'Ardi' skull reveals links to human lineage

One of the most hotly debated issues in current human origins research focuses on how the 4.4-million-year-old African species Ardipithecus ramidus is related to the human lineage. New research led by ASU paleoanthropologist William Kimbel confirms "Ardi's" close evolutionary relationship to humans. Researchers turned to the base of a beautifully preserved partial cranium of Ardi, which reveals a pattern of similarity that links Ardi to Australopithecus and modern humans and but not to apes. Read more