ARA-VP-6/500, nicknamed Ardi, is a partial hominid skeleton of Ardipithecus ramidus, recovered from the Lower Aramis, Ethiopia member of the Central Awash Complex in Ethiopia's Rift Valley. Large fragments of the creature's cranium (skull), mandible (jaw), both hands, both feet, one leg (femur and tibia), and both arms were recovered, including ~100 bones. The skeleton is of a tall, massive female, with a bipedal standing height of 120 centimeters and a weight of about 50 kilograms. She had a small face and reduced teeth, and scholars believe she is a common ancestor of both humans and African apes.
Ardi's skull was unusually complete, if badly crushed, but it allowed researchers a close look. The skull has a small cranial capacity, both in general and in comparison to her body size. She had a projecting muzzle, but it didn't project quite as far forward as modern African apes do. In this facial area she significantly differed from both modern apes and her theoretical ancestor, Australopithecus. Ardi's face does appear to be close to another ancient hominid called Sahleanthropus, leading some researchers to suggest that the two were actually one species; but further data needs to be collected first.
Sources and Further Information
Suwa, Gen, et al. 2009 The Ardipithecus ramidus Skull and Its Implications for Hominid Origins. Science 326:68e1-68e7.
White, Tim D., et al. 2009 Ardipithecus ramidus and the Paleobiology of Early Hominids. Science 326:75-86.
- Ardipithecus ramidus, the blog post, which has links to recent news stories
- Lucy, famous Australopithecus afarensis
- Hominin
- Aramis, Ethiopia
- Bipedal locomotion
