Ardipithecus (That We Know Of) | Lindsay Nikole
In the dust of Ethiopia’s Middle Awash, a team uncovered fossils that redefined our roots. I followed their work on Ardi and Kadabba, early hominins that walked upright in woodlands long before humanity took shape. Their discovery proves evolution isn’t simple or linear it’s a winding trail of adaptation, survival, and chance that connects us to creatures we once thought were nothing like us.
#LindsayNikole #humanevolution #ethiopia #animalscience
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ABOUT LINDSAY NIKOLE
Join zoologist Lindsay Nikole for vivid stories about evolution, animal behavior, and the wonderfully weird life around (and before) us. Each video dives into creatures you’ve never met and facts you’ll never forget, blending science with humor, visuals, and memorable explanations. From viral mystery IDs and prehistoric deep dives to myth-busting and conservation context, this channel makes complex biology easy and exciting to understand.
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Chapters:
00:00 Discovery Begins With a Tooth
01:53 Let’s Meet “Ardipithecus”
03:06 Kadabba’s Habitat And Environment
07:17 Canine Teeth And Social Behavior
12:15 Opposable Big Toe And Arboreal Adaptations
14:27 Hands Built For Grasping Not Knuckle-Walking
18:09 Enamel Thickness And Dietary Clues
19:44 Discovery Of Ardi’s 125-Piece Skeleton
22:38 Brain Size And Cognitive Implications
26:11 Ardipithecus Near The Pan–Homo Split
Ardipithecus (That We Know Of) | Lindsay Nikole
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCrc2iv2-G1FZ3VscM3zu2jg
@ianharac5153
October 31, 2025 at 4:23 pm
Since it’s very dry, shouldn’t it be the “Not Awash Valley”? Because, it’s not awash with anything? Eh? Eh?…. Fine. Enjoy your meal. I’ll be here all week.
@Sailor_alan
October 31, 2025 at 4:23 pm
Always love your uploads. You and casual geographic are like the type of educators that actually engage peoples minds.
@GustavSvard
October 31, 2025 at 4:23 pm
27:00 Don't chimps and gorillas do knuckle-walking differently? I remember reading this. So for the homo-pan lineage to first go for more bipedal walking than gorillas, and then after splitting into homo & pan on lineage went full bipedal and the other went back to knuckle walking, that sounds like it could very well be true. Would be a nice video in itself, I guess?
@caramelldansen2204
October 31, 2025 at 4:23 pm
❤
@GustavSvard
October 31, 2025 at 4:23 pm
3:05 Yohannes Haile-Selassie being from UC Berkley was an unexpected twist. That's got to be the most Ethiopian name ever. But, of course, someone from (or with parents from) Ethiopia who studies human evolution at UC Berkley would probably be inclined to go on digs in Ethiopia. So not a twist after all.
@ASquadWiper
October 31, 2025 at 4:23 pm
your brain might be wrinkly… but mine is smooooooooth 🤤
@wherehorsesoffaeriehide
October 31, 2025 at 4:23 pm
I wish we still had big canine teeth, they look so cool.
@raymoon439
October 31, 2025 at 4:23 pm
I want Mike Johnson to rot in prison for being a treasonous turd.
@shady22necol
October 31, 2025 at 4:23 pm
Lindsay I'd like to challenge your idea that being monogamous means you're more in love. That's a pretty harmful stigma to put out there to people who are polyamorous and find fulfillment and love in multiple connections. As someone who has been poly my entire life but was forced to be monogamous for most of it a big part of who I was was continuously put down stuffed away and demeaned simply because I had the ability to love more than one person so I just wanted to bring up because I really respect you and the content that you make that acquating monogamy with the only way you can love your partner can be really damaging and dangerous to other relationship styles and other people who might watch you and then think there's something wrong with them or that they are broken for not loving in that way
@greeneyedxvampiress
October 31, 2025 at 4:23 pm
I love learning human evolution again, it’s been a while since my intro to anthro classes in college and this is so fun to watch!
@Kittyhalk
October 31, 2025 at 4:23 pm
Former archaeologist here: can confirm that excavating with toothpicks and bamboo skewers is tedious as fuck.
@matthall4265
October 31, 2025 at 4:23 pm
She said "competition for females gets nuts" lmao that's the whole intention isn't it?
@mattiascaccaaaa
October 31, 2025 at 4:23 pm
Humans goes nuclear when their peers got skin shades slightly different than theirs, imagine how things would be if there were still other Homo subspecies around…
@m1t2a1
October 31, 2025 at 4:23 pm
The first time I heard about an anything-ipthecus was from Ross on Friends.
@Raucey
October 31, 2025 at 4:23 pm
2:28 What a goofy looking goober
@dominoẽspizza_woy-woy
October 31, 2025 at 4:23 pm
I heard fossilised tooth and immediately felt dread, fearing that I had just stumbled upon another spinosaurid debate.
@lnlnd
October 31, 2025 at 4:23 pm
13:49 Vsauce, human’s here!
@EdiggityDog37
October 31, 2025 at 4:23 pm
Your drip is a negative 5 doggy
@andy_5995
October 31, 2025 at 4:23 pm
Hi Lindsay. I stumbled across your channel a couple weeks ago. I'm really enjoying the videos so far. I have to put them at 0.75x though, to absorb your wit and information more completely. Just wanted to let you know, the link to your book in the description leads to a "page does not exist" error (the rendered text in the description is correct, but when clicked, the redirected page is not the same).
@gollumegollum
October 31, 2025 at 4:23 pm
The way she pronounces words is entertaining
@doggo5119
October 31, 2025 at 4:23 pm
I've officially learned more from Lindsay than I ever did from any teacher. If she wasn't doing what she does now, she would make an amazing educator. She presents information in a way that's so easy to digest
@jkattau9
October 31, 2025 at 4:23 pm
Just FYI, there's a channel called Bugs and Biology that's using your (that we know of) in the titles of their videos.
@champagnehoneyfur2286
October 31, 2025 at 4:23 pm
1:33 before you even started, what a waste of time.
@bubblingbubztheklown5902
October 31, 2025 at 4:23 pm
Definitely ate eggs. Almost everything eats eggs even animals we're taught are herbivores 🫤 just saw a compilation of herbivores eating baby chicks, eggs, and other small creatures. Never thought I'd see deer eating baby chicks…
@jackhilton419
October 31, 2025 at 4:23 pm
It’s sad to know I wouldn’t survive the wild just because I can’t breath properly 😂
@johnsalkeld1088
October 31, 2025 at 4:23 pm
I like to think that tge problematic false rebuttal of evolution regarding pan and homo is like saying – “how can I have grandparents – my cousins is alive”
@Jeffindsm
October 31, 2025 at 4:23 pm
Baseball gloves were made for babba hands.
@Jeffindsm
October 31, 2025 at 4:23 pm
It was said in the 60's that canines came from egg teeth.
Thus the farther from reptiles the less size of egg teeth or canines
@prettypic444
October 31, 2025 at 4:23 pm
Who would have know all those games of pickup sticks would have paid off!
@kitofthewild
October 31, 2025 at 4:23 pm
i have really pointy canines and i like how it reminds me that i'm a primate, and that if need be i can bite the hell out of someone lol
@OnLowBattery
October 31, 2025 at 4:23 pm
I like the implication that michael from vsauce is the peak example of moder humans
@Haes-sal-ui_miso.
October 31, 2025 at 4:23 pm
13:48 THIS GUY FOLLOWS ME EVERYWHERE I SWEAR
@charlesjames5477
October 31, 2025 at 4:23 pm
very interesting
@nebular97
October 31, 2025 at 4:23 pm
21:18 is it possible that another hominins species cannibalized them? Cracking open their large bones to get to the marrow?
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