Ardipithecus Ramidus I

More than a million-years older than "Lucy," Ardipithecus ramidus and the associated fossils provide the most detailed snapshot of early hominid life. This video features interviews with Project Co-Director Tim White (University of California, Berkeley), Science correspondent Ann Gibbons, and paleoanthropologist Andrew Hill (Yale University). Produced by Robert Frederick and Michael Torrice.

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 Researchers have unveiled the oldest known skeleton of a putative human ancestor--and it is full of surprises. Although the creature, named Ardipithecus ramidus, had a brain and body the size of a chimpanzee, it did not knuckle-walk or swing through the trees like an ape. Instead, "Ardi" walked upright, with a big, stiff foot and short, wide pelvis, researchers report in Science. "We thought Lucy was the find of the century," says paleoanthropologist Andrew Hill of Yale University, referring to the famous 3.2-million-year-old skeleton that revolutionized thinking about human origins. "But in retrospect, it was not."

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Ardipithecus Ramidus III

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Ardipithecus Ramidus IV

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Ardipithecus Ramidus V

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