I think this i sambaing because this explains a lot about evolution. It definitely is a missing link in human evolution. It shows that we indeed came from apes.

This podcast was very intriguing and I am glad I listened to it. I have always been interested in where humans originated and how we evolved, and this podcast discussed it in great detail. The imagery the narrators used in describing the discoveries of new skulls was amazing because I felt like I could see what they were talking about and it helped me better understand the topic. I like how they were specific in details and in tracing every step back to find our origin. To be honest, it was almost like I was at the edge of my seat in listening to all the discoveries they made, but then finding out that one of the fossils they found was fake and a hoax. I am happy that they specified how similar or different the fossils were to humans and primates, like describing their skull and spinal cord placement, and teeth.

Honestly, I was very intrigued by this podcast. I shut everything out and just listened to it in it's entirety and it was wonderful. The diction used literally painted pictures in my head of what all these archeologists saw. Even for me to just imagine what it would've been like to be the one who discovered these things gave me goosebumps. The tone of voice and use of strong, strong pathos kept me listening all the way until the end.

Throughout the podcast, the speaker moves towards a climatic conclusion by bringing in different inferences and information about the topic. The skull found in South Africa marks a historic finding. It could possibly be the oldest found fossil of the "missing link" in human evolution. The Speaker goes on to explain how the previous oldest human-like is gone back and looked at. It if found to be a fraud. This event hooks the listener and makes one want to find what happens next in this scandalous fossil excavation. The speaker then brings in evidence of other species of bones found at the site where this new skull was found. At first we are not sure what to make of this, but we keep on listening to hear what the verdict may be. The Speaker then explains that scratch marks are found on the various bones in the cave, including the skull. Scratch and claw marks of bird. Could the speaker really be concluding the incredible? That the "missing link" to human existence was killed by a bird? On the surface, this story seems to be about the excavation of a rare fossil, but if reveals itself to be the not just a finding of an old rock, but the conclusion that a creature that we see in our every day lives, very much may be an original predator of Homo-sapiens.

You can now own a Taung Child of your very own: http://www.artintheageof.com/shop/taung-child-skull/

So proud to have been part of the lab that produced this scan!

This story made me think that a good way for scientists to really know their evidence(the/skull) would be to draw it. You really have to look when you draw, and that way come to see all the details. Maybe we depend on technology to see for us too much, as in the 3d printing, and so don't experience the information ourselves.

Are transcripts available for this episode? I'd love to use it for class and "print" the skull. Talk about a wonderful visualization of a story.

I recently listened to an episode of the "Criminal" podcast and found this one to be eerily similar - in the best way possible.

If you like 3D scanned and printed skulls you should go see www.fireandbone.com. We make beautiful miniature skull replicas using 3D scanning and printing!

I'm a primatologist at Penn State university, and I'm pretty sure this podcast uses chimp calls when talking about vervets! That's a mistake that should be correctly, like talking about horses while using a pig soundtrack. Please fix, radiolab! You guys are so great- don't make such a mistake :)

But isn't it also possible that the bird that left the marks in the eye socket was not the predator actually responsible, but rather a scavenger cleaning the carcass?

I love this article i just 3d printed me one just now!!!!

Matthew Nevins from Marshalltown, Iowa see my facebook page to get help getting your hands on one too !!!

https://www.facebook.com/InPrintingInventInspire?ref=hl

Matthew Nevins & Melissa from Stoughton, MA — please shoot me a quick email at curtis@shootdigital.com. We can send you pricing for your very own Taung Child skull.

I love all of your podcasts. I was wondering if you know of any web pages that would take a scan and print the 3D scan of your choice and send it to you for a price. I am a teacher and I think that getting the skull for my class room could emphizize the importance of birds and their prey. Thank you,

Matthew Nevins
Marshalltown, IA

What is the song that starts playing at around 6:50? The one with the piano and cello. I've been going crazy trying to figure it out.

Thanks guys for turning so many on to the Taung child. She's a truly amazing fossil find. Taung played a large part in my master's thesis, specifically her natural endocast. I love the fossil so much I even have her tattooed on my hip! I would love to get my hands on a 3D replica.

Just found radiolab. Thank you for sharing this knowledge and understanding of the worlds history to all of us. Incredibly enriching and important information being transmitted. love and respect!

Is there a podcast pertaining to Gobekli Tepe?

I uploaded to my Shapeways account. I didn't add any cost to this (I'm not making any money from it).
Depending on the material used, it can get pricey!
https://www.shapeways.com/model/2010458/?li=aeTabs

meow

The video of the golden eagle attempting to snatch the child is fabricated. It is the product of the work and imaginations of some graphic art/animation students in (I believe) Canada - an exercise in their craft.

In 1978, I conducted a summer long study of pronghorn fawn mortality on the National Bison Range in Montana for my MS in Wildlife Biology under Bart O'Gara's supervision. Every one of the 93% of all fawns there that year were killed by predators - most by coyotes, a few by bobcats and four by eagles. The marks on the dead fawns are very very different among the three predators.

The talon marks on the eagle-killed fawns were unmistakable on the back of the fawns on either side of the spine. One of my undergraduate field assistants observed one of the eagle kills and described the flight of the eagle with the fawn in it's talons.

Of course carrying off these kills was made possible by the ridge top updrafts on the small mountains on the BR. This made it easy for the eagles to get the prey to their nests.

The eagles in Africa are a lot bigger than golden eagles so it is not at all surprising to me that a small human could be carried away.

I am puzzled why as late as the 90's, anyone felt it necessary to test the capability of an eagle to perform this feat. Too little communication across the disciplines?

Anyone manage to price this out with Shapeways?

I don't usually do this, but can someone please tell what is the melody in the background that starts at 14:45? It's just one of those clicks...

For anyone interested, Treofab (http://www.treofab.com) offers 3D printing and customize service for just about 3d model. Full disclosure, I am associated with Treofab. We offer easy and quick price quotes too. Have a 3d model? See where you can get it printed cheapest for the materials you want. We also have patent pending technology to print in color on virtually any 3D printed material.

Do check us out http://www.treofab.com or email us at support@treofab.com

Couldn't resist leaving another comment.
Still today a bird considers us fair game.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wJmd606LKYw

Do you want a 3D scan of sediba for the same purpose?

My whole life people have mocked my fear of birds calling it "irrational" - good to know there is reason behind it! Read more about my experience on my blog: http://whensaturnreturns.wordpress.com/2014/05/18/radiolab-proves-my-fear-of-birds-is-legit/

For anyone interested in buying a replica of the Taung Child skull, please contact me — curtis@shootdigital.com. We're the company that refined the 3d scan and we offer the highest-end 3d printing service. You'll see two photos of what our 3d print of the skull looks like under the "makes" section of Radiolab's Thingiverse page at http://www.thingiverse.com/thing:332463 We can ship it to you within 24–48 hours! See more of our work at 3d scanning and 3d printing work (of skulls and so much more) at http://www.shootdigital.com/3d If you're in the NYC area, please feel free to stop by. :)

As to "Cats just feel tougher than birds" at 14:50...

It depends on what birds you are talking about... For instance...

This bastard bird from hell here.. http://37.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_mdlh8iKwxY1r38ji3o1_500.jpg

I've had trouble finding exactly when Phorusrhacidae went extinct officially, but they were definitely around during the last ice age... And probably recent enough to have gutted some of our earliest ancestors... And, apparently, it's bones have been found in the same area as the remains of early South American humans...Not an expert so don't quote me on that last part. The oldest human remains in south america which I am aware of are only 22,000 years old, and the species was suppose to have died out much earlier...

Just to give proper scale... think about 30% larger than an ostrich, and carnivorous in nature. They were a thing of nightmares... Which is likely where they get the name "Terror Birds".

Another bird which could easily have dined on humans would be Haast's Eagle. A bird with a 10 foot wing span, which fed on defenseless Mua birds....

How ever, there is a bird alive and well today that still poses a threat to modern human beings. With a wingspan of up to 7 feet.. It is called the African Crowned Eagle, and sometimes "The leopard of the sky". It is capable of preying on animals up to 64 pounds, and the bulk of it's diet is primates and other mammals, and if you are wondering, yes, human children 9 years old and younger are included in the "primates" category. Just the bird happens to be endangered and it's hard for conservationists to get people on board to "save the baby eating eagles". A Crowned Eagle is likely what killed the humanoid child in the story above.

If you don't think birds are "tough", you've never looked a bird of prey in the eye.

The first nightmares I ever remember having as a toddler was a repeating theme of a mother bird wanting or threatening to get me and feed me to it's offspring. The bird actually talked to me and would tell me "I'm going to get you!" It was oddly sexually arousing at the same time. Very strange.

John, our 3D Printing service, thingsmiths, is Michigan based and printing one as I write. We're in Ann Arbor, you're always welcome to come check it out!

This makes me think about what it would be like to be caught by an eagle. Are you conscious as it carries you away, can you struggle? When exactly does it kill you? I can't help feel a little empathy for my long distant ancestor.

John, you can just upload the 3D file of the skull to any 3D printing service (e.g. Shapeways) and they will print it in your desired size and material and mail it to you.

Can we purchase a 3D-printed replica from Radiolab?

It's sad to me that so many 'rational' scientists seem to want to ignore new factual revelations about things they like to pretend to be experts on like was mentioned here with the eagles having been the ones perpetrating the kill instead of 'theory' of large cats. That behavior is the opposite of what science is about.

Anyone know when birds first started making nests? Did any birds live in caves?

I tweeted, I loved it.
Best @RadioLab story yet. There is an arc to this story that is simply elegant. Kudos!

This story will turn a lot of kids onto science.
The shadow KNOWS

I would have loved it if the acknowledgment of Europe's racist denial of human origins in Africa had gone beyond the few sentences in this episode.

Is it weird that I want my own printed replica? Without a doubt, one of the coolest stories I've ever heard.

I got goosebumps when you talked about that feeling you get when you see a shadow on the ground.

Stories like this are the reason I support this amazing show. Thanks guys.