Beginning ~ with a fossil

Opening line:  "Dad, I've found a fossil."

The Skull in the Rock : How a Scientist, a Boy, and Google Earth Opened a New Window on Human Origins ~ by Lee R. Berger, 2012, YA science, 7/10

Matthew Berger, shown above, was fossil hunting with his dad just outside Johannesburg, South Africa.  They were in a World Heritage Site, a protected area.  Matthew's father is Lee Berger, "a scientist who has devoted his life to finding the remains of our ancient ancestors" (p. 7).  The fossil was a shoulder bone, part of a nearly complete skeleton of a species not previously known to science — Australopithecus sediba.  The book itself details what led up to that 2008 find and what followed.  Learn more about this book in my Library Loot post.

Gilion at Rose City Reader hosts Book Beginnings on Fridays. Click here for today's Mister Linky.