Say Hello to Ardi
Ardipithecus ramidus, or as we have come to know her Ardi, is supposed to represent the oldest fossilized specimen or the earliest of the so-called missing links in ape-to-man evolution. She is said to predate the discovery of other hominids, e.g. the australopithecines. These precursors to man, e.g. Lucy and her australopithecine relatives refer to the discoveries of the renowned Kenyan archeologists Louis and Mary Leakey.
From Dinosaurs to Bird
There is no question that M. gui had true pennaceous feathers essentially identical to those of modern birds. These feathers are not to be confused with the so-called “protofeathers” reported on early Cretaceous theropods of China such as Sinosauropteryx or the herring bone patterns found in the skin of other theropod dinosaurs such as Sinornithosaurus. These structures bear no real resemblance to feathers and may be better interpreted as interwoven collagen fibers in the dermis of these animals