Discovery of the Sahelanthropus Tchadensis Fossil: Earliest Hominid :: Anthropology Essays Paleontology Papers

Discovery of the Sahelanthropus Tchadensis Fossil: Earliest Hominid In July of 2001, a group of archeologists discovered the skull and jaw bone of the oldest member of the human family. The skull is a new discovery and was found in the Djurab Desert of Northern Chad by a group of archeologists lead by Michel Brunet, and is thought to be six to seven million years old (Walton). The age of the skull and jaw bone were approximated through the association of the fauna that were found with the fossils (Brunet). The skull is a major find for archeologists because they now have a new piece of the puzzle that shows the evolution of humans from apes and it provides information to a period that scientists had very little knowledge about because of the lack of evidence (Whitfield). The skull was given the scientific name: Sahelanthropus tchadensis and was nicknamed Toumai, which is a local name for a child born perilously close to the beginning of the dry season meaning â€Å"Hope of Life† (Walton). The skull has a mix of ape and hominid, early humans who are distinctly different from apes by their upright posture, features. The brain case is similar to those of apes, being about the size as a chimp, but the thick tooth enamel and the presence of small canines in the jaw bone are features that are similar to hominids. The most surprising part of the skull is the presence of the large brow ridges found on Toumai (Groves). This is unexpected because the next oldest hominid fossils have a small or non-existent brow ridges but our family, Homo, also has large prominent brow ridges (Gee). These fossils are having a major impact on the scientific world’s view of human evolution and scientists may even have to rethink some present ideas about it. Because the skull of Toumai has characteristics that are very similar to those found in the Homo family, some scientists are beginning to question whether or not Australopithecus, an early member of the hominid family from about four to one million years ago and they are characterized by their fully upright posture and their small brain size, is even part of the evolution record of humans from apes. Bernard Wood, of George Washington University in Washington DC, argues that if Australopithecus has more ape-like features than the features found on an older

Blue Cross

When several Blue Cross Blue Shield programs in upstate New York merged, each organization brought its own business processes and IT systems to the new entity. Because they were so different, yet had to be consolidated, the new entity, Excellus Blue Cross Blue Shield, wanted to first implement a strong business analysis process to clearly identify company functions and processes. They wanted to be able to inventory and visualize their current state architecture in support of system modernization and SOA efforts. Problem Excellus Blue Cross Blue Shield is part of a $4 billion family of companies that finances and delivers health care services across upstate New York, including the major cities of Syracuse, Elmira, Rochester, Utica, and Buffalo. As New York State’s largest nonprofit health plan, the organization provides health insurance to more than 2 million people, and employs more than 6,000 New Yorkers. It is the result of a merger of several health organizations serving upstate New York. Following the merger, Excellus found that there were few enterprise architecture (EA) standards embraced by all of the previously independent entities. The company formed a group within the IT department to focus on EA as it consolidated business and IT systems and reduced the amount of technical diversity within the organization. With multiple platforms and environments, it was extremely challenging to create smoothly running, cohesive business procedures, without a clear understanding of what processes and systems were serving each organization. Many of these legacy systems, some in place for 30+ years, didn’t have adequate documentation, so there were parts of the systems that were completely unknown. â€Å"Before making sweeping policy or platform decisions, we recognized the importance of identifying all company functions and the processes used to implement them,† explained Eric Stephens, enterprise architect, Enterprise Architecture and Integration Team at Excellus. â€Å"This was the first step in our effort to reduce duplicate processes that were a normal result of the merger. We had to develop single systems for claims processing, provider contracting, member registration, and more, but could not do that until we fully understood and mapped the existing processes. † Excellus recognized that a key success factor would be a service-oriented architecture (SOA) approach, offering the ability to devise flexible architectures that rely on smaller parts (services), rather than larger monolithic solutions. Being able to implement the architecture in parts gives the company more choices (buy vs. uild) and allows for variation in particular components to adapt to a shifting market demand for products. It was clear that going forward with big systems implementations would drive both risks and financial resources to unacceptable levels. In addition, the organization established a goal of standardizing practices so that customers and others outside the organization would feel like they were dealing with a single company, rather than multiple entities in a loose federation.

Locate and Identify Black Locust in North America

Robinia pseudoacacia, commonly known as the black locust, is a prickly tree within the subfamily Faboideae of the pea family called  Fabaceae and is considered to be a legume with flattened pea pods several inches long. Black locust is native to the southeastern United States, but has been widely planted and naturalized elsewhere in temperate North America, Europe and Asia. The original range of the locust is in the Appalachian, Ozark and Ouachita range  located in the middle mountains of Eastern North America.  They are now considered an invasive species in some areas even within the natural range. Black locust was introduced into Britain in 1636 where it has slowly garnered a universal appeal to tree lovers. Black Locust Identification One major identifier is the long compound leaves with up to 19 leaflets which present  the typical and unique locust leaf profile (not to be confused with the twice compound leaves of honey locust). The other ID marker is a small stout briar spine  on branches, often curved and in pairs at each leaf node. Late spring to early summer flowers can be showy, white and drooping  with 5-inch flower clusters. These flowers are fragrant with a vanilla and honey scent. The leguminous fruit developing from the flower has 4-inch papery thin pods with small, dark-brown, kidney-shaped seeds. These autumn seeds will persist until the next spring. You will find this tree primarily  in areas where it colonizes open fields and roadsides. Its ability to grow in poor soils, fast growth, ornamental foliage and fragrant flowers make for a favorite tree to plant. More on Black Locust Black locust is sometimes called yellow locust and grows naturally on a wide range of sites but does best on rich moist limestone soils.  Black locust is not a commercial timber species but is useful for many other purposes. Because it is a nitrogen fixer and has rapid juvenile growth, it is widely planted as an ornamental, for shelterbelts, and for land reclamation. It is suitable for fuelwood and pulp and provides cover for wildlife, browse for deer, and cavities for birds. We must recognize that black locust is not an important tree for logging purposes as there is very little timber value and it has little lumber or paper pulp potential. We still need to remember that the tree has and is used  in the United States to be manufactured into a wide variety of products. Robinia pseudoacacia is planted for many specialized purposes. Black locust is used for fence posts, mine timbers, poles, railroad ties, insulator pins, ship timber, tree nails for wooden ship construction, boxes, crates, pegs, stakes, and novelties. Pulp with satisfactory mechanical properties can be made from the tree, particularly by the sulfate process but commercial value awaits  further investigation.