Ape That Took over the World

Synopsis: In 2001, scientists announced the discovery of the oldest skull of a human ever found. The 3.5 million-year-old ape-like fossil was remarkably complete and revolutionised our understanding of how humans evolved
Dr Meave Leakey’s discovery of an ancient fossil called Kenyanthropus platyops (Flat-Faced Man), together with the previous discovery of the 300 million year-old skeleton ‘Lucy’ shows that there were two different bipedal human ancestors living at the same time, and is also the first sign of the adaptive radiation that the theory of evolution says should have followed the planet of the apes.

With contributions from Professor Leslie Aiello (University College, London), Dr Meike Kohler (Palaeontologist), Dr Robert Foley (University of Cambridge), Professor Don Johanson (Arizona State University), Professor Jay Quade (Geochemist, Arizona State University), Justus Erus (Fossil Hunter) and Dr Fred Spoor (University College, London).
Series: Horizon, Series
Language: English
Country: Great Britain
Year of release: 2002
Year of production: 2001
Notes: Broadcast on 4/10/01, BBC2
Subjects: Archaeology; Biology
Keywords: apes; human ancestry; human evolution

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