Oldest human ancestor found in lake sludge
A tiny microorganism found in Norwegian lake sludge may be related to the very oldest life forms on this planet, a possible modern cousin of our earliest common ancestor. It is not a fungus, alga, parasite, plant or animal, yet it has features associated with other kingdoms of life. It could be a founding member of the newest kingdom on the tree of life, scientists said. Life on Earth is divided into two main groups, the prokaryotes and the eukaryotes. Prokaryotes are simple life forms, with no membranes or cell nuclei; this group includes bacteria and archaea. Eukaryotes, which include humans, animals, plants, fungi and algae, have cell membranes and nuclei. This new organism is a eukaryote. More specifically, it's an algae-eating protozoan, a type of creature that have been known to science since the Civil War but which have lacked genetic studies because they're difficult to culture. Researchers in Norway were able to harvest them from a lake bed and breed them in the lab. This one is called Collodictyon.
Oldest human ancestor found in lake sludge
PRIMORDIAL LIFE: Scientists have declared a microscopic algae-eater that lives in a lake in Norway to be one of the world's oldest living organisms.
Thu 26 Apr 12 from ABC Science
Oldest Human Ancestor Found in Lake Sludge, Sat 28 Apr 12 from Discovery.com
Scientists find 'man's remotest relative' in lake sludge
After two decades of examining a microscopic algae-eater that lives in a lake in Norway, scientists on Thursday declared it to be one of the world's oldest living organisms and man's remotest ...
Thu 26 Apr 12 from Phys.org
Recently found, mankind's most distant relative doesn't fit in any known branch of living organisms
After two decades of careful breeding and examining, scientists have declared a microscopic algae-eater to be one of the world’s oldest living organisms, and human’s most distant ...
Mon 30 Apr 12 from ZME Science
New Primordial Protozoan Species Is Not in Any Known Kingdom of Life
A tiny microorganism found in Norwegian lake sludge may be related to the very oldest life forms on this planet, a possible modern cousin of our earliest common ancestor. It is not a fungus, ...
Mon 30 Apr 12 from Popular Science
Man's remotest relative and one of the world's oldest organisms found - in the sludge of a lake in Norway
Scientists say they have had to invent a new category for the organism which they say provides a clue to how life might have looked hundreds of millions of years ago
Mon 30 Apr 12 from Daily Mail
Title goes here, Mon 30 Apr 12 from Daily Mail
Is strange organism new branch on tree of life?
Talk about extended family: A single-celled organism in Norway has been called "mankind's furthest relative." It is so far removed from the organisms we know that researchers claim ...
Mon 30 Apr 12 from FOXNews
Strange Organism Has Unique Roots in the Tree of Life
Protozoan genes suggest they are the oldest members of the tree of life containing humans
Sun 29 Apr 12 from Livescience
Rare protozoan from sludge in Norwegian lake does not fit main branches of tree of life
Humankind's remotest relative is a very rare micro-organism from south-Norway. The discovery may provide an insight into what life looked like on Earth almost one thousand million years ago.
Thu 26 Apr 12 from ScienceDaily
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