Becoming Human

“It’s a lovely little foot” declared Don Johanson, upon learning of a  new fossil find in Ethiopia. Johannes Haile-Selassie and others announced in the March 28 issue of the journal Nature the recovery of a partial foot from the Burtele area of  Ethiopia. Eight of the normally 17 bones of the hominin foot were found eroding from sandstone dated to 3.4 million years ago.

Adaptations, large and small, are occurring at a regular rate in all species and demonstrate how evolution by natural selection works.    The changing shape and strength of the beaks of finches in the Galapagos; the darkening color of moth wings in England as the Industrial Revolution took hold; and the recent loss of sound produced by crickets rubbing their wings together in Hawaii are compelling examples of adaptations.

The award winning website BecomingHuman.org now has a Facebook page - check it out. Not much now but watch it grow!