Early Man

Sean D. Pitman, M.D.

Updated October 2005



Introduction Taking isolated similarities by themselves, the theory of evolution appears to be quite reasonable... to a point. However, it seems that too much weight has been placed on similarities without questioning the differences. To the embarrassment of many a very intelligent man and woman of science, overly confident conclusions and arrogant statements have been made based on such similarities that have, on occasion, turned out to be not only wrong, but painfully wrong. It is fine to hypothesize that similarities between different creatures are the result of common ancestry, but since such similarities have been and are often conflicting when compared with other features, it might be prudent to hold back a little when making conclusions about any sort of definite taxonomic classification model or even relationship. The conclusions that are drawn from the evidence are often and have often been very much exaggerated to fit personal beliefs and biases. Yes, even scientists have biases and favorite theories. No one, not even a scientist, likes to see a theory that has cost a great deal of money and much of one's personal time and effort, go up in smoke. So, some caution might be in order before even long established theories are accepted as the "gospel truth", especially when some of the most famous scientists in the field start to question their own life's work. In considering the theory of human evolution it is interesting to note that some very well known scientists have actually suggested that the line of human evolution is far from clear. For example, in 1990, Richard Leakey himself said that, "If pressed about man's ancestry, I would have to unequivocally say that all we have is a huge question mark. To date, there has been nothing found to truthfully purport as a transitional specie to man, including Lucy, since 1470 was as old and probably older. If further pressed, I would have to state that there is more evidence to suggest an abrupt arrival of man rather than a gradual process of evolving." 10 Mary Leakey also said pretty much the same thing just before her death at the age of 83. Although Leakey was convinced that man had evolved from ape-like ancestors, she was equally convinced that scientists will never be able to prove a particular scenario of human evolution. Three months before her death, she said in an interview, "All these trees of life with their branches of our ancestors, that's a lot of nonsense." 60 Biases are of course part of human nature. No one is immune from bias. However, bias should at least be admitted. As it is, popular sciences often refuse to admit that there are significant limitations to the evolutionary interpretations that are given out to the public as "gospel truth." Consider the evidence for yourself and judge if popular science has not and is not overstepping itself when it comes to its conclusions on "Early Man."

Piltdown Man -- Eanthropus dawsoni or "dawn man." Discovered in 1912 by Charles Dawson, a medical doctor and amateur paleontologist. Dawson found a mandible and a small piece of a skull in a gravel pit near Piltdown England. The jawbone was ape-like but the teeth had human characteristics. The skull piece was very human-like. These two specimens were combined to form dawn man, which was supposedly 500,000 years old. However, the whole thing turned out to be an elaborate hoax. The skull was indeed human (about 500 years old) but the jaw was that of a modern ape whose teeth had been filed to look like human wear. The success of this hoax for almost 40 years is pretty impressive. However, had the original bones been available for study, this hoax would probably not have continued for as long as it did. It was not until 38 years after the bones had been "found" that the hoax was exposed. In 1953 Kenneth Oakley, Joseph Weiner and Wilfred Le Gros Clark exposed the fact that Piltdown Man was a hoax.1

Of course many scientists love to predict the discussion of Piltdown Man by those who are doubtful of evolution. But why shouldn't the Piltdown Man hoax be discussed? The success of the Piltdown Man hoax gives us an interesting look into human nature. It cannot be denied as a very embarrassing hoax that tricked even the scientific community for decades. It is readily admitted that many scientists believed in Piltdown Man wholeheartedly and made some rather foolish statements concerning the meaning of this "find." It is also admitted that Piltdown Man's general acceptance as a "missing link" was due to the fact that it matched the prevailing opinion of the time as to what such as missing link would look like. Of course, the argument is that many scientists of the day did not think too much of Piltdown Man since many did not think that the cranium and the jaw were from the same creature. But still, it is interesting to note that no one suspected the hoax despite "close inspection" of the specimen for almost 40 years. Other arguments contend that the differences from other fossil hominids are said to have turned Piltdown Man into a puzzling anomaly well before the hoax was discovered and, that by the time the hoax was revealed, most scientists were rather relieved to be finally rid of Piltdown Man. Even if this is true, the success of such an apparently obvious hoax seems quite impressive indeed.

So obviously, the point of including the Piltdown Man hoax in this discussion is to show that even scientists are, or at least have been, capable and possibly even willing to overlook something if it matches their preconceived ideas. (Back to Top)

Nebraska Man -- Hesperopithecus haroldcookii was discovered in 1922 in the Pliocene deposits of Nebraska by Mr. Cook and made famous by Henry Osborn of the American Museum of Natural History. There was an attempt to use this tooth at the Scopes "monkey" trial in 1925 as evidence of the animal ancestry of man. However, it was declared inadmissible by the judge. Even so, since William Jennings Bryan, former Secretary of State and a special prosecutor in the case, was himself from the state of Nebraska, Osborn chided him about Nebraska Man in the press: "The earth spoke to Bryan from his own state of Nebraska. The Hesperopithecus tooth is like the still, small voice. Its sound is by no means easy to hear ----. This little tooth speaks volumes of truth, in that it affords evidence of man's descent from the ape." 10 An illustration of Nebraska Man and his wife was published in the Illustrated London News (see illustration, printed June 24, 1922) . . . All from a tooth! When other parts of the skeleton were found in 1927, it quickly became clear that it was nothing more than the tooth of an extinct pig (peccary)! 2

In defense of the scientists of the day, many like to point out that this drawing was done for a non-scientific popular magazine. It is often claimed that few scientists, including Osborn, recognized Nebraska Man as anything more than an advanced primate of some kind. It is also claimed that Osborn specifically avoided making any extravagant claims about Hesperopithecus being an ape-man or any sort of human ancestor. To support this contention, Osborn is quoted as saying, "I have not stated that Hesperopithecus was either an Ape-man or in the direct line of human ancestry, because I consider it quite possible that we may discover anthropoid apes (Simiidae) with teeth closely imitating those of man (Hominidae),... Until we secure more of the dentition, or parts of the skull or of the skeleton, we cannot be certain whether Hesperopithecus is a member of the Simiidae or of the Hominidae."41 The fact of the matter is, however, that Osborn did believe that the Hesperopithecus tooth was clear evidence of human evolution from apes. If he did not believe this, then why did he chide Bryan by saying, " This little tooth speaks volumes of truth, in that it affords evidence of man's descent from the ape."? Of course, in retrospect, this statement of Osborn looks rather silly, seeing as how " Hesperopithecus" turned out to be nothing more than the tooth of a pig.

However, even if Osborn made some foolish statements about Nebraska Man, the claim is that most other scientists of the day did not even think that the Nebraska Man tooth was from a primate at all. In fact, the tooth was generally dismissed and had a negligible effect on the scientific thinking of the day. This is a strange conclusion considering the fact that a published picture of Nebraska Man in a popular and "respectable" news magazine did not raise very much objection from the scientific community of the day. The reply to this argument is often an appeal to a disclaimer that was published below the picture detailing the speculative nature of the picture.

"Mr. Forestier has made a remarkable sketch to convey some idea of the possibilities suggested by this discovery. As we know nothing of the creature's form, his reconstruction is merely the expression of an artist's brilliant imaginative genius. But if, as the peculiarities of the tooth suggest, Hesperopithecus was a primitive forerunner of Pithecanthropus, he may have been a creature such as Mr. Forestier has depicted." 42

I dare say that this disclaimer comment did not disclaim enough! The comment itself is very suggestive of the prevailing notion that Nebraska Man was in fact an ancestral hominid. That is a very far cry from an ancestral pig. Osborn himself commented on Forestier's drawing by saying:

"Such a drawing or 'reconstruction' would doubtless be only a figment of the imagination, of no scientific value, and undoubtedly inaccurate." 43

Little did Osborn know exactly how inaccurate it would turn out to be.

Beyond this, few understand the racially motivated nature of Osborn's ideas. Osborn firmly believed that certain human races were evolutionarily superior to other races.

"The Negroid stock is even more ancient than the Caucasian and Mongolian, as may be proved by an examination not only of the brain, of the hair, of the bodily characters, such as the teeth, the genitalia, the sense organs, but of the instincts, the intelligence. The standard intelligence of the average adult Negro is similar to that of the eleven-year-old youth of the species Homo sapiens." 76

Consider such statements in light of the fact that Osborn's "intelligence" led him to use a single tooth as clear evidence of the evolution of humans from apes - a tooth which was later shown to be nothing more than a pig's tooth!

Many try to play down the Nebraska Man discovery and the influence that it was given by science and popular culture. However, the amazing thing is that the Nebraska Man tooth got any attention whatsoever and that such extravagant claims were ever made for it by anyone as respectable and intelligent as Osborn was. (Back to Top)

Getting it in the Right Ballpark - Sort of . . .

(Back to Top)

Ramapithecuslufengensis -- Ramapithecus, thought by popular scientists to have lived between 12 and 14 million years ago, was first discovered in southwest Kenya by Louis Leakey in 1932. At that time, all that was found were a few teeth and some fragments of the upper jaw or maxilla. Leakey assembled these fragments so that they fortuitously resembled the parabolically arched shape of a human jaw (apes have a more U-shaped form).

Because of this human-like maxillary shape and what were thought to be "human-like" teeth characteristics, this creature was long believed to be the first branch from a line of apes that eventually evolved into modern humans. Many drawings in various scientific publications, textbooks, and newspapers, show Ramapithecus walking pretty much upright based on these relatively few fragments of maxilla and a few teeth. One might think that the lesson of Nebraska Man would be remembered . . . but they weren't. Popular scientists through the late 1970s continued to actively promote Ramapithecus as one of the early human ancestors.

Noted scientist Dr. Elwyn Simons stated confidently, "The pathway can now be traced with little fear of contradiction from generalized hominids -- to the genus Homo." The importance of Ramapithecus as an early ancestor of hominids is evident in this comment by Simons in Time Magazine (Nov. 7, 1977):

" Ramapithecus is ideally structured to be an ancestor of hominids. If he isn't, we don't have anything else that is."10

Interesting statement . . . But, from what evidence were these conclusions drawn in the first place? Once again, a few teeth and a portion of maxilla. From these few fragments many drawings have been made of Ramapithecus walking upright? Go figure?

Of course, not everyone was so confident. That is why the almost exuberant confidence of Simons and his peers in the human ancestry of Ramapithecus is more than a bit surprising. For example, a study by Dr. Robert Eckhardt, which appeared in an earlier issue (1972) of Scientific American seemed to be quite problematic.11 What Eckhardt did was to take 24 different measurements from the teeth of two species of Dryopithecus (a fossil ape) and one species of Ramapithecus. He compared the range of variation of these measurements with that of similar measurements taken from a population of modern chimpanzees. What Eckhardt found was quite interesting indeed. He found that there is greater variation in the teeth among living chimps than there is between Dryopithecus and Ramapithecus. This is significant because Ramapithecus was judged to be an early hominid primarily on the basis of itsteeth. Eckhardt concluded: "There is no compelling evidence for the existence of any distinct hominid species during this interval (pliocene 14 myo), unless the designation hominid means simply any individual ape that happens to have small teeth and a corresponding small face."

Then, in 1976, renowned secular anthropologist Richard Leaky had this to say: "The case for Ramapithecus as a hominid is not substantial, and the fragments of fossil material leave many questions open." 9 Given what followed next, I'd say this is yet another huge understatement.

Despite this physical evidence, the apparently overwhelming desire to see the world in a certain way allowed most mainstream scientists to come up with all kinds of amazing things despite having so very little to work with. I mean really, they make CSI look like child's play! Despite the fact that only a few fragments of Ramapithecus were available, David Pilbeam, formerly at Yale and now at Harvard University, and Elwyn Simons, Duke University, both leading paleoanthropologists, strongly championed Ramapithecus as an early hominid, a creature in the direct line leading to the evolution of humans. (Simons E. L., Ann. N. Y. Acad. of Sci, 1969, 167:319; Simons E. L., Sci. Amer, 1964,. 211(1):50; Pilbeam D. R., Nature, 1968, 219:1335; Simons E. L. & Pilbeam D. R., Science, 1971, 173:23).

Then, in 1977, a little problem surfaced for Ramapithecus - a full jaw (mandible) was discovered. This jaw bone was U-shaped, not parabolically shaped.

Zilman and Lowenstein attempt to explain the reason for the earlier thinking of most of the world most prominent paleoanthropologists:

" Ramapithecus walking upright has been reconstructed from only jaws and teeth. In 1961 an ancestral human was badly wanted. The prince's ape latched onto position by his teeth and has been hanging on ever since, his legitimacy sanctified by millions of textbooks and Time-Life volumes on human evolution." 10

After the discovery of the full jawbone in 1977, David Pilbeam admirably recanted his earlier views commenting that, "A group of creatures once thought to be our oldest ancestors may have been firmly bumped out of the human family tree. Many paleontologists [including David Pilbeam] have maintained that Ramamorphs are our oldest known ancestors. These conclusions were drawn from little more than a few jawbones and some teeth. Truthfully, it appears to be nothing more than an orangutan ancestor."3

Isn't it interesting that Pilbeam was so convinced before the jawbone discovery that Ramapithecus was indeed an early human ancestor, despite the very limited material, when only after the jawbone discovery does he seem to recognize the limited nature of what he really did have to work with.

Currently, the general view of science is that Ramapithecus was nothing more than an ancestor of the modern orangutan or even of a third lineage which has no modern survivor.70 Note the following conclusion published in a 1981Science Digest article: "A reinterpretation of this jaw now suggests that Ramapithecus was an ancestor of neither modern humans or modern apes. Instead, Pilbeam himself thinks it represents a third lineage that has no living descendants."

What is interesting though is that even in relatively recent times Ramapithecus was widely considered an evolutionary link between apes and man. This opinion was strongly held and taught as unquestionable fact in public schools for many years, and is still being taught in some places based on what is now thought to be, not so many years later, very poor evidence. Such is the power of a prevailing paradigm to make one believe in just about any story that "fits" regardless of the quality of the evidence presented. (Back to Top)

Australopithecus africanus -- The word "Australopithecus" means "southern ape." This name is used because the first fossils were found in South Africa. Dr. Raymond Dart, professor of anatomy at Witwatersrand University in Johannesburg, was the first to study these fossils. In 1924 at Taung in South Africa, Dart discovered a fossil skull consisting of a full face, teeth and jaws, and an endocranial cast of the brain. The brain size was 410cc. Its age is currently felt to be around two to three million years old. Dart was convinced that some teeth were man-like and thus concluded a transition between apes and man. His opinions on the matter of this particular skull were largely scorned by the scientists of this time (1924) who considered it nothing more than a young chimpanzee (now considered to be about three years of age). The skull was soon known derisively as "Dart's baby." 10 Sir Solly Zuckerman, an expert on australopithecines, commented that, "There is indeed no question what the australopithecine skull resembles when placed side by side with specimens of humans and living ape skulls. It is the ape so much so that only detailed and close scrutiny can reveal any difference between modern ape and Australopithecus." 4 This opinion was generally held by scientists until the mid-1940's when similar skulls were found. Dart had made his discovery during the time that Piltdown Man was widely accepted as a human ancestor. With Piltdown Man's human cranium and apelike jaw, it was hard to reconcile it to the Taung Child. Then in the 1930's Peking Man became famous, again overshadowing Dart and his Taung Child. Although Dart gave up fossil hunting for some time, all was not lost.

Years after the discovery of the "Taungs child", as it is known today, Dart and Broom found other Australopithecines at Kromdraii, Swartkrans and Makapansgat. These finds of similar creatures seemed to vindicate Dart and Broom, and the scientific community again accepted their finds as they do today. These new fossil Australopithecines seemed to show two parallel lines of development, one being a small "gracile" (slender) type and the other a larger "robust" type. Much controversy has existed regarding these types and some investigators, including Richard Leakey, have concluded that they represent merely the male and female of the same species while others say the gracile form, which is believed to be older, evolved into the robust form. Today these animals are known as Australopithecus africanus and Australopithecus robustus respectively. The latter is clearly heavier, has more massive jaws, and a pronounced sagital crest. All these traits are typical of sexual dimorphism in male apes. What is also felt to be a more human trait is that foramen magnum (the opening in the skull above the attachment of the spinal column) in Australopithecines seems to be placed in an intermediate forward position between that of modern apes and man. Although not as far forward as in man, this more forward position is felt to indicate a more upright posture for the Australopithecines.

The australopithecines have often been found in association with other animals, such as baboons, and often show evidence of bashed-in skulls. Tools in the form of clubs, knives, and choppers have been found in association, as well as evidence of fire. It might be attractive to assume that the Australopithecines had been the hunters and butchers except that some of their skulls were broken in as well. Were they then the hunters or the hunted? An American journalist met up with Dart who convinced him that the Australopithecines were actually hunting one another. The journalist, Robert Ardrey wrote a book, African Genesis, which popularized the view of the "killer ape." This view was even used in the movie, "2001, A Space Odyssey." Although the view did reach a mild degree of popularity, it has since been widely discredited. 10 It does seem rather hard to imagine how such primitive creatures could actually make all those weapons and use fire as well. Not bad for a primitive man who is still not yet walking completely upright and has a head the size of a chimp (less than 500cc max).

Although modern scientists do generally accept that Australopithecines had a generally upright gait and human-like posture, this notion has not gone uncontested. Although evolutionists predictably discount Zuckerman's work, arguing that it is no longer accepted (further discussion of such arguments a few paragraphs below), one must still at least consider the fact that in the 1950s the famous British anatomist, Lord Solly Zuckerman, aggressively rejected the notion that Australopithecines are closely related to humans and completely discounted the notion that they walked upright like humans. Rather, Zuckerman suggested that they be classified as apes, not hominids (Evolution as a Process, 1954):

"There is, indeed, no question which the Australopithecine skull resembles when placed side by side with specimens of human and living ape skulls. It is the ape - so much so that only detailed and close scrutiny can reveal any differences between them".

As for the notion of "bipedal posture", Zuckerman said:

"In short, the evidence for an erect posture, as derived from a study of the inanimate bones, seems anything but certain."

A natomist Dr. Charles Oxnard of the University of Chicago, who's work modern evolutionists also reject (see below), claimed in a paper published in a 1975 edition of Nature that:

"Multivariate studies of several anatomical regions, shoulder, pelvis, ankle, foot, elbow, and hand are now available for the australopithecines.These suggest that the common view, that these fossils are similar to modern man, may be incorrect. Most of the fossil fragments are in fact uniquely different from both man and man's nearest living genetic relatives, the chimpanzee and gorilla (Nature 258:389).

Neither of these investigators, who have spent much of their professional careers studying the Australopithecines, believed that Australopithecines walked upright or that they were generally bipedal. Some have suggested that both Australopithecus africanus and robustus were simply an evolutionary dead end - not ancestral to man.

However, many evolutionists, such as those that frequent Talk.Origins, argue that, " Howell et al. (1978) criticized this conclusion [of Charles Oxnard] on a number of grounds. Oxnard's results were based on measurements of a few skeletal bones which were usually fragmentary and often poorly preserved. The measurements did not describe the complex shape of some bones, and did not distinguish between aspects which are important for understanding locomotion from those which were not. Finally, there is 'an overwhelming body of evidence', based on the work of nearly 30 scientists, which contradicts Oxnard's work. These studies used a variety of techniques, including those used by Oxnard, and were based on many different body parts and joint complexes. They overwhelmingly indicate that australopithecines resemble humans more closely than the living apes."

Perhaps the most significant problem with this argument (discussed in more detail below in the section on "Lucy") comes in the form of Fred Spoor's very interesting computed tomography scan (CT-scan) analysis (1990s) of the preserved inner ear canals of Australopithecus africanus and robustus.Inner ear canals are used to determine orientation in space. In other words, their orientation can be used determine the position of the head and posture. Spoor compared the canals of many living primates, to include humans, with many "hominid" fossils. As it turns out, the canals of Australopithecus africanus and robustus are most similar to the great apes - not modern humans. Spoor and his associates concluded that this finding was consistent with the idea that these creatures were at least partly arboreal and that they "did not walk habitually upright."

Of course, Spoor still believed them to be partly bipedal as well, but suggested that his findings proved that these "hominids" were not obligatory bipeds as humans are, but were instead part-time bipeds at best - certainly not nearly as accomplished at bipedalism as are humans. For example, they would have had a very hard time running on two legs - as is true for apes today. 44,65

Consider that this labyrinth evidence goes completely counter to several long-accepted assumptions based on much weaker morphologic characteristics. In fact, this evidence speaks directly counter to the position that H. habilis is a "missing link" - intermediate in the evolution of bipedalism between australopithecines and H. erectus - actually supporting the positions of Zuckerman and Oxnard. Spoor also found extreme differences in the labyrinthine morphology between SK 847 and Stw 53. These two specimens were both classified in the H. habilis species group. However, according to Spoor, SK 847 has a "modern-human-like labyrinth" while "Stw 53 relied less upon bipedal behavior than the australopithecines." 44,65

Talk about confusion! This CT-scan evidence is far more objective than the measurements done by Howell and his colleagues, and it throws their conclusions on their head where many of the previous notions of hominid evolutionary sequence and relationship are at best contradictory. These problems are so bad that perhaps we could write the Australopithecines off entirely as ancestral to modern man if were it not for the current love affair with an Australopithecine named "Lucy." (Back to Top)

Australopithecus afarensis "LUCY" -- In 1974, Donald Johanson discovered a half complete skeleton (Locality A.L. 288; Ethiopia's Awash Valley)that he named after the Beetle's song "Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds" (LSD). The specimen was only 1.1 meters tall, estimated to weigh 29 kilograms and look somewhat like a common chimpanzee. A year later, thirteen similar skeletons were found.

In his book "Lucy, The beginnings of Human Kind," Johanson said: "I had no problem with L ucy. She was so odd that there was no question about her not being human. She simply wasn't. She was too little. Her brain was way too small and her jaw was the wrong shape. Her teeth pointed away from the human condition and back in the direction of apes. The jaws had the same primitive features." (see jaw illustration below)

However, what set Lucy apart for Johanson was that it appeared that she had a tendency to walk in an upright position. A monkey that could do this would, for Johanson, clearly be some sort of transitional form between apes and man. The reason for this belief is because Lucy's knee region seemed to match a lone fossilized knee joint that he had found a year earlier in 1973 (locality numbered A.L. 128/129). The earlier knee was from a creature that appeared to walk in an upright fashion. Even though it was located about 2 km away and in a lower strata from that of Lucy, the match between it and the knee region of Lucy seemed to indicate that both individuals walked mostly upright. The logic for this assumption is based on the fact that humans, because of wider hips than knees, have an angle between the upper leg bone (or femur), and the lower leg bone (or tibia). This

angle of the bones causes an angle of about 9 degrees to form in the knee joint at the junctions of the bones. An ape that walks on all fours does not have this angle. Lucy and the australopithecines have an angle of about 15 degrees. Since this larger angle is somewhat similar

to the human condition, the obvious assumption is that Lucy spent a lot of time walking upright.21 There is just one more interesting fact though. Monkeys that climb trees (ie: orangutans and spider monkeys etc.) also have an angled knee joint like humans. It is the ground-dwellers that do not have the angle. So, what happens if Lucy tended to climb trees? Is there evidence that she did climb trees?

Dave Phillips (a paleoanthropologist) says that A. afarensis in general (Lucy's classification) has long upper limbs with an arm to leg length ratio of approximately 85%. The toe bones are also curved in an ape-like manner. This characteristic curve is not seen in human feet. This seems to indicate that A. afarensis did not habitually walk upright, but rather spent much of their time in trees. Also, studies of the other bones to include hands, skull (inner ears), and even the teeth indicate a fairly strong similarity to apes. 45

1. General anatomy of Lucy's shoulder blade was characterized as "virtually identical to that of a great ape and had a probability less than 0.001 of coming from the population represented by our modern human sample" (Susman et al, 1984, pp 120-121) 2. Lucy's shoulder blade has a shoulder joint which points upwards (Oxnard 1984, p334-i; Stern and Susman 1983, p284) This would allow "use of the upper limb in elevated positions as would be common during climbing behavior" (Stern and Susman, 1983, p284). 5 3. Afarensis wrist bones are apelike. "Thus we may conclude that A. afarensis possessed large and mechanically advantageous wrist flexors, as might be useful in an arboreal setting" (Stern and Susman, 1983, p282). 4. Afarensis metacarpals [the bones in the palm of the hand] "have large heads and bases relative to their parallel sided and somewhat curved shafts an overall pattern shared by chimpanzees". This "might be interpreted as evidence of developed grasping capabilities to be used in suspensory behavior" (Stern and Susman 1983, pp 282-3). 5. The finger bones are even more curved than in chimpanzees and are morphologically chimpanzee-like. (Stern and Susman 1983, pp 282-4; Susman et al 1984 p. 117; Marzke 1983, p 198). 6. Afarensis humerus (upper arm bone) has features that are "most likely related to some form of arboreal locomotion" (Oxnard 1984, p.334-1; see also Senut 1981, p.282). 7. One of the long bones in the forearm, the ulna, resembles that of the pygmy chimpanzee (Feldsman 1982b, p.187). 8. Vertebrae show points of attachment for shoulder and back muscles "massive relative to their size in modern humans" (Cook et al 1983, p.86) These would be very useful for arboreal activity (Oxnard 1984, p 334-i). 9. "Recently Schmid (1983) has reconstructed the A.L. 288-1 rib cage as being chimpanzee-like" Susman et al 1984, p 131). 10. Blades of hip oriented as in chimpanzee (Stern and Susman 1983, p.292.) Features of afarensis hip therefore "enableproficient climbing" (Stern and Susman 1983, p. 290). 11. In 1987, Dr. Charles Oxnard (University of Western Australia) analyzed certain australopithecines (such as Lucy is classed as). He concluded that they were not ancestral to humans, but are instead an extinct form of arboreal ape.6 Of course, this analysis was done before Lucy came on the scene and changed everything. Emphasis added to the above statements to highlight the tree-climbing characteristics of Australopithecines.

So, it seems like Lucy really did not need or wish to do a lot of walking around on the ground. It seems more likely that she spent much of her time in trees. Since the angle of her knee joint is a key factor in turning her into a "missing link" in human evolution, what happens to this argument when one finds out that such an angled knee joint is owned by tree dwelling chimps? It it not something new. Where is the evolution here?

Of course evolutionists are well aware of these "standard creationist arguments." A common rebuttal is to argue that the authors of many of the comments I just quoted above are themselves believers in Lucy's role as a "missing link" between chimps and humans. Consider the following comments by Stern and Susman:

"In our opinion A. afarensis is very close to what can be called a "missing link". It possesses a combination of traits entirely appropriate for an animal that had traveled well down the road toward full-time bipedality ..." "That bipedality was a more fundamental part of australopithecine behavior than in any other living or extinct nonhuman primate is not in serious dispute." "... we must emphasize that in no way do we dispute the claim that terrestrial bipedality was a far more significant component of the behavior of A. afarensis than in any living nonhuman primate." (Stern, Jr. and Susman 1983)

So, how can Stern and Susman believe that A. afarensis spent so much time running around on two legs after they just detailed many physical attributes of classic tree climbing behavior? Some of the reasons are as follows:

"The most significant features for bipedalism include shortened iliac blades, lumbar curve, knees approaching midline, distal articular surface of tibia nearly perpendicular to the shaft, robust metatarsal I with expanded head, convergent hallux (big toe), and proximal foot phalanges with dorsally oriented proximal articular surfaces. (McHenry 1994)

This is an example of interpreting the same characteristics in different ways. For example, the perpendicular tibia and angled knee joints that are "approaching midline" are seen in modern tree-climbing monkeys. The "robust" first metatarsal with an expanded head is also consistent with Stern and Susman's comment that the hand bones (and reasonable the foot bones as well), " have large heads and bases relative to their parallel sided and somewhat curved shafts, an overall pattern shared by chimpanzees." and that this, "might be interpreted as evidence of developed grasping capabilities to be used in suspensory behavior ." This might especially be true if the first digit was favored by Lucy to carry most of her body weight during suspension.

This is an example of picking morphological traits that agree with a favored hypothesis and forgetting about the ones that do not agree or even contradict the hypothesis of the day. For instance, fairly recent papers have been published that suggest that Lucy was in fact a "knuckle walker" like some apes living today.38 Of course knuckle walking is a distinctly quadruped specialization characteristic that is quite different from bipedalism. The authors of this paper, Richmond and Strait, identified four skeletal features of the distal radius of living knuckle-walking apes, chimps and gorillas. What is interesting is that they found similar morphologic features on Lucy as well as on another australopithecine.

"A UPGMA clustering diagram illustrates the similarity between the radii of A. anamensis and A. afarensis and those of the knuckle-walking African apes, indicating that these hominids retain the derived wrist morphology of knuckle-walkers." 38

In an interview, Richmond stated that after they analyzed the wrist characteristics of living knuckle-walkers, he and Strait walked across the hall to check plaster casts at the National Museum of Natural History: "I walked over to the cabinet, pulled out Lucy, and shazam! she had the morphology that was classic for knuckle walkers ." 39 Of course Richmond and Strait still believe that Lucy walked upright despite these knuckle-walking features. They believe that these features are simply evolutionary remnants of past ancestor knuckle walkers but that Lucy herself was bipedal. Some suggest as evidence for this assumption that Lucy lacks certain knuckle-walking features. 39 Of course, there are modern knuckle-walkers that are also known to lack one specific feature or another, but they are still knuckle walkers. 38

It seems now that Lucy was quite an amazing creature. She not only had features of tree-climbing behavior and bipedalism, but now it seems like she has features of knuckle-walkers as well. So, which of these characteristics are the result of lifestyle and which ones are evolutionary carryovers?

Lucy becomes even more problematic when one considers her classic placement in evolutionary phylogeny. Lucy is thought to be an ancestor or early form ofA. africanus because of Lucy's more chimpanzee-like skull. The problem is that the foot bones and lower leg of an A. africanus specimen have been recently found. These foot and leg bones happen to be a lot more apelike than the hypothesized foot of Lucy. 40 Also, A. africanus does not have the knuckle-walking morphology that Lucy has. So, depending on what part of the body one concentrates on, one might be able to find evidence for just about any theory of locomotion that one wishes to find. Collard and Aiello, in an article for Nature, commented on this confusing phylogenic mess by saying:

"The work by Richmond and Strait further complicates the picture: it suggests that A. afarensis retained some knuckle-walking features, whereas A. africanus did not. It is no longer a case of the skull pointing to one set of phylogenetic relationships, and the postcranial skeleton (everything but the skull) to another. Rather, different parts of the postcranium may not support the same phylogenetic hypothesis." 40

The anatomy of the semicircular canals of australopithecines is also interesting. The semicircular canals are three small, loop-shaped structures in the inner ear, arranged roughly at right angles to each other. These structures are responsible for giving us our sense of balance by allowing us to orient ourselves with respect to a gravitational field. In the early 1990s, a scientist by the name of Fred Spoor decided to study these canals. He compared the canals of many living primates, to include humans, with some "hominid" fossils. He used a computerized tomography scanner (CT-scanner) to do this. His results were very interesting. The canals of Australopithecus africanus and robustus were most similar to the great apes. Spoor and his associates concluded that this finding was consistent with the idea that these creatures were at least partly arboreal and that they "did not walk habitually upright," but Spoor still believed them to be partly bipedal as well. Spoor believed that his findings proved that these "hominids" were not obligatory bipeds as humans are, but were instead part-time bipeds, and not as accomplished at bipedalism as humans are.44,65 Consider Spoors following comments published in a 1994 issue of the journal Nature:

". . . A. africanus showed a locomotor repertoire comprising facultative bipedalism as well as arboreal climbing. The labyrinthine evidence is consistent with proposals that bipedalism in australopithecines was characterized by a substantial postural component [non-bipedal], and by the absence of more complex movements such as running and jumping. . . . the similarity with the canal proportions in large cercopithecoids suggests that Stw 53 [Homo habilis - discussed below] relied less on bipedal behaviour than the australopithecines. Interestingly, similar observations were reached from an analysis of the postcranial bones of OH 62, a specimen that has been assigned to the same species as Stw 53 on the basis of similarities of their maxillary and dental morphology. Phylogenetically, the unique labyrinth of Stw 53 represents an unlikely intermediate between the morphologies seen in the australopithecines and H. erectus. . . The specimen SK 847 has both been associated with H. erectus and H. habilis, in particular with Stw 53. The modern-human-like labyrinth of SK 847 is consistent with the attribution to H. erectus, and the extreme differences in labyrinthine morphology between SK 847 and Stw 53 make attribution of both specimens to the same species, on this evidence alone, highly unlikely. The specimen Sts 19 is part of the conventional A. africanus hypodigm, but has also been considered as a basicranium of early Homo. As the labyrinth of Sts 19 is very similar to that in the other three A. africanus specimens, and major aspects of its overall morphology, such as petrous pyramid orientation and basicranial flexion, can easily be accommodated in normal species variation . . ." 65

Note how this labyrinth evidence goes completely counter to several long accepted assumptions based on much weaker morphologic characteristics. In fact, this evidence speaks directly counter to the position that H. habilis is a "missing link" intermediate in the evolution of bipedalism between australopithecines and H. erectus. Note also the extreme differences in the labyrinthine morphology between SK 847 and Stw 53. These two specimens were both classified in the H. habilis species group. However, according to Spoor, SK 847 has a "modern-human-like labyrinth" while "Stw 53 relied less upon bipedal behaviour than the australopithecines." Also, how can Sts 19 have been considered as a "basicranium of early Homo" with a labyrinth "very similar to the other three A. africanus specimens"? I mean really, an early Homo would most certainly have had well developed bipedalism - right? How then can a specimen classified as "early Homo" have an inner ear labyrinth that is not distinguishable from creatures that did not have well developed bipedalism at all? I ask you, how objectively accurate a "science" can these classification systems be if they can be this far off so many times?

Consider also that perfectly formed human footprints have been found in solidified volcanic ash dating at around "3.6 million years" (See discussion on Ancient Footprints below). These footprints show no evidence of the curved tree-climbing bones of Lucy or of the ape-like toes of A. africanus. The footprints have a well shaped modern heel, strong arches, and a good ball at the base of the great toe. The great toe itself is in a straight line. It does not stick out to the side like an ape toe does. These footprints are in all respects indistinguishable from the footprints of modern humans,23 and yet Johanson claims that Lucy-like creatures ( A. afarensis) made these footprints since they are found in ash dated to be about as old or older than Lucy. But where is the evidence for Johanson's claims? The available evidence suggest that A. afarensis could not have made these footprints owning to the fact that they have curved toes. Despite this fact, Johanson continues to be a strong believer that A. afarensis made these footprints anyway. I ask, is this science... or wishful thinking?

It seems like the more is learned about Australopithecus, the more apelike and less like a "missing link" they appear. In fact, as recently as April of 2007, Rak et. al. found a portion of a jawbone of A. afarensis that matched the general appearance of gorillas (and Australopithecus robustus ) - a feature not shared by modern humans, chimpanzees, orangutans, and other primates. Rak argues that, "The presence of the morphology in both [ A. robustus ] and A. afarensis and its absence in modern humans casts doubt on the role of A. afarensis as a modern human ancestor." 75

Of course, only a very few stop to consider the possibility that perhaps there is no evolutionary relationship between humans and apes at all. Perhaps certain of these unique "traits" were designed specifically for particular creatures with particular needs? Perhaps humans did not evolve from apes after all? In any case, it seems like the evidence is far from being conclusively in favor of any particular evolutionary relationship. The unknowns are too great and too much subjective interpretation is required to draw any definite evolutionary conclusions from the fragmented and pieced together bones of Lucy and her cousins. One starts to wonder what evidence it would take to cause the smallest shadow of doubt to creep across the minds of some of these paleontologists as to the veracity of their beliefs?

One other interesting statement by Johanson concerns how he feels at least some of the individuals met their end: "The rapid burial of bones at Hadar, particularly those of the 'First Family,' are related to a geological catastrophe suggesting, perhaps, a flash flood. Bones are fragmented and scattered because individuals fell into a river, or were washed into a river, rapidly transported, broken up, and scattered. These are all products of a depositional process." (The 333, or the 'First Family' locality, as it is sometimes called, at Hadar, is situated stratigraphically between the Lucy site and the 1973 knee joint site.) 21

(Back to Top)

Homohabilis -- Homo habilis was discovered in 1959 by Mary Leakey and dated at about 1.8 million years old. What she found were some badly fragmented pieces of skull. Her husband, Louis Leakey, was not impressed at first. He commented that it was nothing more than a "damned Australopithecine". However, he quickly changed his mind when what appeared to be stone tools were found near the site of Homo habilis. The bones of many of these animals revealed that they had been butchered and deliberately broken for their marrow. Leakey decided, on the basis of this evidence, that his fossil had been a toolmaker and butcher and thus called him Homo habilis or "handy man." Most other investigators, however, were not comfortable with such an extremely primitive beast being a toolmaker. Like Australopithecus robustus, Leakey's "Homo habilis" had huge and very unhuman molars, a very small brain, and a large bony sagital crest on the top of its skull. Later, Leaky thought better of the whole idea of his "Homo habilis" as a tool maker and demoted him to the classification of Zinjanthropus boisei, which means East African man.

The skull of Zinj is especially robust, sometimes called, "hyper-robust". Notice, in the reconstruction of Zinj, the very wide zygomatic arches, which project forward in front of the nasal opening to form a dish-shaped face (like many apes today). These outward flaring arches provided space for huge temporalis muscles that are used for chewing. In other words, Zinj had a very powerful bite. Zinj's teeth are also massive, sometimes more than 4-times the size of modern human teeth. (Note that the mandible portion of the jaw in the reconstruction was not originally found with Zinj, but is based on subsequent finds of similar individuals).

Although Mary Leaky found Zinjanthropus, or "Zinj", it made Louis Leakey famous as a result of the publicity he received from the National Geographic Society through its magazine and educational films. The National Geographic Society financed Leakey's work and largely, through their publicity of Leakey and Zinj, paleoanthropology once again became both popular and "respectable" after a long period of disrepute following the Piltdown hoax. Today, Zinjanthropus is considered by everyone to be just another robust Australopithecine - just as Lewis Leaky originally said it was.1 0

Australopithecines are considered by many to be hominids because they are believed to have been bipedal and thus walked upright. Until the 70s, the upright and bipedal posture was based on the position of the foramen magnum in the skull and very fragmentary finds of pelvis, limb and foot bones. Then, Richard Leakey found several more nearly complete remains that threw considerable doubt on the idea of an upright posture. In Science News Leakey concluded that, "The Australopithecines were long-armed short-legged knuckle-walkers, similar to existing African apes." 12

These setbacks did not stop Leakey. In 1964, he found four more specimens in Olduvai Gorge. These, he claimed, had bigger brains than Australopithecus and surely deserved to be classified as Homo habilis. Measurements of the cranial capacities were difficult since the skulls were so badly crushed. Nonetheless, it was concluded that they averaged 642cc, or 200cc larger than Australopithecus and he considered that enough to make them "Homo." Several such finds are discussed blow.

OH 7 is a collection of 23 fragments of bone to include a jawbone and teeth thought to be from a male hominid who lived some 1.75 million years old. These fragments were also found at Olduvai gorge in Tanzania. The problem, like many of the rest of the other fragmentary evidence, is that there really isn't much to interpret here. And, what there is, looks much more like the ape condition than it does the human condition. Consider that the shape of the jawbone is the ape-like U-shape - not the parabolic human shape.

OH 24 is a pieced together skull of a "female" hominid thought to have lived some 1.8 million years ago. She was given the nickname "Twiggy", after the famous flat-chested British model, because of the compressed and flatted condition of the skull when it was first discovered with its fragments cemented together in limestone. When the hundreds of fragments were pieced together, the size of the brain case was quite large at just under 600cc. Since modern human brains can be this small, the finding of Twiggy, with such a large brain, was thought to be a very good missing link, and gave support to the rather weak classification of OH 7 as "Homo". Also note that more than 100 fragments of skull were not used in the final reconstruction of Twiggy.

KNM-ER 1813 is said to be an adult cranium from an individual who lived some 1.9 million years ago. Some have classified it as Homo habilis, but this classification is controversial. Donal Johanson said, ". . . we have opted to include KNM-ER 1813 in Homo habilis, following the classification of Bernard Wood. Richard Leakey . . . has recently avoided putting a taxonomic label on 1813 other than to say that it should not be called Homo habilis . . . ". 71 The skull capacity is a bit small than that purported for OH 24 (510cc for KNM-ER 1813 vs. just under 600cc for OH 24).

OH 62 has been interpreted as a partial adult skeleton from a hominid who lived about 1.8 million years ago. The initial find was a fragment of proximal right ulna (arm bone). After this, the search for additional parts of this skeleton was on - and quite successful. Over 18,000 fragments of bone and teeth were found over an area of about 40 square meters. Most were classified as non-hominid remains, but 302 fragments were "identified" as belonging to OH 62. I'd say that's quite impressive detective work!

The problem was that even with the 302 fragments available, they were too fragmented to build a cranial vault or skull with any "accuracy". However, portions of the right arm, including most of the humerous and parts of the ulna and radius, as well as portions of the left femur and most of the maxilla (32 original fragments) were reconstructed. From this reconstruction it is estimated that the adult OH 62 stood just one meter is stature - very short for a hominid ancestor. On top of this, OH 62 has very long arms compared to its legs, similar to the ape ratio today. The humerous-femur ratio of OH 62 is 95%, while in apes it is 100% and in modern humans it is 70%.

Such apelike proportions for Homo habilis were quite unanticipated - a bit of a shock actually. If H. habilis was to be considered an ancestor to H. ergaster/erectus by 1.6 million years before present, then not only would body size have to increase rather considerably, but the relationship between upper and lower limbs would also have to change quite dramatically. Would a mere 200,000 years be enough time for such changes to be realized? I mean really, from the evolutionist perspective, 200,000 years just isn't that much time. Even if such changes were possible, such differences between H. habilis and modern humans make it quite difficult to use H. habilis as any sort of convincing "missing link". In fact, the finding of OH 62 has only added to the confusion over how to interpret the very fragmented remains of these "early hominids".

So, obviously, n ot everyone was as enthusiastic as Leakey was about his new "handymen." For a time, Homo habilis was considered an empty taxon that was inadequately proposed.10 Then, in 1972, very interesting skull fragments were unearthed by Leakey's field hand, Bernardo Ngeneo. This discovery was to shake up the world of paleoanthropology. Richard Leakey and his team had found the toolmaker his father, Louis Leakey, had long sought in vain. The fossilized bone fragments of this skull were found near Lake Turkana, Kenya. Leakey's wife, Meave (a palaeontologist), assembled the fragments to make a nearly complete skull minus the lower jaw (a human-like femur was also found a few kilometers away, but associated with the skull since they were both found within the same sedimentary layer).66,67 The skull was named KNM-ER 1470 for its registration at the Kenya National Museum in East Rudolf.

The skull capacity was difficult to measure because of the condition of the assemblage, but was estimated to be around 800cc (later lowered to 750cc). This large cranial capacity was much larger than so-called ape-men skulls. Also, KNM-ER 1470 had only small eyebrow ridges, no crest, and a domed skull. These traits were thought to be more typical of the human condition. Indeed, it appeared to have at least four major human-like traits to include:

Large endocranial volume (~800cc)

A high forehead with a dome-shaped cranial vault relative to the fairly flat and low forehead of australopithecines and modern apes

Lack of prominent brow ridges

A "flat" face lacking the usual "protruding prognathous" of australopithecines

As an extra - Associated femur and leg bones very similar to that of modern humans (found a few kilometers away in the same layer)

The problem here, of course, is that the original reconstruction started to be doubted, even by evolutionists, because it did not seem to fit with prevailing beliefs about human origins. Such a modern looking skull, as the original reconstruction of KNM-ER 1470 came out, was being dated at an older age than many other much older looking australopithecines. This just ran at odds with the prevailing paradigm. So, interestingly enough, KNM-ER 1470 began to evolve! In the period between 1977 and 1995 various reconstructions started to emphasize the ape-like characteristics of KNM-ER 1470 more and more and de-emphasize the human characteristics. If you really want to see subjective manipulation at work, consider the following illustrated evolution of the profile of KNM-ER 1470 over the years.61

Notice how the reconstruction of this fossil skull evolved based on subjective interpretations of where this fossil should fit in the evolutionary tree. Also note that Richard Leakey himself revised his original reconstruction by 1995. As it turns out, the 1992 reconstruction by Tim Bromage, an expert in hominid bone development, is probably the most objective reconstruction of all. Before beginning his study of 1470, Bromage expected to find that 1470 was probably going to be similar to Dart's famous "Taung child". But to his surprise, he found that the deposition and resorption patterns of bone growth of the 1470 skull were typical of monkeys and apes. Bromage explained that when 1470 was first reconstructed that its face was fitted to the cranium almost vertically - giving it a more human-like appearance. Yet, Bromage's studies demonstrated that the face really jutted out considerably, much like australopithecines.61,63 In the 1992 issue of New Scientist, Bromage noted the following about KNM-ER 1470:

"When it [KNM-ER 1470] was first reconstructed, the face was fitted to the cranium in an almost vertical position, much like the flat faces of modern humans. But recent studies of anatomical relationships show that in life the face must have jutted out considerably, creating an ape-like aspect, rather like the faces of Australopithecus." 63

Of course, Bromage does not totally reject Skull 1470 as possibly belonging to the genus Homo, but this opinion seems to be mostly based on the larger size of the skull in comparison with other australopithecines. Yet, it is also possible that the latest estimates of 752 cm 3 may still be too large for Skull 1470 - given the view of its more enhanced "ape-like" skull morphology and its long forward-jutting jaws and non-existent forehead. Considering the subjective nature of interpreting this skull and its changing reconstructions over time, it seems less than solid to hold it up as any sort of definite "missing link" between apes and humans - especially given the rather marked similarities of KNM-ER 1470 with the Turkana Boy skull, which was found in the very same region (see below)

In any case, it is interesting to see how scientists interpreted and reinterpreted this skull over the past 30 years. For example, Professor A. Cave, who first suggested that Neanderthal Man was completely human, examined 1470 in London and concluded, "As far as I can see, typically human." In addition, Leakey found two complete femurs, a part of a third femur, and parts of a tibia and fibula near the skull, which he said, "cannot be readily distinguished from Homo sapiens."10 However, as previously discussed, the problem for 1470 being interpreted as completely human, even at with its original construction, was its relatively small brain size of only 750cc - which is too small for humans and yet very large for an ape. Modern humans average about 1350cc. Some scientists suggested early on that 1470 might have been a human child. But, it was argued that although the cranium was small, that the face is relatively large and developed and therefore unlikely that of a child. Some others argued that it may have been a pygmy human since the lowest known cranial capacity for a non-pathologic human is 790cc7 and that pygmies also have other similar facial features such as jutting teeth and face and a relatively small chin. 18

The Dating Game

Then, of course, the biggest problem was the fact that 1470 did not fit the dating scheme of the day. The skull itself was found under a layer of volcanic ash. Since volcanic material can be dated using potassium-argon and other radiometric dating techniques, it was reasonably thought that the skull itself should be as old or older than this ash. Richard Leakey had assumed an age of approximately 2.9 million years (Ma) for KNM-ER 1470. If supported by radiometric analysis, this age would make him the discover of the oldest hominid fossil found up to that time. Certainly this would be quite a feather in his cap. However, in 1969 (a few years before KNM-ER 1470 was actually found in 1972) samples of ash from the overlying KBS tuff had been sent sent to Cambridge University for potassium-argon dating. Three different tests returned an age of about 220 Ma, (Fitch & Miller 1970, Nature 226:226-8) 13,62 which would certainly make this hominid discovery very old indeed! Of course, this was impossible and thus obviously wrong given the presence of Australopithecine hominids and other mammalian fossils beneath the tuff . So, these errors were blamed on inappropriate sampling or extraneous argon age discrepancy. It was also noted that the dating of the tuff was complicated because the tuff was a water-transported mixture.

Eventually, however, the tuff was "securely dated" to around 2.6 million years by other "independent methods" to include the following:

Vertebrate faunas -- Elephant, Suid (pig), Australopithecus, and tools (Maglio, 1972; Nature 239:379-85, Leaky, 1967-69, etc.)

Potassium-Argon dating -- selected crystals (K-Ar and Ar40-Ar39) (Fitch & Miller '70, Nature 226:226-8 and see 251:214)

Paleomagnetism -- polarity data, based on 247 samples below KBS tuff (Brock & Isaac, 1974, Nature 247:344-48)

Fission Track Dating -- involving uranium, noting possible reanealing (Hurford, 1974, Nature 249:236; '76, 263:738)



Other anthropologists, notably Johanson's team at Berkeley, couldn't accept any claim of such modern hominids in strata dated almost 3 million years old. They tried to re-date the KBS tuff. It was a complex problem because the tuff is a slurry of volcanic debris. But they did find and publish a date that was suitable to them: 1.8 million years, based on:



Hominid Fossils -- Skull 1470 and other similar skulls below KBS tuff

Potassium-Argon (K-Ar) -- on pumice from the KBS tuff and Ar-Ar -- on selected feldspar crystals (Ar40-Ar39) (Curtis et al,1975, Nature 258:395 (& see 284:229,230 & 294:123)



Then in the late 1970's, a remarkable thing happened. One by one (with much heated controversy apparent in the papers) the other "independent methods" re-evaluated their work in light of the new radiometric date, and confirmed the new age:



Paleomagnetism -- pinpointing a different polarity reversal, in light of the change in the K-Ar date (Hillhouse et al, 1977, Nature 265:411)

Vertebrate Faunas -- three suid (pig) species (based on teeth) suggesting possible phylogenetic branching and its timing in relationship to the new radiometric date (Cooke, 1978; Science 201:460-63 (&198:13-21)

Fission Track Dating -- (U-238 in zircon) emphasizing re-annealing, in light of the change in the accepted K-Ar date (Gleadow, 1980, Nature 284:229-230)



By 1980 there was a new "remarkably concordant" well-accepted radiometric date.



Many more dates than those mentioned here were obtained by radiometric methods, but the choice of which one to accept was made on the basis of the fossils, because the acceptable range of dates for each fossil form was known (by evolutionary theory). At each change, the authors may well have sincerely felt that they were separating truth from error, but how did they know whether a newly calculated date (1.8 or 2.6 or 200 million) was right or wrong? - outside of knowing, ahead of time, the general range of dates that would be at least 'reasonable'?

You see, if the deposit had Australopithecines in it, it obviously could not be 200 million years old, but 2.6 million was close enough to what was expected to be considered "correct". However, when it was found that the layer contained even more modern looking hominid skulls, even the 2.6 Ma estimate could not be correct either. That is why this date was subsequently revised to 1.8 Ma.

So, it was the fossils that gave the constraints for the dates -- or, rather, the accepted evolutionary age of the fossils was the criterion that gave the constraints for the acceptable geologic age of the strata. When the known fossil data changed (along with their corresponding acceptable ages), the acceptable age for the age of the geologic strata also changed accordingly.

This is a clear case where the assumed ages of the fossils (ages based on evolutionary assumptions) strongly influence the accepted ages of the geologic strata that contain the fossils. Doesn't this seem just a little bit circular?

Is this an isolated case? Not at all. In studies where a range of dates is obtained, the ones in the right ball park are presented, giving the limits of what is assumed to be the correct age, and the anomalous ones (if mentioned at all) are explained in terms of mixing of sediments, extra Argon retention, leaching, and other very plausible processes. The explanations for anomalously old or anomalously young ages may be quite accurate. On the other hand, these arguments may just as reasonably apply to the accepted ages as well. If no acceptable age is found, the results may not be published at all.

My point is that the accepted ("non-anomalous") age is the age within the timeframe set by evolutionary theory. So it is evolutionary theory that dictates which radiometric and other dating results will be acceptable to publish as the age for a fossil.

To go into a bit more detail, consider further the argument that the KBS Tuff is an example of the redepositio n of volcanic ash. Therefore, the old dates returned by the Cambridge laboratory on three different occasions were thought to be the result of analysis of old sediment that had been mixed in with the new and deposited atop the relatively young fragments of KNM-ER 1470. Because of this argument, it was recommended that new samples be collected from which suitable individual crystals could be separated. These new samples were dated at 2.61 +/- 0.26 Ma, based on the 40Ar/39Ar ("Argon-Argon") dating method (thought to be more accurate than the origina lPotassium - Argon d ating technique).13 However, over the following decade, the rocks surrounding 1470 were dated many times using various methods - to include the 40Ar/39Ar method . The different tests gave widely varying results. For example, two specimens from the same layer were analyzed by the same people (Fitch and Miller) using the same technique during the same analysis. One specimen was dated at 0.52 to 2.64 Ma. The other was dated at 8.43 to 17.5 Ma. 24, 62 Fitch and Miller attributed the spread to reheating of the crystals after deposition (reheating is no longer thought to have occurred). Paleomagnetic studies also gave ambiguous results. Many many tests were done, and the "best" or "most acceptable date" was placed at about 2.61 Ma.13, 62, 72

This, of course, did not impress Richard Leakey. I n June of 1973, in an interview with National Geographic, he said,

"Either we toss out the 1470 skull or we toss out all our theories of early man. It simply fits no previous models of human beginnings. 1470 leaves in ruin the notion that all early fossils can be arranged in an orderly sequence of evolutionary changes."

What was the problem? The problem, given the age of 2.61 Ma, made 1470 contemporaneous with Australopithecus, if not older, and yet 1470 was assembled by Leakey's wife to looked quite similar to modern man. Given such a reconstruction,this human-like appearance absolutely unseated Australopithecus as an ancestor of modern man.

In later lectures, Richard Leakey rarely made reference to 1470. However, in a PBS documentary in 1990 he stated,

"If pressed about man's ancestry, I would have to unequivocally say that all we have is a huge question mark. To date, there has been nothing found to truthfully purport as a transitional specie to man, including Lucy, since 1470 was as old and probably older. If further pressed, I would have to state that there is more evidence to suggest an abrupt arrival of man rather than a gradual process of evolving." 10

Now that is a very startling statement coming from a man who has devoted his whole life to finding the evolutionary remnants along the pathway towards modern humans.

The human-like appearance of 1470 coupled with its age of 2.6 Ma was also a very big problem for Johanson who considered his A. afarensis (Lucy) to be an important evolutionary link between apes and man. With a more human appearing 1470 around that was either a contemporary of A. afarensis, or even slightly older (an age range for Lucy of 2.5 to 3.7 Ma), his fossil was unlikely to be directly ancestral to man. So, Johanson wished to have 1470 "re-dated" - obviously! Why didn't anyone else think of it?

Lucy herself had been dated by several radiometric methods whose published results varied from 2.5 to 3.7 Ma. The age of 2.9 Ma had been chosen as the most probable age. So, Johanson asked for the help of Basil Cooke, who had assembled a detailed two million year sequence of fossil pig lineages which he says was consistent over a wide geographical area. This data was based on what was assumed to be a constant but rapid rate of evolution in length of the third molar of certain pig fossils found in southern Ethiopia. These "index pigs" were used to re-date Leakey's 1470 at less than 2 Ma (~1.8 Ma), which placed it on the desired human side of Lucy. Then, Johanson decided to date Lucy again in an effort to see if he could make her a little older. In his book "Lucy, The Beginnings of Human Kind" Johanson said, "That meant turning to Basil Cooke and his pig sequences. These had already straightened out a dating puzzle at Lake Turkana and shoved Richard Leakey's 1470 H. habilis skull forward from 2.6 Ma to less than 2.0 Ma. Perhaps they could do it for Lucy too. But, in this case, they would be stretching her age not shrinking." Needless to say, Cooke came through as expected and said that his pig sequence showed that, "an age of 3.0 - 3.4 Ma would give a better fit than the previous 2.9 Ma age for Lucy."10

To make matters even more confusing, Garnis Curtis, at Berkeley, has used potassium-argon dating on the KBS tuff and came up with younger dates yet. His first series of tests showed it to be 1.8 myo and his second series of tests showed it to be 1.6 Ma. Note that initial fission track studies of zircons from the KBS tuff indicated an age of 2.44 +/- 0.08 Ma (Hurford et al. 1976). Compare this with subsequent fission track studies of zircons in the same tuff returning dates of 1.87 +/- 0.04 Ma (Gleadow 1980). Another expert, Ian McDougall, was also called in to do independent dating. Knowing about the controversy and what the desired date should be ahead of time, it is not at all surprising that McDougall came up with an age of 1.89 +/- 0.01 Ma using K-Ar dating and 1.88 +/- 0.02 Ma using40Ar/39Ar dating (McDougall et al. 1980; McDougall 1981, 1985).72 It just doesn't seem like blinded studies are very popular when it comes to geochronology. It's almost like geologists and anthropologists have never heard of blinded studies.

Dalrymple and Lanphere sum up what might be considered just a bit circular in the following statement: "If the potassium-argon ages of a group of rocks agree with the stratigraphic sequence, determined on the basis of physical relationships of fossil evidence, then the probability is good that radiometric ages are reliable..."14

Ancient Bones with Modern Bones?

Now, we must not forget about the human-like femur that was associated with KNM-ER 1470, even though located several kilometers away from the skull fragments. Although this femur and leg bones "did not differ from those of modern humans in any feature related to movement or posture", they were associated with 1470 simply because they were found in the same layer.66,67 Obviously it is impossible to have modern humans living with H. habilis creatures since modern humans had not evolved yet - right? And yet we know now, through the discovery of more reliable indicators of general posture, that many creatures designated as H. habilis, to include KNM-ER 1470, were not even close to the modern-human bipedal posture. So, what is a modern-human-looking femur and leg bone fragments doing in the same layer as a creature that we know did not habitually walk in an upright manner?

Remember the work of Dr. Spoor on the inner ear labyrinths of H. habilis specimens and his conclusion (based on the angle of these labyrinths as compared with modern humans, H. erectus, Australopithecus, and many other hominids) that H. habilis "relied less on bipedal behavior than the australopithecines"? Other specimens, such as SK 847, have been grossly misclassified, based on weaker morphologic evidence, as somewhere between H. erectus and H. habilis when there is an "extreme difference" between the "modern-human-like labyrinth of SK 847 and the australopithecine labyrinth of Stw 53" (i.e., H. habilis).65 I wonder what the inner ear canals of KNM-ER 1470 would look like?

How bad do such morphologic interpretations have to get before we start to suspect that the storytelling of anthropologists about the supposed evolution of humans from ape-like creatures is not worth the paper that it is written down on? Isn't it all starting to sound like a lot of fanciful storytelling?

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ASubjective Mess

Obviously this whole issue of the placement of KNM-ER 1470 in the evolutionary sequence of hominids has turned out to be quite a subjective mess for anthropologists. In fact recently Bernard Wood and Mark Collard published some rather revealing if not humorous conclusions in the April, 1999 issue of Science where they actually suggest that the "Homo" genus is "not a good genus" as it currently stands and that some of the oldest and most significant fossils assigned to Homo, to include bothH. habilis and H. rudolfensis, should be "transferred to the genus Australopithecus" :

"More recently, fossil species have been assigned to Homo on the basis of absolute brain size, inferences about language ability and hand function, and retrodictions about their ability to fashion stone tools. With only a few exceptions, the definition and use of the genus within human evolution, and the demarcation of Homo, have been treated as if they are unproblematic. But ... recent data, fresh interpretations of the existing evidence, and the limitations of the paleoanthropological record invalidate existing criteria for attributing taxa to Homo....in practice fossil hominin species are assigned to Homo on the basis of one or more out of four criteria. ... It is now evident, however, that none of these criteria is satisfactory. The Cerebral Rubicon is problematic because absolute cranial capacity is of questionable biological significance. Likewise, there is compelling evidence that language function cannot be reliably inferred from the gross appearance of the brain, and that the language-related parts of the brain are not as well localized as earlier studies had implied... In other words, with the hypodigms of H. habilis and H. rudolfensis assigned to it, the genus Homo is not a good genus. Thus, H. habilis and H. rudolfensis (or Homo habilis sensu lato for those who do not subscribe to the taxonomic subdivision of "early Homo") should be removed from Homo. The obvious taxonomic alternative, which is to transfer one or both of the taxa to one of the existing early hominin genera, is not without problems, but we recommend that, for the time being, both H. habilis and H. rudolfensis should be transferred to the genus Australopithecus."64

Even more recently, as of August 2007, the journal Nature published the latest discoveries of Meave Leakey and her team, to include Frederick Kyalo Manthi. In short, they found the complete skull of Homo erectus within walking distance of an upper jaw of Homo habilis (in 2000), with both dating from the same general time period. According to their own report, they concluded that this finding makes it "unlikely that Homo erectus evolved from Homo habilis."74

Co-author Fred Spoor, professor of evolutionary anatomy at the University College in London commented:

"The two species lived near each other, but probably didn't interact, each having its own "ecological niche," Homo habilis was likely more vegetarian while Homo erectus ate some meat, he said. Like chimps and apes, "they'd just avoid each other, they don't feel comfortable in each other's company. There remains some still-undiscovered common ancestor that probably lived 2 million to 3 million years ago, a time that has not left much fossil record. Overall what it paints for human evolution is a chaotic kind of looking evolutionary tree rather than this heroic march that you see with the cartoons of an early ancestor evolving into some intermediate and eventually unto us." 74

Bill Kimbel, science director of the Institute of Human Origins at Arizona State University, notes:

"The more we know, the more complex the story gets. Scientists used to think Homo sapiens evolved from Neanderthals, he said. But now we know that both species lived during the same time period and that we did not come from Neanderthals. Now a similar discovery applies further back in time." 74

Another co-author, Susan Anton, a New York University anthropologist, she expects anti-evolution proponents to seize on the new research, but said it would be a mistake to try to use the new work to show flaws in evolution theory.

"This is not questioning the idea at all of evolution; it is refining some of the specific points," Anton said. "This is a great example of what science does and religion doesn't do. It's a continuous self-testing process." 74

And there you have it. The Theory of Evolution is a self-testing process as long as it never crosses one's mind to question or subject the basic theory itself to testing and potential falsification. Despite their claims to the contrary, evolutionary scientists, like people in general, are quite biased, even dogmatic and religiously fundamental, in their thinking. Question and challenge anything and everything except the one holy untouchable doctrine - The Doctrine of Darwinian-style Evolution itself. If the puzzle pieces don't fit, change, warp, and twist the theory until they do. It doesn't seem to matter what kind of evidence presents itself, evolutionists have an uncanny ability to continually modify their theory to meet the new data.

The Theory of Evolution is a truly wonderful theory - a theory that is so fluid that it can explain any and all data, not matter how contrary to previous notions of reality. Oh no, creationists and intelligent design theorists have nothing on evolutionists when it comes to subjective manipulation of a pet theory to fit whatever comes along.

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Turkana Boy -- In July 1984, a nearly complete fossilized skeleton, of an obviously human 12-year-old boy (some say as young as 9 years old), was discovered at Lake Turkana in Kenya. It is the most complete skeleton to date to be included as a Homo erectus. The boy stood 160cm (5' 3'') tall and had a brain capacity of 880cc. It is estimated that in adulthood, the boy would grow to be 185cm (6' 1'') tall and have a brain capacity of 910cc. The skeleton of this child is like that of a modern human in all respects except for certain details of the skull. He had a low forehead and pronounced brow ridges. Richard Leaky said, "This boy would go unnoticed in a crowd today." Since this human skeleton was found in strata dated at 1.6 Ma, this supposed age, combined with some fairly minor skull details, makes it another representative of the taxon Homo erectus.10

But, there's just one more interesting thought to consider. Remember that another famous skull was found in this Lake Turkana region. That's right KNM-ER 1470 was found in this same region. Notice the striking similarities when the reconstruction of KNM-ER 1470 is put side-to-side with the Turkana Boy skull (see below). Now isn't that just most interesting? - or is it just me?

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: Peking Man: The current story is that the remains of Sinanthropus pekinensis, known as Peking Man and dating back to 400,000 BC, were excavated in 1923 at Zhoukoudianzhen near Peking, China. Peking Man was closely related to Pithecanthropus of Java and "lived during the Old Stone Age."

An almost complete skullcap was discovered in 1929 in a filled-in limestone cave near Peking, China (now Beijing). This ape-like skullcap was similar to Java man. The cave continued to be investigated until the beginning of World War II. (All original fossil remains have since been lost in transport to America to "save them" from the Japanese invasion of WWII. However, some relatively good casts of portions of skulls remain.) Fragments of 14 skulls, 12 lower jaws and 147 teeth were found. Also, several skeletons of "Homo erectus" were found slightly higher (Not called Homo sapien only because of their assumed ages of > 1my even though very similar to modern man). Once again, bone fragments were assembled from various places to form a skull where the jawbone came from a level 85 feet higher than the skullcap and face bones. After hiring a sculptor to model a woman's face from the made-up skull, the result was named "Nellie." The very "attractive" Nellie has appeared in almost all modern textbooks concerning the evolution of man.10

The most complete fossils found in the cave, all of which were braincases or skullcaps, are:

Skull III, discovered at Locus E in 1929 is an adolescent or juvenile with a brain size of 915 cc.

Skull II, discovered at Locus D in 1929 but only recognized in 1930, is an adult or adolescent with a brain size of 1030 cc.

Skulls X, XI and XII (sometimes called LI, LII and LIII) were discovered at Locus L in 1936. They are thought to belong to an adult man, an adult woman and a young adult, with brain sizes of 1225 cc, 1015 cc and 1030 cc respectively. (Weidenreich 1937)

Skull V: two cranial fragments were discovered in 1966, which fit with (casts of) two other fragments found in 1934 and 1936 to form much of a skullcap with a brain size of 1140 cc. These pieces were found at a higher level, and appear to be more modern than the other skullcaps. They were given a different name of "Upper Cave Man". (Jia and Huang 1990)

At the site where "she" was found there were also numerous stone tools and evidence of butchery and fires. Recently, Chinese scientists have found over 1,000 stone tools, the skulls of over 100 modern day animals, and 6 modern human skulls (Upper Cave Man). The skulls and many fragments showed evidence of being at least possibly shattered or broken-in at the occipital area. Perhaps humans were butchering and eating apes? Perhaps, but some argue that this area is the weakest area of the skull. Therefore, the finding of shattered occipital regions it is not proof of butchery.

In addition, a layer of ashes nearly three meters thick was found. Even so, little consideration seems to be given to the possible creation of fires and tools by actual Homo sapiens.10 Once again, it is felt that since most of the skulls seem to have been very large, and similar to Java Man and other Homo Erectus fossils, that these must be intermediates to humans? despite the many similarities to apes, which, according to Boule and Vallois,include three jaw characteristics of apes and one of human and three teeth characteristics of apes and one of human.22 Again, knowing that many modern animals have gigantic counterparts in the fossil record, this might be like saying that a Great Dane is an intermediate between a Chihuahua and a horse. There might be more anatomic similarities including larger head and cranium and even shape of head? but what does this prove? Do the similarities in anatomy prove this theory of dog-horse evolution and negate the differences in anatomy? Beginning with the idea that modern apes start out with a great deal of similarities to modern humans, establishing an evolutionary connection without living specimens and on fragmentary fossil evidence, involves at best, more than its fair share of guesswork and just-so story telling. In fact, this sort of story telling sounds very similar to the stories of the "First Frenchmen" that were invented to explain the various remains and artifacts found in different layers at Font 飨 evade Cave (see story below). (Back to Top)









Java Man (Pithecanthropus erectus) - According to current evolutionary th eory, the earliest specimens of H. erectus, found in 1891-92 near Trinil on the Indonesian island of Java (thus called Java man), are "about 700,000 years old." The teeth of Java man, found separately and which are now thought to belong to an orangutan, were said to be remarkably like those of H. habilis of eastern Africa, suggesting that "H. erectus might have evolved from H. habilis."(Compton's Encyclopedia)

The actual story begins shortly after Darwin published his "On the Origin of the Species." A Dutch physician named Eugene Dubois, who greatly desired to find the "missing link" between apes and man, went in search of Haechel's "Pithecanthropus" in Sumatra. (Dubois had been a student of Ernst Haeckel who is famous for his "Biogenetic Law," which stated that the human embryo went through the sequential evolutionary stages of its ancestors. It is now well known that this is far from true. What else is well known is that Haeckel falsified much of his data.) 1 5

Having failed to get financial assistance from the Dutch government, Dubois enlisted as a surgeon in the Royal Dutch Army in order to be stationed in Sumatra. While in Sumatra, he heard about a skull found on the nearby island of Java. He was able to secure the skull and even found another like it at the same location. However, these skulls were too human looking to be of any use to someone looking for an ape-man. In 1891, he found a molar tooth along the Solo River. Later the same year, he found another molar and an ape-like skullcap. The following year he found a human femur some yards from where he found the skullcap. Although at first he thought it was a chimpanzee skull, after consulting with Haeckel, he declared the whole collection to belong to one and the same creature, stating that it was "admirably suited to the role of missing link." 10

This missing link arrived just in time to salvage Darwin's theory, as it was under fire because of the total lack of transitional fossil evidence. By joining an ape skull with a human femur he had truly created an ape-man. He originally claimed that the stratum he was working in was Pliocene but after discovering his ape-man, he decided it was really tertiary.10 When taking his specimen on tour, respected scientists, such as the great anatomist Rudolph Virchow, refused to chair any of his meetings. Nonetheless, newspapers and magazines embraced him wholeheartedly, including many pictures of Dubois's ape-men.

Through association of a human-like femur with a very large gibbon-like skullcap, Dubois created "Java Man." The leg bone was almost certainly that of a modern human. The skullcap is still hotly debated as that of an extinct gibbon-like creature or of a human ancestor. One important fact is that the association of the femur (found a year later and twelve meters away) and skullcap is not scientifically justified. It was in recognition of this fact that the restoration of Java Man, paid for by Ernst Haeckel, was removed from the Leiden Museum to its basement and in the mid 1980s. The exhibit of Java Man was also removed from public display in the American Museum of Natural History.7 Dr Rudolph Virchow, Director of the Berlin Society for Anthropology and founder of the science of pathology, examined Dubois' fossils and wrote, "The skull has a deep suture between the low vault and the upper edge of the orbits. Such a suture is found only in apes, not in man. Thus the skull must belong to an ape. In my opinion this creature was an animal, a giant gibbon in fact. The thigh bone has not the slightest connection with the skull."8,20

Eugene Dubois himself appears to have never given up the idea that his "giant gibbon" was an intermediate between the gibbon and man. Some today continue to hold onto Java Man as an intermediate. It is argued that Java Man had an intermediate brain size much larger than that of a modern gibbon (940cc vs. 100cc) and yet smaller than that of an average modern man (1350cc). It is also said that Java Man obviously walked upright and is therefore an intermediate. How is it so clear that Java Man walked upright (bipedal) when all there is, is a skull cap? Well, it is said that the skullcap is very similar to the skullcap of another "Homo Erectus" skeleton (WT15000) among several others. Since it is generally agreed that WT15000 walked upright, then obviously Java Man walked upright too. Despite the fact that there exists, in the fossil record, evidences of huge animals with much larger heads and brains than their modern day counterparts, it is still suggested that such a large gibbon could not possibly have been - Just a gibbon. (Back to Top)

Neandertal (orNeanderthal) Man (Homo neanderthalensis): This was the first "ape-man" found in Darwin's day. Of the cases stated above, most tried to make men out of apes. Now we will see how to make apes out of men.

In 1856, in the Neander Valley of Germany, a schoolteacher, Johann Fuhlrott, found a skeleton that consisted of a skullcap, thighbones, part of a pelvis, some ribs, and some arm and shoulder bones in a small cave at Feldhofer. The lower left arm had been broken in life, and as a result the bones of the left arm were smaller than those of the right. A careful examination and description by Professor Schaafhausen reported them to be human and normal. Two years later, two similar skulls were found in Belgium. Subsequently, over 60 parts of skeletons were found in eleven different countries. (They are still being found today). 10

In 1908, Professor Boule of The Institute of Human Paleontology in Paris declared Neanderthal an ape-man because of his low eyebrow ridges and the stooped over posture of some of the specimens. This was to shape opinion and teaching for most of the 20th century. However, in 1950, things began to change. An embarrassing fact came out. Neanderthal man's average brain capacity was larger than modern man's by over 200 cc's. Some also claim that Neanderthal man, at least the stooped over ones, suffered from acute osteoarthritis.10

Many Neanderthal skeletons have been found now, and not just a few here and there. In 1872 Dr. Rudolph Virchow, the father of pathology, claimed that these skeletons were nothing more than modern man with rickets and arthritis. In 1957 anatomists Straus and Cave released a comprehensive study of Neanderthal and concluded that the toes were not prehensile, the pelvic structure was not at all ape-like, and the bones all showed strong evidence of severe arthritis. In 1970, medical specialist, Ivanhoe, showed a vitamin-D deficiency in all Neanderthal samples. This he surmised was the cause of the severe arthritis. Dr. C. Coring Brace stated that, "West European Neanderthal Man is simply today's West Europeans." The Chicago Field Museum has since put in a newer exhibition of Neanderthal man looking more fully human.10

Modern science has finally come up with a ready answer for their problems with Neanderthal man. He was an "evolutionary dead-end." 10

There are many scientists who say that Neandertal Man did not actually have rickets, and that pathology was not responsible for their most unique characteristics such as brow ridges, low vaulted craniums, and very strong stocky builds which separate them from any known ethnic group living today. Here is a list of the most distinct characteristics:

The skull is lower, broader, and elongated in contrast to the higher doming of a modern skull.

The average brain size (cranial capacity) is larger than the average modern human by almost 200 cubic centimetres.

The forehead is low, with heavy brow ridges curving over each eye.

There is a slight projection at the rear of the skull (occipital bun).

The cranial wall is thick compared to modern humans.

The facial architecture is heavy, with the mid-face and the upper jaw projecting forward (prognathism).

The nose is prominent and broad.

The frontal sinuses are expanded.

The lower jaw is large and lacks a definite chin.

The body bones are heavy and thick and the long bones somewhat curved.

Judging from the very wide varieties of ethnic groups living today, especially the more inbred ones, such characteristics are not too difficult to explain by simple ethnicity which has since been lost or bred out in modern Europeans. Many modern cultures have had extreme anatomical features. With subsequent cultural intermixing, such distinguishing features have often been lost. So, unique anatomical features do not necessitate Neanderthal Man as being separate from Homo Sapiens. In fact, Thomas Huxley himself seemed to recognize this problem. Donald Johanson wrote something very interesting about what Huxley did in setting up a sequence of modern skulls to link Neanderthals to modern humans.

"From a collection of modern human skulls Huxley was able to select a series with features leading 'by insensible gradations' from an average modern specimen to the Neandertal skull. In other words, it wasn't qualitatively different from present-day Homo Sapiens." 26

This series of skulls could easily be set up today. Obviously therefore, there is no clear or consistent morphologic difference between Neanderthals and ourselves. Any variation can be selected out and categorized according to arbitrary rules, but such categories do not necessitate evolutionary relationships any more than ethnic variations that exist today suggest such relationships.

Then there is the argument of Neanderthal DNA. On July 11, 1997, the announcement was made in the journal Cell that Neanderthal mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) had been successfully recovered and sequenced by Svante Pääbo and his team.25 Of course there were statistical differences between Neanderthal DNA and the DNA of modern humans. These differences were used to calculate the evolutionary divergence of Neanderthals from a common ancestor to around 550,000 to 690,000 years ago. It is thought that Neanderthals then became extinct without contributing mtDNA to the modern human genome. In other words, Neanderthals were just one of many offshoots or splinter groups that became extinct but who were not direct links to modern humans in our evolutionary branch.