The Discovery of Toumai – An Old Hominid
Introduction:
The current idea of the evolution of humans is about to make a huge turnabout. The cranium, a jaw fragment, and several teeth of a hominid (a primitive human) were found in the Djurab Desert. The fossils are thought to be, amazingly, between 6 and 7 millions years old. The authorities in Chad have nicknamed the cranium “Toumai”, which means, “hope of life” in the Goran language (Walton).
Where was it found?
The fossils were found in the Djurab Desert in Northern Chad, Central Africa. Of the four areas in the Chad basin, the remains were found in the oldest locality, TM 266 (Toros – Menalla). The remains are well preserved and the cranium is almost complete, considering the difficult detection of fossil layers and the constant sand blowing winds. The cranium has been designated TM 266-01-060-1 (Wood).
Only two other hominid fossils have been found in Chad. The first, which was found in 1961, turned out to be a modern human skull that had become so eroded that is looked like an australopith (an early form of hominids). The second set of remains was found in 1995. This hominid was a real australopith and was named Australopithecus bahrelghazali (Wood).
But because of where the fossils were found, scientists had to think of another way to date the bones.
Absolute – isotope-based – dating methods cannot be applied to the fossil layers at Toros – Menalla because there are no ash layers to provide the necessary argon and potassium. Nor are the sediments suitable for magnetism-based dating methods. Instead, the team matched the rich vertebrate fossil record at TM 266, consisting of examples of 44 different groups, with the equivalent record from sites in East Africa that have absolute dates. The best matches are with two sites in Kenya: The Lukeino Formation of the Tugen Hills (which dates to about 6 million years ago) and the Nawata Formation at Lothagam (5.3-7.4 million years). The upshot is a reliable age estimate of about 6-7 million years for the Toros – Menalla fossils (Wood).
How it is different?
For over a century and a half, it was believed that humans and African apes are more closely related than humans and orangutans.
A study performed by Martin Hausler and Peter Schmid of the University of Zurich, Switzerland, appeared in the October 1995 issue of Journal of Human Evolution, igniting controversy over the 1974 Australopithecus discoveries in Hadar, Ethiopia. The most famous of the Hadar specimens is the 3-million-year-old skeleton, “Lucy,” who was recovered by paleoanthropologist, Donald Johanson. In his article, Shreeve presents the methods and findings of Hausler and Schmid’s study as well as some counter arguments from other scientists in the field.
There was a chief new discovery of fossil bones and teeth belonging to the earliest human ancestors ever discovered. The fossil bones predate the oldest formerly discovered human ancestor by more than a million years. The discovery was of fossil remains of a hominid that lived in present day Ethiopia between 5.2 and 9.8 million years ago. (Hominids include all species following the split as of the chimpanzees on the “human” side of the evolutionary tree.)
In July of 2001, a group of archeologists discovered the skull and jaw bone of the oldest member of the human family. The skull is a new discovery and was found in the Djurab Desert of Northern Chad by a group of archeologists lead by Michel Brunet, and is thought to be six to seven million years old (Walton). The age of the skull and jaw bone were approximated through the association of the fauna that were found with the fossils (Brunet). The skull is a major find for archeologists because they now have a new piece of the puzzle that shows the evolution of humans from apes and it provides information to a period that scientists had very little knowledge about because of the lack of evidence (Whitfield).
The first indication Faulkner gives the reader as to Miss Emily?s instability is towards the end of the first section which describes how several members of the Board of Alderman call upon Miss Emily in an effort to collect her taxes. Faulkner points out earlier in the same section that ten years ago in 1894, Colonel Sartoris, the Mayor of Jefferson at the time, remitted Miss Emily?s taxes following the death of her father. The board members are admitted to the Grierson home where, after listening to the reason for their visit, Miss Emily first suggests that they ?. . .gain access to the city records and satisfy yourselves? (89). It is only moments later, after a brief exchange with these city authorities, that Miss Emily further advises them to ?See Colonel Sartoris? (Faulkner 89). The narrator then adds that the colonel has been dead almost ten years, which is Faulkner?s first clue to readers that Miss Emily is perhaps a bit delusional or confused.
Until recently, the oldest fossil species to provide evidence for bipedalism was Australopithecus afarensis, of which the best example of is the 3.2 million year old skeleton called Lucy found in Hadar, Ethiopia. According to article 19: Sunset at the Savanna, in 1995 Meave Leakey of the national Museums of Kenya and her colleagues made public the discovery of and older hominid species Australopithecus anamensis (getting its name from the Turkana word for lake "anam" having been found near lake Turkana and the site of another ancient lake). Leakey's team found a tibia from this creature that is quite human like and emphatically bipedal, "in size and practically all details of the knee and ankle joints… (it) resembles the one from the fully bipedal A. afarensis". The site where the fossils were found was dated to 4.2-3.9 million years ago; making 4.2mya the oldest date at which we can say that bipedalism has been proven to have emerged. There are also many other more recent fossils which have evidenceof bipedalism: Australopithecus afr...
Shubin, N.H., & Marshall, C.R. 2000. Fossils, genes and the origin of novelty. Paleobiology, 26(4): 324-340.
Fossil preservation has always been the most accurate way to determine what species lived during a specific time period. Through correlations and radiometric dating, time periods have become more accurate and being able to tell what lived during those times became possible. Although conditions have to be correct for fossilization, Pleistocene fossils are widespread and often well preserved. In the La Brea tar pits of present day Los Angeles, hundreds of thousands of preserved bones have been found that give a good idea of the animals that were present during this time. Many of the animals preserved are animals that can still be found today and would be found in the Los Angeles area if not for urbanization. Animals that were present during this time include camels, mammoths, and saber-toothed cats among others (Harris and Jefferson, 1985). Below is a picture of a saber-tooth fossil found in the La Brea tar pits.
It is primarily based off of Faulkner’s hometown and will be remembered as a true southern tale. The tragedy at the end of the story leaves readers wanting to know more. Although Jefferson was such a small town, and the audience associates small towns with knowing all that goes on, this is the irony of it all. Miss Emily was the middle of attention for the townspeople, yet they had no idea what was going on right inside of her own home in their town. Faulkner expresses the southern myth throughout his writing of this short story and shows this in the setting, character, and the strong hold that Emily’s father has on her which becomes the moral of the story where repression can have unintended consequences and trying to control someone’s life can only result in a bad
The main character, Miss Emily, was born into a prominent Southern family, the Grierson’s. The Grierson family represented the era of the Old South; and to the people of Jefferson, Mississippi, the family stood as a monument of the past. Miss Emily held on to the ways of this bygone era and would not change. Because of her inability to change, she was considered vulnerable to death and decay and, therefore, a “fallen monument” (71). Miss Emily had no intentions of changing her ways to please the people of her town. During her generation she “…had been a tradition, a duty, and a care; a sort of hereditary obligation upon the town…” (71). The new generation felt no hereditary obligations to her and her reputation in town was “dying and decaying.”.
People often have nicknames to describe details about themselves. Nicknames are not self-created but given to the person from friends or even comrades. In “Into The Lake Of The Woods” By Tim O' Brian, this is the case with John Wade, a former soldier that was nicknamed “Sorcerer”. John Wade is named Sorcerer because of use of magic in his youth and how the men is his squad would feel protected because of his magical powers. As Sorcerer is Wade's alter ego, it seems that it goes on to cost him dearly later in his life. Wade eventually ends up becoming governor of Minnesota and tries to run for U.S Senate. He loses in a landslide victory to his opponent as evidence of the My Lai incident is uncovered. His actions as Sorcerer start to make his life for the worse. It is seen later that Wade's wife, Kathy, is missing and Wade is soon suspected as he remains calm and not involved in the search party. O’Brien does not make it clear on how it Kathy's disappearance occurs but it is clear what happens. Sorcerer arrives again in John Wade as he pulls one final magic trick: to make Kathy disappear....forever.
Human Evolution. (2010). In A. B. Cobb (Ed.), Animal Sciences. New York: Macmillan Reference USA. Retrieved from http://ic.galegroup.com/ic/scic/ReferenceDetailsPage/ReferenceDetailsWindow
This contributes to the feelings of isolation that lay so heavily upon Emily. She experiences an internal struggle; as more generations pass, the stronger she pushes away from society. For example, the people stopped sending their children to her when “the newer generation became the backbone and the spirit of the town” (57). Miss Emily even refused to let them give her a mailbox and address when the town gained free postal delivery. The new generation of Townspeople also tried to get her to pay her taxes, but she continuously insisted that she was still exempt from taxation in Jefferson. Without any change in her life, Miss Emily was trapped in a prison created by the people around
There is not a specific time or date when family violence began. But social scientist began studying family violence in the United States in the 1960’s. (Shehan, 2003) In the United States, the way in which children were punished for breaking the rules was often semi-violent or violent behavior. Violence was there when there was no family system. Violence comes in many forms physical, mental, emotion and sexual. Family violence involves domestic violence. During the women’s movement public awareness of the domestic abuse problem became known. The first shelter for battered women was open in 1974 and the shelter led to many opening of other shelters and domestic violence programs. By the 1990’s law enforcement stated to view domestic violence as a serious issue. Police protocol changed and arrest were being made. According to the National Survey violence in one relationship leads to violence in another relationship. (Shehan, 2003) Families provide training grounds for violence. If children see violence in their home they are mostly to portray violence in their everyday lives. Child abuse and maltreatment includes physical, sexual, or emotional abuse, in addition to neglect. Displays of child abuse and neglect include injuries inflicted by a child giver, head injury, and injury to organs. Head trauma is the leading cause of death in children. According to the World Health Organization, there were an estimated 57, 000 deaths attributed to homicide among children under 15 years of age in 2000.
...earch and extension, rural infrastructure, and market access for small farmers. Rural investments have been sorely neglected in recent decades, and now is the time to reverse this trend. Farmers in many developing countries are operating in an environment of inadequate infrastructure like roads, electricity, and communications; poor soils; lack of storage and processing capacity; and little or no access to agricultural technologies that could increase their profits and improve their livelihoods. Recent unrest over food prices in a number of countries may tempt policymakers to put the interests of urban consumers over those of rural people, including farmers, but this approach would be shortsighted and counterproductive. Given the scale of investment needed, aid donors should also expand development assistance to agriculture, rural services, and science and technology.
Agriculture holds a significant role in underdeveloped countries. It is often the backbone of their economic and social well-being. It acts as the main source of employment and income, 70% of a country's population rely on framing as a mean of living (CITE HERE). Because most underdeveloped countries have low rates of educational attainment, farming is a popular source of employment. It requires little to no education. As a result agriculture employs many people contributing to nations economic development. Residents can also sell what they grow, providing them with a source of income, thus not only raising the national income level but the standard of living as well. Agriculture is not only a ...