By Science News
Ardi puts new spin on hominid evolution A 4.4-million-year-old partial female skeleton discovered in Africa, along with fossils from at least 36 of her comrades, provide the first comprehensive look at any ancient hominid species older than Lucy ( SN: 10/24/09, p. 9 ). The skeleton, dubbed Ardi, looks unlike any living primate, suggesting that today’s chimps provide poor models of the last common ancestor of humans and African apes, researchers assert. “