The Discovery of Toumai †An Old Hominid :: Exploratory Essays Research Papers

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 â€Å"Toumai†, which means, â€Å"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.