PALEOANTHROPOLOGY:
Scientists Spar Over Claims of Earliest Human Ancestor
Michael Balter
PARIS--In two papers scheduled for publication in the 28 February issue of the Comptes Rendus de l'Académie des Sciences, researchers claim that a set of 6-million-year-old bones unearthed in Kenya last year represents our earliest known ancestor. Not only would the find predate other leading candidates by some 2 million years; the authors also believe that all australopithecines--hominids which include the famous skeleton Lucy, whose species is thought to be one of our direct ancestors--should be relegated to a side branch in favor of their specimen.