FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
November 03, 2009

NOVA Presents Becoming Human: Unearthing Our Earliest Ancestors

Owings Mills, MD-Tune in to Maryland Public Television (MPT) on November 3, 10 and 17 at 8pm for a forensic journey that explores the rise and fall of some of mankind's earliest known relatives in a comprehensive three-part, three-hour special investigating groundbreaking new discoveries that are transforming the picture of mankind's evolution.


Filmed throughout Africa and Europe, each hour of Becoming Human investigates the life and death of a specific hominid ancestor. Ancient bones spring back to life vibrant life with stunning animation, the product of a unique NOVA collaboration between top anthropologists and a talented team of movie animators.


Episode one, "First Steps," probes into fresh clues while tracing the history of our ancestors in Africa including the remarkably intact fossil nicknamed "Lucy's Child," which has aided scientists in determining that even as long as three million years ago the human species was already upright and walking.


"Birth of Humanity," the program's second installment, unearths the mysteries of how human ancestors managed to survive in a savanna abound with predators, and when and why they first left Africa to colonize the far corners of the earth.


In the program's final installment, "Last Human Standing," NOVA investigates cutting-edge DNA analysis that has revealed new insights into how we became today's creative and "behaviorally modern" humans and what became of the Neanderthals who faded into extinction more than 25,000 years ago.


For more information about the program visit NOVA online at www.pbs.org/nova/evolution and share the site on Facebook before the broadcast. You can also become a fan of MPT's Facebook page or follow us on Twitter at @marylandpubtv.


For more information on MPT, visit mpt.org.


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