Explores the story behind the discovery of an early primate fossil, Darwinius masillae, nicknamed Ida, in a shale quarry in Germany. The fossil is believed to be around 47 million years old, and is extraordinarily well-preserved. Originally unearthed in 1983, Ida lay in the hands of a private collector for 20 years before it was shown to a Norwegian paleontologist, Dr Jørn Hurum. Realising that Ida could turn out to be a significant missing link between modern primates, lemurs and lower mammals, he persuaded the Natural History Museum in Oslo to purchase the fossil and assembled an international team of experts to study it. Their findings were announced in a press conference and the online publication of a scientific paper on 19 May 2009.

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Nova and National Geographic present exclusive access to an astounding discovery of ancient fossil h...

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The events and coincidences that led to rapid advances in human intelligence 50,000 years ago.

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In Morocco, new excavations on the site of Jebel Irhoud upset the generally accepted view of the dat...

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Host Neil deGrasse Tyson tackles one of science's major challenges in each segment of Where Did We C...

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