最も古い人類の祖先を発見

Scientists Find Oldest Human Ancestor


Scientists may at last have found the ‘missing link’ in our evolution.
化学者達ははついに我々の進化の知られざるつながりを発見したかも知れない

For centuries, experts have discussed whether or not we came from apes, without any real proof.
何世紀も　専門家達は真の証拠もないまま　我々は猿から起源したか否か　議論してきた

The story of evolution has found a new chapter after the discovery of the world’s oldest skeleton of our ancestors.
進化のｽﾄｰﾘｰは　我々の祖先の世界で最も古い骨が発見されたことにより新たなﾁｬﾌﾟﾀｰを見出した

The remains of 100 bones were found in an Ethiopian village.
１００個の骨がｴﾁｵﾋﾟｱの村で発見された

They belong to a species called Ardipithecus ramidus.


The skeleton has been given the nickname Ardi.


Scientists say the fossilized bones are 4.4 million years old.
科学者達は言っている　その化石の骨は４４０万年経っていると


This is a million years older than a skeleton found in the 1970s called Lucy.
これは１９７０年にﾙｰｼｰと呼ばれた骨より１００万年古い


Ardi is important because she shows an unknown stage of our evolution that happened six million years ago.

ｱﾙﾃﾞｨは重要である　なぜなら６００万年前に起こった進化のｽﾃｰｼﾞを示しているからだ


Ardi was a 50kg female.
アルディは５０kg　女性


She had a brain smaller than ours and had long arms and short legs.
脳は我々より小さく　長い手と短い脚を持つ


Her teeth are more like ours than those of chimpanzees.
彼女の歯はﾁﾝﾊﾟﾝｼﾞｰより我々のにより近い


Scientists are excited because she walked upright, on two legs, not on all fours.
化学者達は興奮した　何故なら彼女は４本ではなく２本足で立ち上がって歩いていたからだ


She did not have an arched foot, which means she could not walk for long distances or run too far.
彼女は土踏まずがない足を持っていた　長距離を歩いたり遠くまで走ったりはできなかったということだ

Her long fingers and big toes meant she could easily climb through trees.


Experts say the discovery is one of the most important finds ever.

Professor Owen Lovejoy of the USA’s Kent State University was very excited at seeing Ardi.

He said: "This was like discovering a time capsule from a period and a place that we knew nothing about."

彼は言った　我々の知らない時代と場所からのﾀｲﾑｶﾌﾟｾﾙを発見したようなものであった　と


Ardi is sure to unlock a few secrets to how we evolved.
アルディは我々がどのように進化して来たかのいくつかの秘密を解き明かすに違いない