The initial study of Ida was made public in the open and freely accessible online magazine PLoS ONE. They were completed later that year and contrary to the sensational statements in May, they showed that Ida was not directly related to us humans. Furthermore, the results of the fossil analysis had to be tested. The only problem was that even though Ida was an incredibly well preserved fossil and that we can learn a lot from studying it, it does not change the fact that we already know the evolution of man. It is no wonder that newsrooms gave in to the temptation to once again run this headline. “This discovery will revolutionise everything we know”. But everything did not run smoothly and not everyone was equally pleased. Even Google changed their logo in celebration of the event. The sensational launch has been carefully planned for a number of years and culminates in a until now unseen media stunt which with perfect timing launches the scientific article, a comprehensive and well produced website containing nothing less than a comment from legendary David Attenborough, a television broadcast, and a popular scientific book pretty much all at the same time.Īll the elements of a good story were present – and it was masterfully coordinated by the scientists themselves in an impressively choreographed launch which quickly secured sensational headlines and maximum attention on a worldwide scale. However, it did not end with the press conference. Compared to Ida, Lucy (one of the most famous fossils among our evolutionary ancestors from the species Australopithecus aphaeresis) is a mere baby at just 3.2 million years – or as mentioned 20 times younger than Ida. She is 20 times older than most other famous fossils which have given us answers to the human evolution so far, says the press statement. The flame of sensational press was blazing: Ida was not just “the missing link”, she was “The Link!” – the connection to our common past with all other primates.
Ida was presented to the world on at an impressive press conference at the American Museum of Natural History with the mayor of New York Michael Bloomberg and full media coverage. The fossil is even determined to be female and in her stomach we can see the remains of her last meal which consisted of fruits and leaves. 47 million years old and incredibly well preserved: approximately 95% intact and with a dark shadow around the skeleton indicating what was once flesh and fur.
The world press dished out huge headlines when a new fossil was presented in 2009.ĭarwinius masillae, a primate resembling a lemur, is quite remarkable. “The Missing Link has finally been discovered”, “the Eighth Wonder of the world”, “The Rosetta Stone pathology”, Darwin was right”, “The theory of evolution has finally been proven”.