Toumai, A Window To Divergence In Hominid Evolution

In 2001 an incredible piece of the hominid puzzle was discovered. Sahelanthropus tchadensis, nicknamed Toumai, is "pushing back the roots of the human family tree by up to one million years, shedding light on mankind's divergence from chimpanzees" (Bradshaw Foundation, 2002:1). Toumai, which means hope of life, was discovered in northern Chad west of the Rift Valley in Africa. Other Miocene era hominids were located in east and southern Africa and arrived later in time. Of the small percentage of fossils that have been located, Toumai appears to be the best example of our ancestor's deviation from Pan troglodytes, the common chimpanzee. The reader's imagination can only try to fathom what other relatives may be exposed by desert winds.

Since 1925, the search for early hominids has concentrated in South Africa and east of the Rift Valley (Nature, Vol. 418, 2002:145). Fossils from these regions include Australopithecus afarensis, Australopithecus anamensis, Australopithecus africanus, ans Australopithecus bahrelghazali. Specimens date far back in the fossil record, but none as old as Sahelanthropus tchadenis. "The associated fauna suggest the fossils are between six and seven million years old, and display a unique mosaic of primitive and derived characters which constitute a new genus and species of hominid" (Nature, Vol. 418, 2002:145). The Science Channel aired an episode recounting the discovery and reconstruction of Toumai and his habitat. Present information opens the viewer's mind to another branch of the evolutionary family tree.

References and Works Cited:

Bradshaw Foundation. "Earliest Known Human Ancestor Discovery, A Skull Discovered in the Deserts of Central Africa Belongs to our Earliest Known Human Ancestor." (2002:1-4. Online. 18 November 2007. .

Centre National De La Recherche Scientifique. "Toumai, the Ancestor of Modern Humans." (2002-2006): 1-2. Online. 18 November 2007. /

Jurmain, Robert, Lynn Kilgore and Wenda Trevathan. Introduction to Physical Anthropology, Tenth Edition. Calif: Thonson Wadsworth. 2005.

Kottak, Conrad Phillip. Anthropology The Exploration of Human Diversity. Tenth Edition. N.Y.: McGraw-Hill. 2004.

Nature International Weekly Science Journal. "A new hominid from the Upper Miocene of Chad, Cent. Africa." Volume 418. (11 July 2002): 141-151. Online. 19 November 2007.
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Nature International Weekly Science Journal. "Geology and Paleontology of the

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