As one thinking senior, have you ever wondered how we evolved from apes to our current human form? Even before the word scientist, anthropologist and paleontologist were created, it has been a mystery how closely primates and humans are related and still, we are nowhere near the absolute answer to this age-old question.

Overtime, we gathered bits and pieces of evidence showing how it happened, hoping that somewhere in between we will finally find the missing link. Some of us are still a bit skeptical about the buzz which Sir Charles Darwin started years ago but after substantial evidences come piling up one after another, it becomes harder to turn our backs from the apparent truth.

For those still frowning upon the idea of “us-originally-apes”, I want you all to meet, Ida. Still not the missing link we are hoping for, or at least Sir Charles did, but nonetheless, one step closer to the truth.

Ida, the 47 million year old fossilized lemur-like being with noticeable characteristics of a human had made a debut just recently. Ida is considered by paleontologists as the most critical part of the missing link of human evolution so far. At a glance, this fossilized species looks very much like any other lemur we know considering its size and shape but upon closer inspection, a trained-eye will quickly spot the difference such as nails instead of claws, opposable toes, hands that were capable of grasping and short limbs. What’s more remarkable is the presence of talus bones in this fossilized lemur. FYI, all humans existing today have talus bones located between your heel bone and your lower leg bone. If you had been to orthopedic recently, you would probably know.

Ida had been unearthed some 25 years ago in Germany where she had lived hanging in someone’s private wall for the next twenty years. Only in 2006 that she caught the eyes of professionals. Negotiations began with extremely high amount of money involved in the said transaction. After the deal was done, she settled into her new home—in Oslo; where she will hopefully spend her eternal life living a celebrity’s life, safe and protected.

Evidences showed that Ida lived during the Eocene period. According to researchers, this was the time when early primates branched out. Some primates were left to be just the way they were then—as lemurs, while the other half evolved into apes and ultimately, humans.