Darwinius masillae, Ida the Missing Link Fossil & Early Primate, Replica #3215

Description

Darwinius masillae
- "Ida" (replica)
A Missing Link Fossil
HIGH DENSITY POLYURETHANE
22"X15.5" PLATE 16" FOSSIL
This specimen is a direct cast from the original specimen of Darwinius masillae.
Darwinius masillae - "Ida" was discovered in 1983 and described scientifically in 2007. The genus Darwinius was named to commemorate the bicentennial of the birth of Charles Darwin and the name masillae honors the location where it was found. The fossil is 23 inches long with the head and body making up about 9.4 inches of this length.
The authors of the paper describing Ida classified her as a member of the primate family Notharctidae and the superfamily Cercamoniidae, which suggests that it is a significant transitional form, or link between prosimian and simian (anthropoid) primate lineages. Not everyone agrees with the placement.
Ida is the third species of primate to be discovered at the Messel quarries and belongs to the family adapiforms, which were early primates that are only found in the fossil record.
Ida's teeth revealed that she had unerupted molars in her jaw, indicating that she was a juvenile probably 9-10 months old, with full adulthood being reached at 36 months. The shape of her jagged molars would have allowed her to slice food, such as leaves and seeds. This is confirmed by the gut contents. The lack of a baculum (penis bone) found in all lower primates, indicates she was a female. She shares some characteristics with prosimians (like lemurs), but lacks the toothcombs and grooming claw which are lemur attributes. She does have opposable big toes and nail bearing fingers which confirm her to be a primate. A foot bone called the talus bone links Ida to humans.
The original specimen was purchased by the University of Oslo Natural History Museum in Norway for about 0,000.00
The Messel quarry, near Frankfurt, Germany is world renowned for the near-perfect preservation of the fossils that it yields. For over 100 years the Messil site had been mined for its oil shale, or "brown coal" as it is commonly called. About 49 million years ago, during the Middle Eocene Epoch, the Messel area was a swampy fresh water lake environment with a rich and diverse flora and fauna. Seasonal blooms of algae in the lakes at Messel would cause the water to be foul and stagnant. If an animal died and fell into the water, its carcass could lay unscavanged and undisturbed in the oxygen-depleted lake bottom. A fine mist of dead algae would cover the organism and preserve it in fine layers of shale. The result is unparalleled preservation of things seldom preserved such as fur, feathers, and gut contents. The Messel quarry offers a nearly complete glimpse of the ancient Messel environment and the animals, birds, reptiles, amphibians, fish, insects, and plants that inhabited Germany 49 million years ago.