Toumai, the oldest relative of the human race Discoveries about the human lineage are extremely exciting and often disconcerting. This is the case of the recent discovery of what appears to be the oldest member of the human family. A skull found in northern Chad in 2001 was thought to be the oldest human relative ever found. Dubbed Toumai and discovered by Michel Brunet and his paleontology team, this new category of humans was given the scientific name, Sahelanthropus tchaensis. What makes this skull so definitive is the fact that it dates back approximately 6-7 million years in the history of the earth (Whitfield 2002). Since the discovery there have been anthropologists and paleontologists who have disputed Toumai's hominid status (Evans 2002), but many, especially those involved in the discovery of the skull, still believe they have the oldest relative of the human race we know today. The kind of attention that comes from the discovery of a fossil that could challenge pre-existing notions of human ancestry is enormous. When the findings were first published in the scientific journals Nature and Science, the news spread like wildfire and every news source from the ABC to the BBC covered the story. A discovery of this magnitude is very important considering that it can alter ideas about the beginnings of the human lineage and cause a stir in the scientific community in terms of how human evolution is viewed. BBC News was one of the sources covering this story when the discovery was made. Their lead article stated: “Scientists say it is the most important discovery in the search for the origins of humankind since the first remains of Australopithecus 'man-ape' were found in Africa... middle of paper.... ..S.umaï, the ancestor of humans. http://www.lemonde.fr/web/article/0,1-0%402-3328,36-331868,0.htmlEvans, Mark., 2002, Ancient Skull's Species in Dispute. Philadelphia Investigator. http://www.mercurynews.com/mld/inquirer/living/science/4249114.htmGibbons, Ann., 2002, One Scientists Quest for The Origin of our Species Science. 298. http://rcp.missouri.edu/carolward/pdfs/quotebrunetpiece.pdfMeek, James., 2002, Monkey or Man? Hailed as Our Most Ancient Ancestor, Is Sparking Ancient Scientific Rivalries Guardian News, http: //www.guardian.co.uk/uk_news/story/0,3604,808955,00.htmlNoble, Ivan., 2002, Astonishing Skull Unearthed in Africa. BBC News, http://news.bbc.co.uk/ 1/hi/sci/tech/2118055.stmWhitfield, John., 2002, Oldest member of human family found. Nature, Science Update, http://www.nature.com/nsu/020708/020708-12.html