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Your Inner Fish

The Human Hand: A Gift from Ancient Primates

Meet an ancient primate with a hand eerily similar to your own.

Aired 04/09/2014 | Rating NR

Your Inner Fish

The Human Hand: A Gift from Ancient Primates

Clip: Episode 3 | 4m 26s

Meet an ancient primate with a hand eerily similar to your own.

Our hand has the same basic form as the hands of all other primates. But what did the earliest version of this hand look like? Neil Shubin pays a visit to Jon Bloch, who shows him a remarkable fossil of Notharctus, an early primate with a hand that you may recognize.

Aired 04/09/2014 | Rating NR

Your Aching Back: A Gift from Your Ancient Ancestors

As Bruce Latimer explains, our evolutionary history has some consequences for our back. (2m 52s)

Episode 3: Your Inner Monkey Preview

Find out which traits our primate progenitors bequeathed to us. (30s)

The 500-Million-Year History of the Human Brain

Biologist Peter Holland shows us how much we have in common with a wormy little animal. (3m 19s)

Amazing Places, Amazing Fossils: Lucy

Don Johanson recounts the discovery of an iconic human ancestor in Ethiopia. (4m 54s)

Ancient Human Ancestors: Walking in the Woods

"Ardi" changed our understanding of how our ancestors first started walking on two legs. (3m 47s)

How Do We Know When Our Ancestors Lost Their Tails?

Paleontologist Holly Dunsworth shows us fossil evidence for the disappearance of our tail. (4m)

Meet Your Cousins: Squirrel Monkeys

Our relationship to living primates can be seen in their anatomy and genes. (2m 5s)

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