krs
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posted on July 11, 2002 01:49:13 AM new
There has been a discovery of fossils which may be the first common ancestor of both man and chimpanzees.
"Anthropologists working in the bleak desert of northern Chad
have unearthed the 7 million-year-old skull of the oldest
human ancestor yet found, offering the first opportunity to
study a human fossil from the remote slice of time when
humans and apes diverged from a common ancestor.
Scientists hailed the discovery -- a nearly complete skull, two
lower jaw fragments and three teeth -- as a major
breakthrough in the study of human prehistory, providing the
first glimpse into a time period about which virtually nothing
was known.
"It takes us into another world, of creatures that include the
common ancestor, the ancestral human and the ancestral
chimp," George Washington University paleobiologist
Bernard Wood said. "It is a world of creatures we are
unfamiliar with."
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A50035-2002Jul10.html
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Helenjw
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posted on July 11, 2002 06:35:37 AM new
"It is a world of creatures we are unfamiliar with"....yet the photo looks surprisingly familiar to me. Amazing!!!
Helen
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antiquary
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posted on July 11, 2002 01:23:06 PM new
Scientifically, it is an exciting discovery.
And politically it may explain the proliferation of cartoons with various apelike analogies since the Great Appointment.
...Toumai displayed a "unique mosaic" of ape-like and human characteristics. The brain case -- between 320 and 380 cubic centimeters -- is comparable to that of a chimpanzee.
No wonder the Bush administration misconstrues patriotism to mean lack of thought. It's merely a natural constriction.
And that also explains other confusions. Theneo-conservative attempts to re-create the Victorian era was a desire to return to a much more primordial time which no word in our vocabulary adequately defines.
If we can just put all the missing links together, we may discover a fascinating chain reaction.
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snowyegret
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posted on July 11, 2002 02:26:12 PM new
We are DEVO
You have the right to an informed opinion
-Harlan Ellison
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antiquary
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posted on July 11, 2002 03:25:44 PM new
At first I thought DEVO might be a shortened reference to Devonian, an even more vegetative era than the present. 
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auroranorth
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posted on July 11, 2002 05:54:08 PM new
WE ARE DEVO
YOU WILL BE ASSIMILATED
RESISTANCE IS FUTILE>
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snowyegret
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posted on July 11, 2002 06:10:27 PM new
Aantiquary, are you implying Bush is a trilobite? They had spines. He does bear a striking resemblance to some invertebrates. And in the luxuriant foliage can be found shrubs.
You have the right to an informed opinion
-Harlan Ellison
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antiquary
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posted on July 11, 2002 07:29:20 PM new
Hahahahaha! 
A new species?
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snowyegret
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posted on July 11, 2002 08:02:40 PM new
The proof is in the pruning. Otherwise, someone will have to come up with the theory of devolution, or unnatural selection.
You have the right to an informed opinion
-Harlan Ellison
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Borillar
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posted on July 11, 2002 09:23:28 PM new
"a human fossil from the remote slice of time when humans and apes diverged from a common ancestor."
COMMON ANCESTOR. In other words, we, Human Beings, are not descended from Apes. Humans and Apes had a Common Ancestor and the Apes split off to one direction and we went the other. That makes Apes our Poorer Cousin. It is important to note this difference.
THE LIE. Creationists distort the truth and facts to their own benefit. One way that they doi this is to prey upon people's ignorance of science. To smear Evolution, they are the ones who state: "Man did not evolve from Apes, he was Created." or "Maybe your ancestor was an Ape, but mine was Created." See how cleverly they do that? They haven't directly lied, but they have put it in such a way that the average person uneducated in the science would mistakenly assume that Evolution claims that Humans had descended from Apes.
EXPOSE IT. The next time that someone mentions that statement, unaware of the truth, please correct them. The way to fight a Lie is with the Truth. Unless people are out there willing to fight for the Truth, Lies will be all that we are left with.
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krs
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posted on July 11, 2002 11:38:15 PM new
"Human Beings, are not descended from Apes. Humans and Apes had a Common Ancestor"
That's not what it says, borillar. It says that man and chimpanzees share an ancestor which was ape.
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profe51
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posted on July 12, 2002 06:35:40 AM new
krs, read it again:
"........the first opportunity to
study a human fossil from the remote slice of time when
humans and apes diverged from a common ancestor. "
and "............It takes us into another world, of creatures that include the
common ancestor, the ancestral human and the ancestral chimp"
nowhere does this report specify that the common ancestor was specifically either ape OR man...
chimpanzees are apes (family Pongidae) belonging to the genus Pan.
Creationists will misread this also, citing it as further "proof" that evolutionary theorists believe we are "descended" from apes.
There is little reason to hope for enlightenment among the creationists, their beliefs spring from faith, not reason...
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krs
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posted on July 12, 2002 07:28:23 AM new
No. Whether the 'common ancestor' is ape or not, it is both ours and chimp's. If, as you say, chimps are apes then so must humans be. If chimps are not apes, neither are we. It depends on whether the ancestor was an ape. Either way you may call him 'gramps'. LOL.
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twinsoft
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posted on July 12, 2002 08:48:17 AM new
Interesting theory. I know squat about genetics but it seems the logical postulate would be that some species developed faster while others developed slower. This theory invites some spin-offs that are not all pleasant to consider. As for the common ancestor, it was probably my uncle Harry.
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snowyegret
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posted on July 12, 2002 01:45:04 PM new
They found the original hanging Chad. Talk about nothing new under the sun....
You have the right to an informed opinion
-Harlan Ellison
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auroranorth
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posted on July 12, 2002 04:15:13 PM new
Scientists have found a living fossil.
Working in the White House.
Personally I could never understand the Creationists they would tell me God could do anything and I said ok if he can then whats wrong with the theory of evolution ? Or do you thibnk god was to dumb and or impatient to have done it this way ?
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