On February 12, 2014, the world celebrated the 205th anniversary of the birth of Charles Darwin. November marks the 155th anniversary of his seminal work The Origin of Species by Natural Selection. And opponents of the theory of evolution - from generation to generation - continue to doubt. For almost a century and a half - an offensive long - skeptics could refer to the absence of the so-called missing link. And gloatingly wondering, they say, where are the remains of a creature that is not an ape, but not yet a modern human?
And the "link" was eventually found - in South Africa. There, back in 2008, bones of a kind of "transitional model" were discovered. The ancestor's appearance was recently restored by paleo artist John Gurch, using the method of Russian professor Gerasimov.
And the sensational find itself was credited to the professor of evolutionary biology Lee Berger from the University of the Witwatersrend in Johannesburg. It was made during excavations in the South African Malapa Cave in the Sterkfontein area, where the bones of ancient human ancestors were found earlier. For example, in 1994, it was fortunate enough to dig up almost an entire skeleton of Australopithecus, who lived 3.3 million years ago.
Scientists determined that the "missing link" was a 13-year-old teenager. The skeleton of a 30-year-old woman was also in the same cave. Presumably they are a son and a mother. They died, falling into a failure.
The prehistoric boy was named Carabo. Which in translation from the local South African dialect means "Answer". The answer, of course, is to skeptics. The scientific name of the species to which the remains from the cave belonged is as follows: Australopithecus sediba. The boy was about 130 centimeters tall. Weighed under 30 kilograms.
Dexterous boy Carabo
Scientists have studied Carabo's well-preserved palm. And they came to the conclusion that this made it possible to make tools. Thanks to the structure of the fingers, the boy could deftly manipulate small objects.
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At the same time, the “missing link” had rather long arms and a well-developed thumb, which made it possible to move by clinging to branches. This "link" was still like monkeys. And combined upright walking with jumping from tree to tree. The ancestors' basins were already quite human - in width. And the length of the legs made it possible to run quite fast.
The “missing link” hand was suitable for needlework
The size of the brain of Carabo was one third of the modern - with a small melon "collective farmer". But evolution has already touched this most important organ. From his prints left on the skull, scientists determined that the boy had well-developed frontal lobes of the brain. Almost like a modern person.
The missing link's teeth were rather small. This indicates that he did not need to chew hard. Most likely, Karabo's mom has already learned how to cook food. Perhaps on fire.
Scientists, by the way, have determined the time of this significant event in the history of mankind - the development of thermal processing of food. Surprisingly, it matches the age of the find - it was about 2 million years ago.
According to Professor Berger, restoring the appearance of Carabo, of course, had to be a little imaginative. But only about hair and skin. In terms of their color. In fact, the exact shades are unknown. As well as the thickness of the hairline in certain places.
