Missing Link Connects Humans With … Lemurs?!

Paleontologist Jorn Hurum lead a team of scientists to analyze a 47-million-year-old fossil above (named "Ida") and came up with this intriguing conclusion: it is a critical missing-link species in the evolution of primates!

"This is the first link to all humans," Hurum, of the Natural History Museum in Oslo, Norway, said in a statement. Ida represents "the closest thing we can get to a direct ancestor."

Ida, properly known as Darwinius masillae, has a unique anatomy. The lemur-like skeleton features primate-like characteristics, including grasping hands, opposable thumbs, clawless digits with nails, and relatively short limbs.

Link | Ida’s official website, VIA: Neatorama

Sidekick Arbyn------Missing link ??

Could this animal be the missing link between whales and land mammals?
Link http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/7150627.stm
Via

http://presurfer.blogspot.com/2007/12/whale-missing-link-discovered.html