Science fans might want to make a date with the Discovery channel this Sunday when a special programme will chart the discovery of a 4.4 million-year-old female partial skeleton nicknamed ‘Ardi’.
The two-hour special will include interviews with scientists and journalists from Science magazine which recently published an article on the find.
The scientific investigation that began in the Ethiopian desert 17 years ago opens a new chapter on human evolution, revealing the first evolutionary steps our ancestors took after we diverged from a common ancestor that we once shared with living chimpanzees.
‘Discovering Ardi’ clip 2 from Wolfstar on Vimeo.
‘Ardi’ is now the oldest skeleton from our (hominid) branch of the primate family tree. These Ethiopian discoveries reveal an early grade of human evolution in Africa that predated the famous Australopithecus nicknamed ‘Lucy’.
“Discovery Channel is thrilled to tell the story of Ardipithecus ramidus. In Discovering Ardi, we show viewers the scientific analysis undertaken by this international team of 47 scientists as they piece together the hominid bones and link the evidence of thousands of other animals and plant fossils. The science in Discovering Ardi is core to our mission and we have taken great care to tell the story of great scientific find,” said Dan Korn, SVP Programming, Discovery Channel UK.
Discovering Ardi airs exclusively on Discovery Channel, Sunday October 18 at 2100-2300hrs.
