The Link: Uncovering Our Earliest Ancestor

by Colin Tudge, Josh Young

For more than a century, scientists have raced to unravel the human family tree and have grappled with its complications. Now, with an astonishing new discovery, everything we thought we knew about primate origins could change. Lying inside a high-security vault, deep within the heart of one of the world's leading natural history museums, is the scientific find of a lifetime - a perfectly fossilized early primate, older than the previously most famous primate fossil, Lucy, by forty-four million years.

Genres: Science, Nonfiction, Evolution, History, Anthropology, Biology, Palaeontology

272 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2009

About the author

Colin Tudge was educated at Dulwich College, 1954-61; and read zoology at Peterhouse, Cambridge, 1962-65.

Since 1965 he has worked on journals such as World Medicine, New Scientist and Pan, the newspaper of the World Food Conference held in Rome, 1974.

Ever since then he has earned a living by spasmodic broadcasting and a lot of writing—mainly books these days, but with occasional articles. He has a special interest in natural history in general, evolution and genetics, food and agriculture, and spends a great deal of time on philosophy (especially moral philosophy, the philosophy of science, and the relationship between science and religion).

He has two daughters, one son, and four granddaughters, and lives in Oxford with his wife, Ruth (nee West).

Reviews

[Sarah ~ · Rating 4 out of 5]

يبدأ هذا الكتاب المميز بعالم يُعرض عليه شراء أحفورة من قبل وسيط وبائع لا يريد الكشف عن هويته ..
بداية مشوقة بالنسبة لكتاب دسم .. في الصفحات المئة الأولى لم استطع أن أضع الكتاب من يدي .

..

عثر على أحفورة - مستحاثة كاملة في حفرة ميسيل بـ ألمانيا عرفت لاحقا باسم آيدا ..
وتعد الأحفورة الوحيدة المكتملة من الرئيسيات التي تمَ اكتشافها عبر العصور ..
عثر على الأحفورة بواسطة أحد الهواة عام 1983 في محمية (ميسيل بيت) المدرجة على قائمة التراث العالمي وهي كهف حجري مهجور جنوب شرقي فرانكفورت حيث عثر على العديد من الحفريات. وبقيت ايدا ضمن مجموعة خاصة حتى عرضت للبيع على جون هوروم والذي اشتراها لصالح جامعة اوسلو عام 2006.

عاشت الأحفورة التي ستغير الكثير في فهمنا لعالمنا والمخلوقات التي تعيش عليه ..
في بداية العصر الإيوسيني ..

العصر الإيوسيني كانَ قبل أكثر من 56 مليون سنة ..
كان العالم الإستكلندي السير تشارلز ليل أول من عرف العصر الجيولوجي الثالث - 1833 - بوصفه الفترة التي أعقبت زوال الديناصورات وقسمها إلى أربعة أقسام أولها الإيوسين .. اشتقت كلمة ايوسيني من الكلمتين اليونانيتين (eos) وتعني فجر و(kainos) وتعني حديث ..
الايوسين هو أول حياة جديدة -أي الموجة الأولى من الكائنات بعد زمن الزواحف الضخمة ..
تبدو كثير من الأشياء مألوفة من النباتات والحيوانات التي تشبه بعضها الحيوانات الحالية وبعضها الآخر لا يشبهها البته ..
تميز العصر الإيوسيني بارتفاع درجات الحرارة نتيجة انفجار مخزونات الميثان الموجودة في قاع المحيط مما غير كثيراً من صورة الحياة على كوكبنا ..

مَثَلَ ذلك العصر العصر الذهبي للرئيسيات وأغلبها هي الثدييات الحالية ..


حفرة ميسيل ..

حفرة بركانية والتي شكلت بنيتها التكوينية مع الكثير من الظروف الإستثنائية بيئة مناسبة لحفظ الكثير من المخلوقات بصورة مثالية ..
اكتشفت في القرن الثامن عشر شكلت موقعا مهما للصخور الزيتية التي كانت مهمة حينها لأجل الصناعة ..
وفي عام 1875 اكتشفت أول أحفورة وهي مكونة من 150 قطعة عظمية تضم أجزاء من فك تمساح ..
في أواحر القرن التاسع عشر تحولت حفرة ميسيل لمنجم ..
وعرفت بمنجم حفرة ميسيل المفتوح ..
وحينها وجدت الكثير من الحفريات وإن واجهت العلماء صعوبات في استخراجها ..

في عام 1971 توقف التعدين في الحفرة وأصبح الطريق مفتوحا لإكتشاافات علمية ممهداً وجاداً ..وحينها قررت حكومة الولاية تحويل الحفرة غلى موقع لجمع القمامة ..
مما أدى إلى اعتراضات من المواطنين والعلماء ..ولعشرين عاما قادمة ظلت تلك الخطط قائمة ..حتى العام 1987 أصدرت المحاكم بالغاء قرار تحويل الحفرة إلى حفرة للنفايات ..
وفي عام 1991 اشترت ولاية هيسين حفرة ميسل مقال 32 مليون مارك الماني .. واعلنتها موقعا للتراث الطبيعي والثقافي .. بعدها بعام اتفقت الولاية ومعهد زنكلبيرغ ان أي احفورة من نوع جديد وغير معروف يجب ان تظل في حيازة المعهد أو متحف دامشتات المحلي والتابع للولاية .. وفي عام 1995 ضمت حفرة ميسيل إلى قائمة التراث العالمي لليونيسكو .. موقع طبيعي ثقافي .. ويمثل أهمية لمصلحة البشرية جميعا ..

أحفورة أيدا /
آيدا كانت كائنا صغيراً لها ساقان اطول قليلا من ذراعيها مما ساعدها على تسلق الأشجار وكانت آيدا من آكلات الفاكهة والنبات .. وعاشت في غابة مطيرة قريبة من حفرة ميسيل وقد تكون ماتت نتيجة لإستنشاقها غاز ثاني اكسيد الكربون المنبعث من الحفرة بكميات قاتلة . وسقطت في الحفرة حيث حفظت لملايين السنين بشكل جيد حتى تم اكتشافها ..
تعد أحفورة أيد الوحيدة من نوعها - سلالتها، التي سقطت في حفرة ميسيل حيث لم يجد العلماء حتى اليوم حفرية أخرى تشابهها ..
يشرح الفصل الأخير ما ايدا وماذا تكون ..
أين عاشت وكيف ؟
وأخيراً كيف ماتت ..

أرى أنَ آيدا محظوظة ، فهي لاقت كل هذا الإهتمام ، نخبة من العلماء عملوا على المشروع ، تم تأليف كتاب عنها وتصوير فيلم وثائقي أيضاً ...
في الأجزاء الأولى يستغرق الكتاب في وصف أنواع الرئيسيات ومدى صعوبة بقاءها لتكون فيما بعد أحافير ..

بالتأكيد لا أؤمن بأن لكل الرئيسيات أسلاف مشتركون - الرئيسيات تختلف كثيرا حتى فيما بينها وإن كانت تلك الإختلافات كبيرة أو غاية في الصغر فهي سواء بالنسبة إلي .. مما يجعلها وبلا شك كائنات مختلفة عن بعضها البعض ، من وجهة نظري على الأقل ..

الكتاب مليء في كل سطر من سطوره معلومات قيمة ..
قد نتفق ونختلف في تفسير هذه المعلومات ولكنها في النهاية معلومات قيمة ..
علم مبني على حقائق واثباتات ..
ما أعجبني بالكتاب كثيراً هو المعلومات الكثيرة التي يشملها ـ والتفسيرات الغارقةالتفاصيل مثلا مناقشة نظريات هجرة الحيوانات من موطنها الأصلي واستقرارها في المواطن الطبيعية التي تعيش بها اليوم وكيف انتقلت بالهجرة لباقي القارات وذلك عبر تتبع طرق هجرتها - الفيلة مثلا موطنها الأصلي كان قارة امريكا الشمالية ، الأسود لم تذهب أبداً أمريكا الجنوبية ..

كما في التاريخ - الذي يكتبه المنتصر دائما ، لتكونَ في النهاية رؤيته هي الرائجة ..
فإن مقولة ( البقاء للأقوى ) تنطبق أيضاً على العلم ، لأن العلماء الأوربيون والأمريكيون هم من يسيطرون على هذه العلوم ، من العصور الجيولوجية ، إلى أين عاش الانسان أولاً ، قبل أن ينتقل للعيش على جميع القارات .
هذه العلوم تنقل وجهات نظرهم وتهمش كثير من النظريات لأنها لا تروق لأهواء بعض العلماء ، ويبدأونَ أيضاً بنشر نظريتهم الخاصة التي استنتجوها بناء على أفكارهم هذه والتي قد تكون صحيحة والإحتمال الأكبر ألا تكون .. وهو شيء يؤكد عليه المؤلف ..


يظل علم الأحافير علما يتغير يوميا ..
ولـ لأسباب كثيرة منها الاكتشافات الجديدة والتي تحتاج لأوقات طويلة ليتم اثباتها ..
حيث تتضح لنا صعوبة التأكد من اغلب النظريات فـ كل شيء في النهاية محتمل ..
الكثير من الأسلاف والسلالات و لا ننسى العصور الجيولوجية المختلفة -وتأثيرها الشديد ..
وأيضا المواد المكتشفة فأحيانا يتم بناء نظريات كاملة بعد ايجاد عضو واحد ( فك كائن ما - مثلا ) وقد تتشابه هذه الأعضاء ولكائنات كثيرة .. مما يجعل احتمالات الخطأ واردة ..
ولا ننسى الكثير من الحلقات المفقودة ..
أخيراً هذه العلوم جذابة جدا - فقط عن بعد ، ما أن نقترب منه حتى يفقد بريقة ويتبين لنا مدى هشاشته فهو في كثير من الأحيان قائم على نظريات قد لا تجد فرصة لاثباتها .. ..

ما وردَ في هذه المراجعة هي اراء واستنتاجات شخصية ..
والبعض الآخر هو خلاصات لبعض ما ورد في الكتاب ..

[Jim · Rating 3 out of 5]

The book started off well enough, but didn't really progress from there. The history of the Messel pit & how Ida died were very interesting. A 47 million year old fossil in such great condition, how it got that way, & it's journey to the museum are all fascinating.

Most of the middle of the book was taken up describing evolution & some detail about mammals & the anthropoids in particular. I've read better accounts since he skipped around & repeated himself a lot, but most do. The tree is bushy & evidence is sparse, but I noticed some differences from other books that didn't help my understanding. For instance, at one point he is discussing Old & New World monkeys & he says they split only 20 million years ago, but others say it was twice that. Since Africa & South America split 140 million years ago, it's a point I remembered. Worse, he said they all have color vision, but another book said that no species of monkeys left in the New World had it at first & they developed it using a different set of genes than Old World monkeys. It was an interesting example of convergent evolution that stuck in my head.

Anyway, an explanation of anthropoid evolution wasn't really why I got this book. I certainly didn't mind it, at first. I could listen to dozens of explanations a hundred times & still not get all those names down properly not to mention keeping them in proper order. Tudge certainly made good points in how spotty the fossil record is & how easy it is to interpret the bits we've found in different ways. Unfortunately, he made the same points multiple times using the same data. He just rephrased it.

By the end, I was getting really tired of the repetition when he finally got back to Ida. I was thrilled, but he just repeated most of the early part of the book again. Sigh. There were a few new bits & a summation putting Ida into context with the long middle lecture, but he'd done that all along so it was redundant. It seemed like a infomercial for Ida.

Unfortunately, that's the feeling this left me with. It's a infomercial for Ida, an important missing link in the fossil record & one of the best preserved specimens around of any age. Frankly, she deserved better. It's not an awful book. It had some really interesting info that was new to me & was well narrated, but I can only give it 2.5 stars. I'll round up to 3 since I'm a grump about redundancy even when I need it.

[Craig · Rating 2 out of 5]

First, the negatives: 90% of this book consists of slopped-together summaries of what is already known about paleoprimatology, and most of the other 10% reads like a repetitive blog entry about the lives of these noble scientists as they embark on their mission to study this fossil skeleton. Actual information about Ida is sorely lacking, and what little there is seems to be designed mainly to exaggerate the importance of this find, with a common tactic being to denigrate other fossil specimens in order to artificially increase the seeming importance of this one. Lucy is criticized for not being as obviously on the human line when the exact opposite is true, and "missing links" in general are made to seem extremely rare in order to emphasize how amazing this find is. The only other "missing link" the author will even acknowledge is Archaeopteryx, making it seem as if that's the only other one ever found.

Regardless of the terrible problems with insisting on using such a silly and inaccurate term as "missing link," pretending that others don't exist is supremely bad form. Of course the bigger problem behind all of this hype is that by their own criteria, it is not at all clear that Ida is indeed a missing link of any sort. Recent research by Chris Beard at the Carnegie Museum of Natural History in Pittsburgh shows that Ida is most likely a member of Notharctidae, a well-studied family of primitive lemurs. Most other experts, including Paleogene primatology pioneer Elwyn Simons, seem to agree that Ida has no claim to human ancestry whatsoever.

The title and subtitle of this book are extremely disingenuous. "The Link," not "A Link," which the author would admit is more accurate, since he describes any fossil that is intermediate between two known taxa as being a missing link. This is especially true given the general understanding that "the missing link" is one that connects humans to the other apes (news flash: we found that one more than 30 years ago)

Also, "Uncovering Our Earliest Ancestor," not "Uncovering a possible anthropoid ancestor from the middle Eocene," which would make vastly more sense, since "our earliest ancestor" lived more than 3.5 billion years ago and was a microscopic bundle of genetic information. Even in the text of the book, Tudge doesn't seem to realize that even if Ida is indeed a direct ancestor of all anthropoids, which doesn't seem to be true anyway, there are still earlier human ancestors, such as the ancestors of all primates, all mammals, all reptiles, etc. I've personally discovered many primate specimens (not nearly as beautiful or complete as Ida, but that's beside the point) that predate her by at least 3 million years, and that are just as likely to have some ancestral relationship to humans (again, not very likely). 47 million years is a very long time, but there's absolutely no justification for the word "earliest" in the title of this book.

The book was published at the same time as the scientific article, and these were roughly coincident with a BBC documentary and a hilariously hyperbolic website. What they don't mention in the book is that this media circus was necessary in order to justify the amount of money paid to the private collector to obtain the specimen. Everything was therefore rushed to be on time for the scheduled unveiling of the fossil, which is apparent in the sloppy science and poor editing of this book. I'm a graduate student at the very university home to two of the "dream team" researchers, and I know these scientists do great work. I really do think the greed of the "private collector" and subsequent media circus is to blame for most of the issues with the book and the generally absurd claims surrounding this specimen.

On the positive side, the book is a very quick read, and the skeleton in question is indeed extremely important with enormous implications on primate evolution (but not so much on human evolution; I lost count of the number of times I laughed out loud at the overblown one-liners and generally hyperbolic boosterism. For example, this is the fossil that should help us to see that all human races are equal and that we're all related? Doesn't Lucy, or any number of other, more recent human ancestors, do a better job of that?).

If a potential reader has very little background in primate evolution, one could do worse than this book, as it does make for a decent, if frequently maddening, introduction to the subject. For information about Darwinius massilae specifically, this book is terrible, especially when the actual scientific article is available online for free at PLoS ONE.

[Max Wilson · Rating 5 out of 5]

A shared ancester with Chimpanzees that is less than 47 million years old should be freaking people out more. I don't think people get it. Forget about the religious quacks - this is making a bunch of Anthropologists nervous.

[Michelle]

"For those who like paleontology but are not be scientists in the field, this book offers a unique look into the study of paleontology, the search for fossils and just what fossil finds entail for the scientists involved. Mr. Tudge does a great job of setting the backdrop and explaining in fairly easy-to-understand terminology what this find means for scientists throughout the world. He takes roughly 150 of the 250 pages of the book to explain what the earth was like both before and after Ida was living, how early primates evolved, the truly unique nature of Ida's final resting place, and how we can extrapolate from Ida's era to our own. This background paves the way for the reader to understand the significance of Ida.[return][return]Even a layperson like me realizes that Ida is truly a one-in-a-million find. The pictures sprinkled throughout the book certainly highlight just how remarkable she is. Not only is the skeleton complete, but you can also see the outline of her fur as well as the fossilized remains of her stomach contents at the time of her death. Given the fact that most fossils are partial remains, this detail is both astonishing and slightly eerie.[return][return]Speaking of eerie, if one were to look solely at the cover without knowing anything else about the book, one would almost get the impression that it falls in the horror genre. I get what the publishers were trying to do with the cover illustration (that is one of Ida's hands), but it still is a bit creepy to me to see it isolated like that. The full fossil pictures are stunning; the single hand scares me ever so slightly.[return][return]One other bone of contention is Mr. Tudge's descriptions of the scientists involved. Dr. Jorn Hurum is the paleontologist who was shown a picture of Ida at a fossil fair and immediately recognized the value of the find. Professor Philip Gingerich and Dr. Jens Franzen also helped confirm Ida's authenticity and continue to work together to unravel all of her secrets. Extremely lucky (because paleontology requires luck) men, they appear more than capable of handling the job. And yet, Mr. Tudge's descriptions of them, especially when compared to the pictures included in the book, seems slanted and somewhat biased. Dr. Hurum, as the lead scientist, is described as having the ""rugged look of an explorer"" and ""a sturdy build"", which does not match the picture. Dr. Franzen is described as having Coke-bottle glasses. Let's just say that if he's wearing Coke-bottle glasses, then my glasses belonged on the Hubble telescope. I know these seem minor, but it did get me wondering what else he slanted in his descriptions. I've read a lot of peer-reviewed literature and have done my fair share of literature reviews for my Masters' program, so minor details such as inaccurate descriptions of main characters tends to raise a yellow flag for me to proceed with caution and understand that the author's point of view may be skewed.[return][return]In all, this book made me remember why I wanted to be a paleontologist or archaeologist when I grew up. Mr. Tudge does a tremendous job of presenting complex ideas in a simplistic fashion to help guide the reader to a better understanding of the overall importance of the discovery. I learned quite a bit about prehistoric Earth after the dinosaurs roamed, and I met Ida. She is definitely one fascinating little ""lady"" and well worth the time and effort it takes to finally meet her.[return][return]Thanks to Anna Balasi at Hachette Books for the opportunity to review this book!"

[Elari · Rating 3 out of 5]

This could be the positive review of a three-star book, or the negative review of a four-star book. I decided to go with a threefold opposable-thumbs up.

First, the bad news:
I should mention two major downfalls of the book: it's terribly redundant on the one hand, terribly overstretched on the other. That's two handfuls of excessive literary indulgence. Countless sentences are repeated three to four (or more) times, tens of pages apart, like unwelcome space fillers. It is all too obvious that the book was forced into existence, but the fossils are screaming of ontological pain, you heartless money-makers! Also, let's face it: try as he might, the author failed to make Ida appear as the main subject of his book. You'll come across the word Tropics and all its derivatives far more often than the word Primate.

Let me add a piece of disillusionment: while Ida is referred to as the link, it goes without saying that she is not our first ancestor. Less evident is the fact that she isn't even the oldest known primate. Breadcrumbs were thrown on a misleading path, wandering reader.

For these reasons, I wouldn't recommend buying The Link. I myself borrowed it from my teacher who'd received it as a gift. For those who can't do the same or aren't willing to go through 250 pages of senile repetitiveness—what is the author counting on, readership accelerated amnesia?—the relevant Plos One article is more concise, less digressive, and free.


Now, the good part:
If we disregard the 'clickbait' title and repetitiveness, this is a good book for novices. The Link is accessible and easy to read, so you don't need a solid science background to enjoy it; curiosity will do. It is a lovely introduction to the Eocene (roughly: the post-dinosaurian era), and covers its climate, flora and fauna. It has a fascinating section on primatology—no photos are included, but you should treat yourself to Google images of the species cited. Wait, I'll show you.








Again, once you get over the trauma that Ida is not The Link, and that the majority of the book is not about her anyway, you might really enjoy the story. I know I did.

[David Corleto-Bales · Rating 5 out of 5]

When I was in the American Museum of Natural History last month they were heavily promoting this book, so I got it out from the library. It's about the strange fossil found in the Messel coal pit in Germany in the 1960s, a brilliantly detailed 47 million year old early primate that seems to make a decisive link between the earliest mammals and humans. In private hands until the last few years when it was put up for sale at the Hamburg fossil show and purchased by the Natural History Museum of Oslo, the fossil is of a small, lemur like animal that bridges the gap between monkeys and lemurs to an extent that it is like the "Rosetta Stone of Paleontology." Very interesting book about the Earth during the eocene epic and how the different geologic epics are different from each other. Tudge does a good job of detailing the finds of the Leakeys, Raymond Dart and others in building the base of knowledge around the origins of human beings. One of the most interesting hypotheses in the book concerns the fact that modern humans and Neanderthals wee contemporaries for 10,000 years until either the modern humans wiped out the earlier group, co-mingled with them or out-competed them. Since the Neanderthals lived mostly in northern latitudes, the reasoning is that they would have had more blonde and red-haired people and Tudge speculates that folk memory of the Neanderthals could account for some of the Norse myths about "blonde and red-haired giants". Interesting.

[Erik Graff · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is the first book I've received of the review copies offered by GoodReads and, as such, I felt obligated to read and review it immediately upon receipt.

Unlike many coauthored books, Tudge and Young divided their work by subject, Tudge, the science writer, taking up the scientific issues, Young, the history of the discovery, its acquisition by the University of Oslo and its impact. Despite this, there is no glaring change of voice between chapters. One presumes some effective editorial oversight.

Despite the hype of the cover, this book is not likely to be found "compelling" by most readers. The discovery of a squirrel-like forty-seven million year's gone possible missing link is rather remote and hard to relate to. Perhaps it could have been made interesting, but instead the authors try, in my opinion, to do too much. Part of the book is about the discovery and acquisition, but not much of it. Apparently there was enough mystery to that process to have provided an exciting narrative, but instead the text runs off into a lengthy discussion of the Eocene world, the evolution of species, the ages of the Earth and the probably causes of such climactic changes--each part of which themselves could have served for separate books and the climate change portion of which might have served as a narrative thread for a particularly relevant text. Another part of the book is about the specimen's immediate environment, the Messel Pit in Germany. This, the history of the Pit and of the processes of fossilization there and elsewhere might also have served as a main thread, but, again, the possibilities aren't much exploited. Instead, there is a too-long section about the various kinds of creatures found in the pit, an almost scholastic categorization of types and exemplars. Finally, there is the specimen itself, the six-month old female dubbed "Ida". She herself is, as suggested, too remote a creature to carry the weight of a book, but the story of her forensic examination could, if the methodologies and histories were explored, perhaps have carried an entire text. As it is, however, these matters are only glancingly discussed.

[Jeffrey · Rating 5 out of 5]

Subtitled Uncovering Our Earliest Ancestor, the book was released with the public announcement of the so-called missing link discovery. It seems that a fossil poacher had discovered a find of such unique historical value that the world must now be given proof of the newest Darwinian twist.
As most educated people know, Darwin developed his theory of Evolution. It has been suggested that man and apes share a common ancestor and IDA, the fossil discussed in the book may very well be that link. Written with clear and precise language, I found the book easily the most readable science book written in the last few years. The ideas are clear and profound; Tudge does a wonderful service to the find.
I do not propose to debate evolution, you either believe or you do not. I, myself, am convinced that evolution is sound theory and without contradiction, I do not see that it is something that can be ignored. Unless the creator himself dispels the notion, it is the best explanation that we currently have. Yet, that is a digression for another day and another post.
The Link is a very important book in that it can serve as a historical biography of the Messel Pit into which so many fossils have been found and to those that continue the search for the extinct life forms of the past. The knowledge of current ecology can only be helped with a look at the past.
As with many books, this was one that I found myself talking with co-workers and friends. I felt the need to pass the book around so that they may also enjoy it for themselves. I see it becoming a book for selection for our book club.

[Dana · Rating 5 out of 5]

Ida: the 47 m.y. fossil used to live in the Eocene era. When it was hot, who was resting all that time in the Messel pit lake after breathing the toxic gas from the lake while trying to drink water. Ida Didn't show anatomic evidence for the bacculum or the penis bone. It is excited it Gorillas and chimpanzees but not in human. Didn't possess the tooth comb, a set of long,flat,forward -angled teeth in the lower jaw that are present at birth. The Lemur has them. Ida doesn't possess the grooming claw, an angled on one toe that lemur use for cleaning fur that can't reach with the tooth comb.
Methane: CH4. It forms when organic is left to decay under certain conditions. It forms in vast quantities. Many millions of tons. When creatures which have shells, made of silica, sink to the bottom of deep (Oceans) when there is no chance to have oxygen rich water. If the same condition was cold enough,  the newly formed Methane becomes trapped in the permafrost that forms in the mud of thr ocean bed and become what it is known as Methane ice. Once the condition started to warm a bit. The methane ice melts and become free, drift to the surface and straight to the atmosphere.
The
Taxonomists listed the living groups into those three families :
Gibons: under Hylobatidae
The great apes, the chimpanzee and bonbons and two species of gorilla and the two species of orangutans : under Pongodae
Human being under Hominidae
Our own rise began with grasslands. Which happened at the end of the Eocene
Albumins: if two different animals have very similar Albumins it means they are closely related genetically. 

[David Rubenstein · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book is about "Ida", the oldest primate fossil ever discovered. At 47 million years old, it is 43 million years older than the next oldest primate fossil, "Lucy". Ida was discovered in the 1970's in Germany, and kept privately until just a few years ago. Then it was sold for a million dollars to the Natural History Museum of Oslo, where it has been receiving considerable attention by scientists.

This remarkable fossil find deserves a lot of attention, because Ida's fossil skeleton is 95% complete--an almost unheard of percentage for an ancient fossil. Even stomach contents were preserved, showing that Ida ate fruits. The creature was small, but probably stood upright and could possibly be of a species that was an ancestor to humans.

The first part of the book describes Ida's discovery. The last part of the book describes Ida in detail. Both of these parts are fascinating. The middle part of the book goes into details about paleontology and evolution that have little to do with Ida directly. Frankly, these details are far beyond my understanding, and probably beyond that of most readers. So, I cannot recommend this book without some reservations.

[Lue · Rating 1 out of 5]

Colin Tudge's The Link is a shameful grab for money, in my opinion. For three-fifths of the book, the eocene and primate evolution are detailed in repetitive prose that, because of its repetitive nature, lacks clarity in its descriptions of anything related to the importance of the paleontological find. The description of Ida is sorely lacking in any details and the illustraions (what few there are) lack any real captions to put them in context for the reader. Tudge should have waited for more detailed information about Ida to be available before taking any steps to write a book about it and/or Little Brown should have invested more time and energy into thorough editing and proper publication of information that is this important.

[Megan · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book was quick and easy-to-read, if at times a little dry, but offered a glimpse at life on Earth 47 million years ago and the short life of the most complete primate fossil discovered, nicknamed Ida. At times, I find world history rather bland simply due to its expansiveness and I found that this book tried to do too much with such a limited scope. It is clear that the authors deal in the field of science, because the structure of this book was sorely lacking and is not like the majority of history books I read. There are no topic sentences or linking sentences between paragraphs, so the work seems to jump from point to point with no indication on where it is going next. I found that rather frustrating. This book isn't long by my standards, but it could do with a good edit. Interesting topic, yes, but overall disappointing: 3 stars.

[Kirsten · Rating 4 out of 5]

I won this in a Goodreads giveaway a few years ago and put it down about 1/2 way through. I recently picked it up again and though I found it relatively enjoyable (like in the grasses section and the Lemur vs Ida section), some parts were very repetitive, and others were just a slog to get through (like the four theories of primates). I really wanted to learn more about Ida and was disappointed with how little was shared about her. Maybe that’s just cause so little was actually know. And maybe it was just me, but that section on how we knew Isa was female, I think I laughed out loud in a very juvenile way!

[Walter · Rating 3 out of 5]

It was an ok read but the title doesn't cover the content.
The book only has a few pages on the actual fossil.
It talks a bit on the Messel quarry and the Eocene period.
The vast majority of the book talks on evolution of primates, of which we know very little.
If you're interested in the actual fossil google Darwinius masillae and you'll find more info than this book gives you

[Jeanette Lukens · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was an interesting book about our possible common ancestor with other primates. I'm not sure, however, it merited an entire book. It seems like an in-depth article would have been more appropriate.

[Olli · Rating 2 out of 5]

Inhaltlich und wissenschaftlich gesehen sehr spannend und interessant,das wars aber auch.
Man könnte dieses Buch 100 Seiten kürzer machen und hätte alles wichtige drin. Irgendwann werden Sachen nur noch zum fünften mal wiederholt. liest sich nicht gut.

[فاطمة غانم الابراهيم · Rating 2 out of 5]

لا أدري من أين أبدأ ..!
هذا الكتاب قرأته من قبل ثلاثة أشهر ، وفي كل مره أود الكتابة عنه أتقاعس عن فعل ذلك !


في أواخر القرن التاسع عشر - 1875م - وفي حفرة ميسيل تحديداً تم العثور على كائن غريب ليتوصل أحد العلماء إلى فك الشفرة أو كما أسماها بـ " الحلقة المفقودة " لمعرفة أصلنا البشري ..!

فيما مضى عُد إكتشاف " لوسي " التي احدثت ضجة علمية عالمية ، كون أنها أولى الرئيسيات التي تسير منتصبة القامة ، إلا أنها لم تتفوق على الاكتشاف الذي عُثر عليه في ألمانيا في حفرة تحت ظروف فريدة جداً مكنتها بالاحتفاظ بهيكل ذلك الكائن شبه كاملاً بل ما أثير عجب العلماء بقايا الطعام المحتفظة في معدتها .. طبعاً نقصد بالحديث عن سيدة الحلقة المفقودة " إيدا "

حسب قرائتي للكتاب ، نال هذا الاكتشاف أهمية عظيمة عن سائر كل جهود البحث والتنقيب التي عثر عليها العلماء سابقاً ، فإيدا تعود لحقبة زمنية بعيدة أبعد عن تلك الاكتشافات ، وحسب اجتهاداتهم العلمية فهى ترجع للعصر الايوسيني ، وكونها تعتبر من الرئيسيات والتي يدخل من ضمنها القردة والليمور و الانسان ، فهم يرون بأن الأصل البشري ينتمي من ذلك الكائن صاحب الذيل الطويل المتخذ وضعية الجنين ..!



في بداية قرائتي للكتاب شعرت بأنه أجمل ما قرأت في كتب الانثربولوجي ، فالعنوان الجانبي كفيل بإثارة فضول المهتمين ، كانت البداية مشوقة وبود يديك لو تسبق عينيك لمعرفة ما تخفيه الصفحات القادمة ، لكن سرعان ما تلاشت تلك الحماسة شيئاً فشيئاً مع كل صفحة أقلبها ..!

أولاً الكتاب يضم كماً هائلاً من المعلومات والمصطلحات الانثرولوجية التي لا يعرفها سوى المختص وليس المهتم ، وكنت أحسب صديقي محلل الألغاز التعقيدية " ويكيبيديا " سيقوم بفكها ، لكنه زاد الأمر أكثر تعقيدا !

صحيح أن الكتاب يضم صوراً عديدة التي تم اكتشافها في حفرة ميسيل ، واجتهدت المترجمة بتيسير الترجمة لكن الكتاب يفوقها ويفوق استيعاب القارئ ، بإختصار هذا الكتاب لا يخص عامة القراء بل علماء الحفريات و أساتذه الإنثربولوجيين عدا ذلك لا أنصحكم بقراءته ..!

[Erin · Rating 5 out of 5]

“In the glow of the gibbous moon, a petite being moves through the palm trees surrounding a lake that seems almost impossibly pristine…This is Ida…”

Ida is an early primate from the tropical land of Germany 47 million years ago. She is also the most essential archeological find in the history of evolutionary investigation. Ida is a rare creature…a complete fossil. And she is also the common ancestor of both the prosimians (primates such as Lemurs and Tarsiers) and the anthropoids (the simians: monkeys and apes). In other words, she is “the link”. This fossil is proof of Darwin’s “transitional species” and definitively shows humanity’s place in the evolutionary chain.

In The Link, Colin Tudge tells the tale of Ida’s discovery in the Messel Pit (a pit of fossil finds and oil shale in Germany that was once a lake formed by a lava eruption) by an anonymous private collector and her transfer of custody to a paleontologist named Jorn Hurum at the Natural History Museum at the University of Oslo. Tudge also elaborates on the implications that Ida’s discovery has on the history of human origins, and what scientists have determined about Ida and her world. The Link includes detailed photographs of Ida and other fossils found in the Messel Pit.

Colin Tudge is a “biologist by education and a writer by inclination”, as stated in his bio on the book jacket. His publications are quite eclectic, covering topics such as food, biology, and agriculture. Meanwhile, Ida is taking the world by storm. She was introduced to “the world” in May of 2009. For more information about her and her international tour, visit www.revealingthelink.com.

[Ethar Abuhashish · Rating 3 out of 5]

هو كتاب علمى درجة أولى بالرغم من محاولات الكاتب المستميتة والواضحة ف تبسيط المعلومات بس الموضوع فعلا صعب

بيجمع بين علم الأنثروبولوجى والحفريات وبيتكلم فالعموم عن حفرية مكتشفة حديثا اسمها (إيدا) تعتبر إحدى الحلقات المفقودة ف سجل الحفريات وبشكل خاص سجل الرئيسيات ومدى أهمية كده فارتباط السجل ده بنشأة الإنسان

الحفرية مش من الأسلاف المباشرة للبشر ....بس أصلا وجود حفرية بتمثل حلقة مفقودة بين مجموعتين من الرئيسيات يعنى عندها صفات مشتركة من الاتنين دى حاجة عظيمة فعلا
اللى بيزيد عظمة الاكتشاف هو حاجتين :
أولا:مدى قدم الحفرية وعمرها 74 مليون سنة يعنى تعتبر من الرئيسيات الأولى
ثانيا:اكتشاف الحفرية ع محفوظة بشكل رائع لدرجة أن محتويات أمعائها موجودة وسهل تحليلها

نرجع تانى للكتاب ....الجزء الأول منه عن كيفية اكتشاف (إيدا) ف بحيرة ميسيل فألمانيا ...وهو ممل الحقيقة

الجزء التانى تفسير لمدى أهمية الحفرية وعلاقتها بالتطور والرئيسيات وموقعها من السجل الحفرى والتاريخى ومدى استفادتنا منها ...الجزء ده بقى مشكلته انه تقيل شوية عايز حد عارف عن الأنثروبولوجى كويس ......


وأخيرا اعترف أن الكتاب مبذول فيه جهد كويس جدا ومحاولة عظيمة لتبسيط الأمور
وبرضه أشيد جدا بموقف الكاتب من نظرية التطور اللى بيماثل رأيى فيها وهى أن وجود common ancestors للكائنات هو أكبر دليل ع أن للعالم إله مش العكس وهو أن للكون قوانين بديهية يسار عليها دون الحاجة لوجود إله

[Tanja Berg · Rating 2 out of 5]

Any perfectly preserved 47-million old fossil of a mammal would be a sensation. When it also could be one of the first primate species to ever walk the earth, even more so. There are few primate fossils and "Ida" is 43 million years older than "Lucy". It is astounding, to say the least. How "Ida" was found and brought into the light of science is an interesting story well worth reading. That's about the first 50 pages of this book. The rest delves on the Messel cave where the Ida fossil was found, on continent drift and primate evolution, all told in a terribly simplistic and infantile style. Perhaps this is exacerbated because of translation, I read this book in Norwegian. I usually avoid translations, but I recall picking this up from a sale in a Norwegian bookshop. Maybe I would have found it more interesting in English, but frankly, I doubt it. There is a wealth of books that cover evolution better than this one. No matter how fascinating "Ida" might be she is just one link, one thread in evolution's rich and textured fabric.

[Mattie · Rating 3 out of 5]

Very cool report on an amazing find - a nearly fully-intact fossil of a 47 million year old primate. Tudge does a great job of walking the reader through enough basic paleontology to understand the importance of "Ida" (as she has been dubbed) to both our understanding of our own biological history and to the profession of paleontology. Armed with this 200 pages of background knowledge, I was really looking forward to a detailled discussion of Ida and where she fits in. Unfortunately, there's only one chapter devoted to "Who and what is Ida" and how she fits in to the competing theories regarding the evolution of primates. I can't help but feel that after all the intro, poor Ida got a little bit of short shrift.

Maybe after additional study of Ida by the scientific community, more of her story will become known and a sequel to The Link will provide more of the fascinating story Ida has to tell.

[Zoffix Znet · Rating 1 out of 5]

This book should've been titled "A Brief History of Primates", then heavily edited, and maybe then it would be worth the time reading. The first 16 pages excite you and offer a promise that will never actually be delivered; the story of the most marvelous ancestor fossil to date unfolds before your eyes. The last 19 pages also seem relevant, interesting, and coherent. However, the 222 pages in between, unfortunately, are disconnected attempts to describe primate evolution. Some ideas are repeated probably 4 or 6 times, there are constant jumps to various aspects of the topic; in short, the book's in dire need of proper editing. I'm not sure who is the target audience for this book, but having no primatology background, I found myself completely lost in jargon and species' names. Don't waste your time reading this book, just look at the colour inserts stuffed in three places in the book, and you won't miss much.

[DrFlipper · Rating 1 out of 5]

This book seemed promising at the start, but I soon felt betrayed as if confronted by a used car salesman. The book is a big PR-scam in my eyes, giving undeserved status to a newly found fossil as being the one key missing link that finally solves the mystery of evolution leading up to our own species. Yes, it is no doubt a very interesting fossil, but no it is not a magic find that stands out way ahead of many other interesting fossils. Even the subtitle "Uncovering our earliest ancestor" gives me bad vibes - our earliest ancestor is the ancestor shared by all living beings on this planet, dating back some 3.8 billion years.
/DrFlipper (...who actually has a PhD in evolutionary biology)

[Pooja · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book took me so long to read that I actually forgot half the material it discussed. While, there were some interesting points, it spent so much time reviewing background information that by the time it got around to discussing Ida, there were only two chapters left. The background information was mostly new to me, so I could glean some interest, but I imagine it would be very boring for someone with more familiarity with the materiall.

[Charlene · Rating 4 out of 5]

If you like evolution, this was interesting. The first few chapters were incredibly entertaining. The last chapters were very technical and informative but less enjoyable than the first half of the book. The evolution of grass and global warming aspects of the book were fantastic!!!

[Yazeed AlMogren · Rating 3 out of 5]

جميل الى حدٍ ما، كتاب عميق يتحدث الحفريات الموجودة في بحيرة ميسيل الألمانية وعن حفرية إيدا المكتشفة بها، الكتاب يناسب من يحب علم الجيولوجيا والأحياء

[Chris Brimmer · Rating 4 out of 5]

Solid science writing, keeps the basics entertaining enough for the better informed to stay engaged while bringing the less knowledgeable up to speed.

[Rose · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is very helpful for people who want to discover more about human evolution. Lots of thorough information.
I'll definitely be keeping this one on my book-shelf as a reference book.

[Jessada Karnjana · Rating 4 out of 5]

ผู้เขียนอุทิศหนังสือให้ Ida และหน้าปกเป็นรูปฟอสซิลกระดูกมือของ Ida แต่เนื้อหาส่วนใหญ่กลับไม่ได้พูดถึง Ida มากอย่างที่คาดหวังนัก หนังสือเริ่มต้นบทแรกด้วยแฟนตาซีเกี่ยวกับชีวิตของหนูน้อยไอด้าในยุคราว 50 ล้านปีที่ผ่านมา ก่อนเธอโชคร้ายจมลงในทะเลสาปเขตป่าฝนเนื่องจากแก๊สพิษ ซึ่งทะเลสาปแห่งนี้ฝังและเก็บรักษาร่างของเธอไว้ถึง 47 ล้านปีก่อนการค้นพบ สองบทแรกพูดถึงเรื่องของ Jorn Hurum ที่ได้เห็นภาพถ่ายไอด้าครั้งแรกจาก fossil fair ที่ Hamburg ในปี 2006 และการติดต่อขอซื้อผ่านนายหน้า Perner หลังจากที่เจ้าของขุดมันขึ้นมาจาก Messel Pit ในเยอรมัน และเก็บไว้เชยชมเป็นสมบัติส่วนตัวถึง 25 ปี ราคาซื้อขายครั้งนั้นสูงมากครับ เมื่อเทียบกับฟอสซิลที่มิวเซียมซื้อโดยทั้วไป (ไม่เกินหนึ่งหมื่นห้าพันเหรียญ) นั่นคือไอด้ามีราคาถึง 1 ล้านเหรียญ และพูดถึงการจัดทีมผู้เชี่ยวชาญศึกษาไอด้าก่อนเปิดเผยแก่แวดวงวิทยาศาสตร์และสาธารณะชน บทที่ 3-7 แทบไม่เกี่ยวข้องกับไอด้าโดยตรงเลย บทเหล่านี้เล่าถึงโลกยุค Eocene ซึ่งเป็นยุคที่ไอด้ามีชีวิตอยู่ ในแง่ต่าง ๆ เช่น เป็นยุคที่ร้อนมาก เต็มไปด้วยป่าเขตร้อนทั้งโลก เป็นยุคที่ anthropoid ถือกำเนิดขึ้นมาจาก prosimian สิ่งมีชีวิตมีขนาดเล็ก เพราะความที่มันร้อนมาก ดังนั้นการระบายความร้อนจึงเป็นเรื่องใหญ่ สัตว์ตัวเล็กระบายความร้อนดีกว่า และที่ยุคนี้มันร้อนมากเพราะ methane ice ปลายยุค Paleocene ละลาย แล้วพอพ้น Eocene โลกก็กลับมาเริ่มเย็นอีกครั้ง ตามเหตุผล 4-5 ข้อ (ดูได้ในหน้า 52) นอกจากนี้ยังเพิ่มข้อมูลซากสิ่งมีชีวิตที่พบใน Messel Pit อีกมหาศาลพร้อมศัพท์แสงที่อ่านเราก็ไม่แน่ใจว่าจะออกเสียงถูกอีกเพียบ (คิดว่าบทเหล่านี้ ถ้ามีรูปประกอบคงอ่านสนุกกว่านี้นะครับ) บทที่ 6 กับ 7 พยายามตอบคำถามว่าไพรเมตเกิดขึ้นมาได้ยังไง วิวัฒนาการของไพรเมตเป็นยังไง ฉะนั้นสำหรับผม บทที่ 3-7 จึงเหมือนลอกตำราเรียนมา สำหรับคนที่ไม่สนใจว่า Allagnathosuchus ลำตัวยาว 4-5 ฟุต หรือ Asiathosuchus ยาวถึง 16 ฟุต พลิกข้ามโลดเลยครับ อ่านจบแล้วก็จำอะไรไม่ได้อยู่ดี

บทที่พูดถึงตัวไอด้าจริง ๆ จัง ๆ คือบทที่ 8 บทนี้พูดถึงสมมติฐาน 4-5 แนวทางวิวัฒนาการของไพรเมต และหนึ่งในทีมนักวิทยาศาสตร์ของ Hurum ชื่อ Philip Gingerich โปรเฟสเซอร์ผู้เชี่ยวชาญเกี่ยวกับไพรเมตยุค Eocene ซึ่งเป็นผู้เสนอสมมติฐาน adapiform เชื่อว่าไอด้านี่แหละครับ คือ link ระหว่าง adapiform (prosimian) กับ anthropoid ไอด้าเป็นฟอสซิลของไพรเมตเด็กเพศเมีย ที่รู้ว่าเด็ก เพราะฟันเธอมี 2 ชุด ผลจากการฉายรังสีเอ็กซ์เผยให้เห็นฟันอีกชุดที่พร้อมจะขึ้นมาแทนที่ฟันน้ำน��� ที่รู้ว่าเพศเมีย เพราะเธอไม่มีกระดูก os penis ซึ่งไพรเมตทุกชนิดมีกระดูกที่อวัยวะเพศชาย (ยกเว้นคนนะครับ มีแนวคิดหนึ่งที่อธิบายว่าทำไมคนไม่มี os penis ก็เพราะเป็นไปตามหลัก handicap คือ เอาไว้แสดงให้เพศเมียเห็นว่า ถึงฉันไม่มีกระดูก ฉันก็ทำให้มันแข็งได้ ถ้าฉันทำให้มันแข็งใช้การได้ โดยไม่ต้องพึ่งกระดูก นั่นหมายความว่าฉันแข็งแรงยังไงล่ะ หรือในมุมมองของเพศเมีย เธออยากผสมพันธุ์ใช่มั้ย? ถ้าใช่ ทำให้แข็งสิ!) นอกจากนี้ยังมีข้อมูลอื่น ๆ ที่เรารู้จากฟอสซิลของไอด้า เช่น เธอเป็นพวกกินผลไม้ ทั้งจากโครงสร้างฟันและอาหารที่เหลืออยู่ในกระเพาะ ชื่อไอด้าเป็นชื่อเล่นที่ Hurum ตั้งชื่อตามชื่อลูกสาวของแกเอง สำหรับบทสุดท้าย พูดถึงเหตุการณ์การเตรียมพร้อมของคณะของ Hurum ที่จะเปิดเผยเรื่องราวของไอด้าต่อสายตาชาวโลก