The skeleton was first identified in 2000, locked inside a block of sandstone.

September 20, 2006 3:31 PM

Dead Baby. Killed during flash flood, locked inside a block of sandstone. Relatives not suspects in death.
posted by orthogonality (31 comments total)

The face is fossilized! The face!
posted by orthogonality at 3:34 PM on September 20, 2006

The foot! The foot!!
posted by thirteenkiller at 3:38 PM on September 20, 2006

How do you get 100 babies into a bucket?
With a blender!

How do you get them out again?
With tortilla chips!!!
posted by CynicalKnight at 3:41 PM on September 20, 2006 [1 favorite]

Will god ever stop testing our faith?
posted by Mr_Zero at 3:42 PM on September 20, 2006

What I find fascinating is that the discoverers didn't claim it was a new species. That's the normal move in this field.
posted by Ironmouth at 3:42 PM on September 20, 2006

What's grosser than a dead baby in a trash can?

A dead baby in ten trash cans!
posted by loquacious at 3:42 PM on September 20, 2006

It was intelligently placed in the sandstone.
posted by mmrtnt at 3:46 PM on September 20, 2006

What I find fascinating is that the discoverers didn't claim it was a new species.

Of course it's not a new species. If it were it wouldn't have died in the flash flood, Noah would've put it in the ark along with the respective male, like every other species.

Unless, of course, it was an evil baby species. In that case, good riddance.
posted by qvantamon at 3:53 PM on September 20, 2006

Unless, of course, it was an evil baby species. In that case, good riddance.

You say that like there's any species of baby besides evil. We all know that's utter poppycock.
posted by loquacious at 3:55 PM on September 20, 2006

... prompted some scientists to refer to the new skeleton as "Lucy's baby," even though they estimate she lived some 150,000 years earlier.

Still, how do you explain away the uncanny resemblance?
posted by hal9k at 3:58 PM on September 20, 2006

I can't help it - I keep thinking of this:

Archaeological Dig Uncovers Ancient Race Of Skeleton People (The Onion)
posted by mmrtnt at 4:13 PM on September 20, 2006

You say that like there's any species of baby besides evil.

Bastard! I was totally going to make that joke and you beat me to it.

One does have to wonder if this was the species of human that happily lived alongside the dinosaurs till the great flood. You know, the one that happened 3000 years ago.

Crazy human loving dinos. I hear it was just like the Flintstones.
posted by quin at 4:15 PM on September 20, 2006

Dead-Baby-Joke.com.
posted by ericb at 4:33 PM on September 20, 2006

Oh man, I grew up with those jokes.

What's worse than shoveling dead babies off your sidewalk?
Using a snowblower.
posted by dreamsign at 4:39 PM on September 20, 2006

Maybe not a double, but old news.
posted by rob511 at 4:39 PM on September 20, 2006

What's white and red and hangs from a telephone wire?
A baby shot through a snowblower.
posted by ericb at 4:45 PM on September 20, 2006

Difference between truckload of dead babies and truckload of watermelon?
Can't unload watermelon with a pitchfork.
posted by jfuller at 5:00 PM on September 20, 2006

What's worse than a truckload of dead babies?
A truckload of dead babies with a live one underneath trying to eat its way out.
posted by ericb at 5:16 PM on September 20, 2006

fossilized baby
very interesting, but
who killed jonbenet?
posted by brain_drain at 5:26 PM on September 20, 2006

C'mon, jfuller, you can too unload watermelons with a pitchfork.
posted by cgc373 at 6:04 PM on September 20, 2006

Even with the dead baby jokes this is a pretty cool anthropological find.


posted by taosbat at 6:19 PM on September 20, 2006

I just did an involuntary forensic facial reconstruction in my mind. That is one ugly baby.
posted by longsleeves at 6:55 PM on September 20, 2006

I wish more NewsFilter posts were done this way. Bravo, good sir!
posted by mkultra at 7:32 PM on September 20, 2006

Fascinating.
posted by owhydididoit at 8:07 PM on September 20, 2006

I wonder if they are going to put a toddler in the "early human" diorama window at AMNH now.
posted by rmless at 8:56 PM on September 20, 2006

This thread started off great, and has progressed quite smoothly, but perhaps we should quit while we're ahead.
posted by ZachsMind at 9:37 PM on September 20, 2006

longsleeves writes "I just did an involuntary forensic facial reconstruction in my mind. That is one ugly baby."


Second page of the first link.
posted by orthogonality at 10:55 PM on September 20, 2006

Nice post - I hadn't seen this and it was a fascinatin read.
posted by greycap at 11:19 PM on September 20, 2006

The World Service report on this last night was a bad science corker - 'The descendents of this dead baby became modern humans'.
posted by jack_mo at 3:53 AM on September 21, 2006

What is funnier than a dead baby?

A dead baby in a clown suit.

or

Two dead babies.
posted by sciurus at 7:23 AM on September 21, 2006

longsleeves writes "I just did an involuntary forensic facial reconstruction in my mind. That is one ugly baby."


Second page of the first link

Much better. Such a pessimistic bastard am I.
posted by longsleeves at 7:26 PM on September 21, 2006