300多万年前的古人类化石出土
文章来源:未知 文章作者:meng 发布时间:2010-06-23 02:41 字体: [ ]  进入论坛
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Cleveland . . . Meet "Lucy's" great-grandfather. Scientists from The Cleveland Museum of Natural History, Kent State University, Case Western Reserve University, Addis Ababa University and Berkeley Geochronology Center were part of an international team that discovered and analyzed1 a 3.6 million-year-old partial(局部的) skeleton found in Ethiopia. The early hominid(原始人类) is 400,000 years older than the famous "Lucy" skeleton. Research on this new specimen2 indicates that advanced human-like, upright(垂直的) walking occurred much earlier than previously3 thought. The discovery and results from this initial analysis will be published this week in the online early edition of the Proceedings4 of the National Academy of Sciences. The partial skeleton belongs to "Lucy's" species, Australopithecus(南猿) afarensis. It was found in the Woranso-Mille area of Ethiopia's Afar region by a team led by first author Dr. Yohannes Haile-Selassie, Curator and Head of physical anthropology5(人类学) at The Cleveland Museum of Natural History. The partial skeleton was excavated6 over five years after the discovery of a fragment of the lower arm bone in 2005. The excavation7(挖掘,发掘) recovered the most complete clavicle(锁骨) and one of the most complete shoulder blades(肩胛骨) ever found in the human fossil record.

The specimen was nicknamed "Kadanuumuu" (kah-dah-nuu-muu) by the authors. "Kadanuumuu" means "big man" in the Afar language and reflects its large size. The male hominid stood between 5 to 5 ½ feet tall, while "Lucy" stood at about 3 ½ feet.

"This individual was fully8 bipedal(两足动物) and had the ability to walk almost like modern humans," said Haile-Selassie. "As a result of this discovery, we can now confidently say that 'Lucy' and her relatives were almost as proficient9(熟练的,精通的) as we are walking on two legs, and that the elongation(伸长,延长) of our legs came earlier in our evolution than previously thought."

Co-author Dr. C. Owen Lovejoy, Kent State University professor of anthropology, explained, "The new specimen tells us much more about the pelvis(骨盆) , thorax(胸腔) , and limb proportions than 'Lucy' was able to alone."



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1 analyzed 483f1acae53789fbee273a644fdcda80     
v.分析( analyze的过去式和过去分词 );分解;解释;对…进行心理分析
参考例句:
  • The doctors analyzed the blood sample for anemia. 医生们分析了贫血的血样。 来自《简明英汉词典》
  • The young man did not analyze the process of his captivation and enrapturement, for love to him was a mystery and could not be analyzed. 这年轻人没有分析自己蛊惑著迷的过程,因为对他来说,爱是个不可分析的迷。 来自《简明英汉词典》
2 specimen Xvtwm     
n.样本,标本
参考例句:
  • You'll need tweezers to hold up the specimen.你要用镊子来夹这标本。
  • This specimen is richly variegated in colour.这件标本上有很多颜色。
3 previously bkzzzC     
adv.以前,先前(地)
参考例句:
  • The bicycle tyre blew out at a previously damaged point.自行车胎在以前损坏过的地方又爆开了。
  • Let me digress for a moment and explain what had happened previously.让我岔开一会儿,解释原先发生了什么。
4 proceedings Wk2zvX     
n.进程,过程,议程;诉讼(程序);公报
参考例句:
  • He was released on bail pending committal proceedings. 他交保获释正在候审。
  • to initiate legal proceedings against sb 对某人提起诉讼
5 anthropology zw2zQ     
n.人类学
参考例句:
  • I believe he has started reading up anthropology.我相信他已开始深入研究人类学。
  • Social anthropology is centrally concerned with the diversity of culture.社会人类学主要关于文化多样性。
6 excavated 3cafdb6f7c26ffe41daf7aa353505858     
v.挖掘( excavate的过去式和过去分词 );开凿;挖出;发掘
参考例句:
  • The site has been excavated by archaeologists. 这个遗址已被考古学家发掘出来。
  • The archaeologists excavated an ancient fortress. 考古学家们发掘出一个古堡。 来自《简明英汉词典》
7 excavation RiKzY     
n.挖掘,发掘;被挖掘之地
参考例句:
  • The bad weather has hung up the work of excavation.天气不好耽误了挖掘工作。
  • The excavation exposed some ancient ruins.这次挖掘暴露出一些古遗迹。
8 fully Gfuzd     
adv.完全地,全部地,彻底地;充分地
参考例句:
  • The doctor asked me to breathe in,then to breathe out fully.医生让我先吸气,然后全部呼出。
  • They soon became fully integrated into the local community.他们很快就完全融入了当地人的圈子。
9 proficient Q1EzU     
adj.熟练的,精通的;n.能手,专家
参考例句:
  • She is proficient at swimming.她精通游泳。
  • I think I'm quite proficient in both written and spoken English.我认为我在英语读写方面相当熟练。
TAG标签: human fossil skeleton
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