New Hominid

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Norm MacLeod



>Date: Wed, 27 Dec 1995 16:40:50 +0100 (MET)
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>From: paleovert@CESIT1.UNIFI.IT (Vrt.Paleo. - University of Florence)
>To: vrtpaleo@usc.edu
>Subject: new hominid
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>A team of geologists and palaeontologists of the Erithrean Ministry of
>Energy, Mines and Water resources (dept. of Mines) and of the Department of
>Earth Sciences of the University of Florence (Italy), reports the discovery
>in northern Dankalia of a human ancestor which lived between 4 and 2.5
>million years ago.
>The finding consists in a large part of the skull roof, parts of the
>maxillaries and premaxillaries and of the dental row. Some parts of the
>facial skeleton are also preserved but still covered by matrix and need
>careful preparation. The completeness of the braincase offers the
>possibility to obtain from its inner cavity a cast of the brain
>morphology.Some postcranial remains were also found.
>Human remains in Dankalia represent the northernmost findings along the East
>African Rift, and because of age similarity, area contiguity and comparable
>geological context strongly recall the findings of the Middle Awash Valley
>of Ethiopia.
>Alongside the skull, several skeletal remains of other animals were found:
>elephants, hippos, bovids, suids, equids, and traces of hyaenids, crocodiles
>and tortoises.
>
>The fossil findings were obtained in the framework of a joint research
>project between teh Eritrean dept. of Mines and the University of Florence,
>coordinated by Dr. Tewelde Medhin Tecle and prof. Ernesto Abbate,
>respectively. This project is called "The Danakil Horst and Adjoining Areas"
>and its investigations aim to elucidate the geological features and history
>of these regions.
>
>The latest expedition team was composed, in addition to both coordinators,
>by the following researches of the University of Florence:
>
>Field geologists - Prof. Piero Bruni and Dr. Mauro Papini
>Sedimentologists - Prof. Mario Sagri, Dr. Marco Benvenuti and Dr. Paolo Ghetti
>Vert. Palaeontologists - Prof. Augusto Azzaroli, Prof. Giovanni Ficcarelli
>and Dr. Lorenzo Rook (who discovered the skull).
>
>Further field work is planned in order to increase the collected sample and
>the geological knowledge of the area.
>



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Norman MacLeod
Senior Scientific Officer
N.MacLeod@nhm.ac.uk (Internet)
N.MacLeod@uk.ac.nhm (Janet)

Address: Dept. of Palaeontology, The Natural History Museum,
         Cromwell Road, London, SW7 5BD

Office Phone: 0171-938-9006
Dept. FAX:  0171-938-9277
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