 | A replica of the "Turkana Boy" from northern Kenya, the most complete early hominid skeleton found to date, is featured in "Fossil Fragments: The Riddle of Human Origins," a new permanent exhibition at the Peabody Museum. |
The Peabody Museum of Natural History has unveiled a new permanent exhibition titled "Fossil Fragments: The Riddle of Human Origins," exploring what scientists have discovered about the ancestry of modern-day humans.
"Scientific evidence suggests that humans ultimately evolved from an extinct African Great Ape," says Andrew Hill, professor of anthropology, who is a specialist on human evolution and curator of "Fossil Fragments."
"From both fossil and molecular evidence, it seems that the human lineage and African Great Ape lineage diverged from one another between 6 and 8 million years ago," he notes.
The exhibition takes this divide as its starting point as it documents the ongoing scientific study of human ancestry and profiles the individuals involved in important fossil discoveries.
"Fossil Fragments" examines a procession of hominid species -- from the earliest, which lived over 6 million years ago, to the earliest representatives of Homo sapiens, the species of modern-day humans, which emerged in Africa 200,000 years ago.
As the exhibition reveals, fossil evidence shows that the different kinds of humans that once lived in the past were very successful animals; some existed far longer than Homo sapiens has thus far, and at some periods more than one species of hominid lived at the same time, in the same place.
Exhibition highlights include a full-size replica of the most complete early hominid skeleton ever found, the "Turkana Boy" (named for Lake Turkana in Kenya, near where the fossil was recovered). The young male Homo erectus stands about 5'6" tall with an estimated height at maturity of six feet. A replica of a hominid footprint trail preserved in volcanic ash shows that the hominid that left those traces 3.7 million years ago walked on its back legs much like humans do. The exhibition also includes real food remains and tools of Neanderthals, the best-known extinct hominids who lived from at least 300,000 to 320,000 years ago, and who -- according to DNA evidence -- did not contribute to the modern human gene pool.
The creation of "Fossil Fragments" required an integration of art and science. The exhibition includes a floor mural based on original archaeological plans of a site in Olduvai in Africa drawn by renowned paleoanthropologist Mary Leakey; 12 cast bronze skulls comparing Homo sapiens with their nearest hominid ancestor and its closing living relative, the chimpanzee; and a three-stage fossil reconstruction of a male Neanderthal's cranial and facial anatomy. (See related story)
"Fossil Fragments: The Riddle of Human Origins" is supported by J. Clayton Stephenson, Stanford Phelps, and the Brown family (The Louise I. Brown Charitable Lead Trust and The Louise H. & David S. Ingalls Foundation).
The Peabody Museum of Natural History, located at 170 Whitney Ave., is open
T H I S
New Peabody exhibit traces
origins of modern humans
10 a.m.-5 p.m., Monday-Saturday, and noon-5 p.m. Sunday. It is closed Easter Sunday, Memorial Day, July 4, Labor Day, Thanksgiving, Dec 24, 25 and 31, and Jan. 1. Admission is $7 for adults; $6 for seniors age 65 and older; $3 for children ages 3-18 and older students with I.D.; and free for museum members, Yale community members with a valid I.D. and children under age 3. There is free admission for all 2-5 p.m. on Thursdays. The museum is wheelchair accessible. Parking is available in the Peabody Visitor Parking Lot, entrance off Whitney Ave. one block north of the museum. For directions, events or other information call (203) 432-5050 or visit the website at www.peabody.yale.edu.
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