Little Foot

I learn today that scientists at the University of the Witwatersrand have been working for twenty years to reassemble a more or less complete Australopithecus skeleton.

To quote: 'Little Foot is the only known virtually complete Australopithecus fossil discovered to date. It is by far the most complete skeleton of a human ancestor older than 1.5 million years ever found. It is also the oldest fossil hominid in southern Africa, dating back 3.67 million years. The unveiling will be the first time that the completely cleaned and reconstructed skeleton can be viewed by the national and international media'.

About 1.3m tall, probably a female and with legs longer than arms, so not an ape, at least to that extent.

Makes our own ancient history, noticed at reference 3, look a bit tame.

PS: waking this morning I computed that the Deity and natural selection took more than 100,000 generations to get from Little Foot to Big Trump, something that a common or garden agricultural pig breeder, applying a bit of intelligence, could have probably managed with less than 100. At least, that is what their exploits of the nineteenth century would suggest.

Reference 1: http://www.wits.ac.za/news/latest-news/research-news/2017/2017-12/little-foot-takes-a-bow.html.

Reference 2: https://youtu.be/t1RHCzA7SnA.

Reference 3: http://psmv3.blogspot.co.uk/2016/10/beeches-pit-one.html.