Human evolution fossils?

Question

when people say that they found a new fossil from early human ancestors, is it an actual fossil like dinosaur bones or is it a partly fossilised bone. could i even be just a bone???

Answer 1

A human fossil (like dinosaur fossils) is nothing more than compressed sediment taking on the shape of the bone which over time dissolves and is replaced by sediment,,,only on very rare occasions do archaeologists find actual bone fragments from hundreds of thousands of years ago,,

Answer 2

You are correct. It could be any one of those three conditions.

Amazingly enough, there was a fantastic discovery about 4-5 years ago , where a dinosaur bone was preserved in such a way that the soft tissues didn't just fossilize but were actually preserved, to an extent , such that they were able to get actual proteins and some genetic material (the DNA itself was too far gone), but they were able to type it and determine that Prof. Horner and the boys from Jurassic Park were essentially correct, that dinosaurs were in fact, about 1/2 way between reptiles and birds and and very similar in fact to chickens.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/7285683/

As far as humans are concerned, we have actual bones and bone fragments of hominids and humans going back through the ages, but the fossils which really interest us are those where the DNA or mtRNA would be preserved, so preserved - non-fossilized teeth or other bones where there is a lot of protection from the elements or infection from the environment are most desirable.

The fossil record is always going to be spotty so archaeologists, anthropologists and paleontologists take whatever they can get. In the case of specimins like Lucy or some of the more critical (to our correct understanding of the fossil record) with respect to earlier hominids, any well preserved or - not so well preserved in some cases, fossils will do.

http://www.ur.umich.edu/0506/Jun26_06/08...

Among the more controversial subjects is species resurrection, or reconstitution, by using humans as the "baseline" and probably host for a first generation of hybrid neo-Neanderthals.

http://telicthoughts.com/cloning-monster...