47-Million-Year-Old Fossil The Missing Link?

Scientists yesterday unveiled a 47-million-year-old fossil that they’re calling the "missing link" between primates and humans. Technically called a Darwinius masillae, but nicknamed "Ida," the juvenile female primate was discovered in Germany’s Messel Pit and is one of the most intact fossils ever found. In fact, scientists were even able to identify her last meal: fruit, seeds and leaves.

Considering Ida’s remarkable physical characteristics — and estimated lifetime — researchers are convinced she proves human evolution. Jorn Hurum of Norway’s Natural History Museum remarked, "This is the first link to all humans...The closest thing we can get to a direct ancestor."

Of course, we can’t be sure Ida’s the missing link, as Washington University’s Brian Richmond points out at National Geographic: "[Ida] is one of the important branching points on the evolutionary tree, but it’s not the only branching point."