. Actually a UBC research team had observed evolution directly. Sorry…you christian morons fail.

  4. I believe these creatures probrobly lived between 5-10 thousand years ago which would explain why the colours are also preserved.

  5. Okay all mamals have evolved they say
    ….but how does finding fossils proves this? Is evolution an undemonstrable science then?
    We can even breed humans with dogs still where is the evidence of complexity evolving into more and more complexity to form whole systems totally integrated and in perfect synchrony. I am sorry you think this is evidence…It doesn’t meet my criteria……no matter how many people in this planet have believed this fable!!

  6. Tripspin, humans are primates too.

    1)”Would any one show the clothe of the emperor?”

    What the heck does that mean? Bible quote????

    2) “It seems like the skeleton of a type of monkey. Where is the evidence for link to humans?”

    All mammals have evolved.
    Nothing has come as is straight out of the box.

    We have even now been able to breed dogs from wild foxes.
    There physicality completely changes in just a few generations.

    Mutation/evolution is natures way. The evidence is clear.

  7. I’ll try again. It is apparent that these guys intend to concoct a whole fairy tail of scientific evidence, not based upon the provable scientific evidence, but their own preconceived assumptions. The Piltdown man rides again. I know I have not seen the results of your evidence yet, but you science has always been fuzzy at best and outright lies most of the time. There is inot one scintilla of provable scientific evidence that one species evolve into another, neither in the empirical evidence or the fossil record. You are now proposing this is it. Yea, and my butt prints out $100 bills when I wipe it and their worth more than your science. Gotta make a living somehow, HUH!

  8. It seems like the skeleton of a type of monkey. Where is the evidence for link to humans?

  9. She obviously belongs in a family of Monkeys. There’s no evidence of anything there that links to humans any more than a gorilla skeleton would. Would any one show the clothe of the emperor?

  10. Very interesting…as we all know, the subject of evolution is definitely nothing to monkey around with, just as excommunication is really nothing to fear. It would seem that Ida has been communicating to us very well after 47,000,000 years and what a story she is telling us. According to Ida, primates have been roaming this planet for a long time and have developed in some very interesting ways. Ida’s feet seem to set her apart much in the same way that my sister’s feet did for her. It made a solid platform for her to stand on and when she put her foot down, it would draw everyone’s attention…well done Ida!

  11. Nice to meet you, Ida!

  12. very cool little girl, Ida .. and super mega cool foot bone … definitely a not-so-distant relative …good stuff

  13. most interesting .. only about 20 minutes into but already more evidence for Pangea and the interconnectedness of the continents through land bridges witnessed through animal migrations .. love the land bridge idea & pangea