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Ardipithecus kadabba
Ardipithecus kadabba
Bradshaw Foundation Origins Archive
 
Ardipithecus kadabba is a fossil hominoid, described by its discoverers as a very early hominin genus. Two species have been identified: Ardipithecus ramidus, which lived about 4.4 million years ago during the early Pliocene, and A. kadabba, dated to approximately 5.6 million years ago during the late Miocene [White, Tim D. et al. 2009].
ARDIPITHECUS KADABBA
ARDIPITHECUS KADABBA
Ardipithecus kadabba Ethiopia Africa
Genus: Ardipithecus
Species: Ardipithecus kadabba
Time Period: 5.6 million years ago
Characteristics: Basal Ancestor
Fossil Evidence: Teeth, Skeletal Bones,
Ethiopia, Africa

ARDIPITHECUS KADABBA

 
Ardipithecus kadabba is known only from teeth and fragments of skeletal bones [Gibbons, Ann 2009] and is dated to approximately 5.6 million years ago. It has been described as a probable ancestor of Ardipithecus ramidus. Although originally considered a subspecies of Ardipithecus ramidus, in 2004 anthropologists Yohannes Haile-Selassie, Gen Suwa and Tim White [2004] published an article elevating Ardipithecus kadabba to species level on the basis of newly-discovered teeth from Ethiopia. These teeth show primitive morphology and wear pattern which demonstrate that Ardipithecus kadabba is a distinct species from Ardipithecus ramidus.
 
The specific name comes from the Afar word for 'basal family ancestor'.