What does it mean when two different species have the same "break points" in a supposedly broken gene? Does it suggest that God created them with similar features, or does it show that the two species evolved from one ancestor? How one answers this question may depend more on prior beliefs than evidence, but new findings make the latter scenario increasingly difficult to maintain.

For years, museum displays have featured the small extinct ape Australopithecus afarensis. The first specimen, discovered in 1974 and nicknamed "Lucy," was presented as having clearly human eyes, feet, and posture. The feet and posture, however, can only be verified by relevant fossilized structures.

In fall 2009, the journal Science dedicated a special issue to Ardipithecus ramidus. Popularly known as "Ardi," the fossil was characterized by researchers Tim White and C. Owen Lovejoy as a replacement for Lucy as mankind's direct evolutionary ancestor.

The theory of human evolution is taking yet another hit from recent scientific studies, from the first analysis of the Neandertal genome to painstakingly reconstructed Ardipithicus ramidus and Australopithecus sediba remains. The profusion of evolutionarily bias in media reports, however, can make it tricky to uncover the real evidence.

Evolution's search for the "missing link" between man and ape has a long and troubled history. Australopithecus sediba is the latest fossil find that is claimed to represent evolutionary human ancestors. But the remains of this extinct ape provide several solid clues that contradict any evolutionary relationship to man.