Pam Frost Gorder

Toumai: Reverse-Engineering a Human Ancestor July 1, 2005

Seven million years ago, before the Neanderthals, before Homo erectus, even before australopithecines like the famous Lucy ever lived, Toumaï walked the earth. To prove whether this new species was truly one of us, scientists had to do more than just reassemble its skull. They had to reverse-engineer it back into its original shape — using virtual reality. Full story (PDF)