The paucity of fossil evidence makes knowing all of human evolutionary history impossible. The best evidence for Lucy came, not from bones or teeth, but from footprints.

AL288-1

eintown, thank you for making Barb’s point even more forcefully. It shows what we already know to be the case. The fossils in question are very fragmentary (not complete skeletons as you implied), and altogether they could easily fit in an average sized coffin

At Omo over 500 specimens have been found representing gracile and robust australopithicines and early homo. At Sterkfontein over 600 specimens representing over 50 individuals from Australopithecus africanus, A. robustus and Homo habilis. At Makapansgat over 30 specimens representing approximately 12 individuals from A. robustus and H. erectus. At Hadar over 250 specimens representing approximately 35 individuals from A. afarensis. At Atapuerca/Gran Dolina 100 specimens from 6 individuals. At Atapuerca/Sima delos Huesos 28 individuals. At Predmosti 29 individuals. At Dolni Vestonce 35 individuals. At Krapina 800 specimens representing over 80 indivuals. At Vindija 80 specimens. At Skhul 10 individuals. At Shanidar 9 individuals. Whats missing from the list I just presented are sites such as Olduvai Gorge and Sangiran, among others. The amount of diversity in terms of morphology in the above list is certainly adequate to characterize the full range of variation for most of the species we are familiar with.

Some of the other sites I didn't give figures for are Koobi Fora, Modjerko, Zhoukoudian (both the H. erectus site and the upper cave), Abri Pataud, Jebel Irhoud, (three fairly complete skulls, of which two are adult and one is a juvenile), Allia Bay, Ambrona, Arago, Baringo, Blombos, Bodo, Dali, Maba, Dmanisi, Drimolen, Florisbad, Hexian, Lake Mungo, Petralona, etc, the list goes on and on. The Catalogue of Fossil Hominids put out by the British Natural History Museum in 1976 listed over 3900 fossils. I've heard recent estimates in the 10,000 range.

Swanscombe, Steinheim, Nariokotome, Ndutu, Olorgesailie, Konso-Gardula (in the Middle Awash), Daka, Ngandong, Florisbad, Die Kelders Cave, Equus Cave, Border Cave, Klasies River Mouth, Herto, Aduma, Ngaloba, Eliye Springs, Rabat, Dar-es-Soltane, Mugharet el Aliya, Zouhra, Engis, Forbes Quarry, Neander Valley, Spy, Ehringsdorf, Le Moustier, La Chapelle-aux-Saints, La Ferrassie, La Quina, Mladec, Brno, Ochoz, Sipka, Cro Magnon, Laetioli, Kanapoi, Mauer, Lothagam, Lukenio, Ngororaa, Tabarin, Bouri, Peninj, Chesowanja, Konso, Lomekwi, Sali, Trinil, Gongwangling, Lantian, Yuanmou, Jian Shi, Yiyuan, Yunxian, Boxgrove, Bilzingsleben, Ceprano, Reilingen, Biache, Montmaurin, Saccopatore, Kabwe, Saldanha, Eyasi, St. Cesaire, Zuttiyeh, Wajak, Niah Cave, Kow Swamp, Tandou, just to name a few more...Oh, I almost forgot Olduvai Gorge and Flores.

part of the more complete "Little Foot" skelton - may be A. africanus

Homo habilis OH-62

H. erectus KNM-WT 15000

Neanderthal Shanidar 4 and 6

Neanderthal Shanidar 3

Neanderthal Shanidar 1

The inner ear (pictured) of a blue antimora (inset) is exceptionally rigid—a feature never before seen in a deep-sea fish, according to a study to be presented in May 2009.
Photograph courtesy Xiaohong Deng et al.; inset photograph courtesy NOAA

"We do not quite know what [the stalks'] function is yet," said study co-author Xiaohong Deng, a marine biologist at the University of Maryland.

But Deng suspects these stalks allow the otoliths to register sounds that would otherwise be too faint to hear.

The ridgehead ears' also had very long hair bundles—features also seen in the ears of shallow-water species known to have great hearing, such as the pinecone soldierfish and clown knife fish. The bundles may enhance the fish's sensitivity to sound and to their own head motion, which would improve the fish equivalent of balance, Deng said.

The fossilised bones, which are thought to be between 37 and 47million years old, were found in Germany’s Messel Shale Pit, a disused quarry near Frankfurt famous for its fossils.

The team who examined the young female animal say it has some resemblance to a lemur, a mammal with a distinctive tail that is found to this day in the forests of Madagascar.

But Sir David’s documentary will explain that the researchers have, controversially, concluded the fossil ‘is not simply a lemur’ but from a related group of primates which evolved into monkeys, apes and human beings.