Which of the following statement is CORRECT? [br] [originaltext] At 4. 4 mil

At 4. 4 million years of age, Ardipithecus ramidus, which scientists have nicknamed Ardi, is now the oldest skeleton of a human ancestor since the discovery of Lucy, the 3. 2 million-year-old female hominid skeleton discovered in Ethiopia in 1974.
    Until now, Lucy was believed to have shared a common ancestor with prehistoric apes and to have evolved from there.
    But scientists say their new analysis of the older Ardipithecus skeleton suggests that chimps and humans evolved separately from an even older common relative.
    It took anthropologists 17 years to assemble and analyze multiple skull, hand, feet, limb and pelvis fragments of Ardipithecus, which were first discovered in ancient lake and stream deposits near the Ethiopian village of Aramis in 1992.
    Researchers say the composite skeleton belonged to an adult female who stood 120 centimeters, or four feet tall and weighed about 50 kilograms.
    Ardi had elongated palms and special joints and ligaments that allowed it to climb and hang from tree branches. Its bone structure also permitted walking upright on the ground like modern humans. But it lacked the arched feet and smooth gait evident in Lucy and other later hominids.
    Researchers say that despite its many ape-like features, Ardipithecus was too different from modern chimps for the lineage to be considered direct.