Scientist’s find the Missing Link?
In May 2009, a media blitz accompanied the release of a scientific paper describing a fossil dubbed “Ida” (Scientific name: Darwinius masillae – in honor of Charles Darwin) and claiming the Missing Link has finally been found.
The research team may have used the “Missing Link” phrase to promote a documentary on the History Channel and a book; both titled “The Link.” See the following quotes and links for additional information about this, apparently, pre-mature claim:
“On the whole I think the evidence is less than convincing,” said Chris Gilbert, a paleoanthropologist at Yale University. “They make an intriguing argument but I would definitely say that the consensus is not in favor of the hypothesis they’re proposing.” . . .
“The PR campaign on this fossil is I think more of a story than the fossil itself,” said anthropologist Matt Cartmill of Duke University in North Carolina. “It’s a very beautiful fossil, but I didn’t see anything in this paper that told me anything decisive that was new.”
Most experts agree that the find is significant, if only for its impressive degree of completeness, but some were put off by the bells and whistles that went along with the publicity campaign around Ida. . . .
“It’s not a missing link, it’s not even a terribly close relative to monkeys, apes and humans, which is the point they’re trying to make,” [Carnegie Museum of Natural History curator of vertebrate paleontology Chris] Beard said.
Amid Media Circus, Scientists Doubt ‘Ida’ Is Your Ancestor
Clara Moskowitz, LiveScience, May 20, 2009