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filthy
SFN Die Hard
USA
14408 Posts |
 Posted - 04/11/2010 : 07:45:03
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By the science writer and master of religious apologetics, Brian Thomas. Mr. Thomas is again full of shit.
Human Evolution Story Stumbles Over Footprints
by Brian Thomas, M.S. *
| Sometime in the distant past, two or three individuals walked across wet volcanic ash, leaving a trail that continues to puzzle scientists. When the Laetoli footprints were discovered over 30 years ago in Tanzania, the tracks looked like they were caused by the feet of modern humans, which supposedly did not “emerge” until 2.5 million years ago. But the footprint-containing rock had been assigned an older age of 3.6 million years. |
Yes indeed. It is a very interesting story, and the end of it is not yet in sight.
| This problem was “solved” by attributing human-like bipedal features to australopiths. These extinct apes, like the famous “Lucy” fossil, were long considered ancestral to humans. This conclusion was reached, however, before the discovery of actual australopith fossil feet and before australopith remains were found in a rock layer dated at 2.2 million years. The australopith foot bones did not at all match those represented by the human-like Laetoli prints,1 and the australopith remains were dated as more recent than even known human remains, showing that australopiths had nothing to do with human evolution.2 |
I think that Mr. Thomas is laboring under the delusion that there was only one species of "Austrailopith" when indeed, there are several known and probably more yet to be discovered.
| Despite these observations, museums still portray Australopithecus as man’s ancestor, and they even use the Laetoli tracks as evidence that these apes walked like man!3 But a new study published in PLoS One has shown that the equal depression depth of the heel and big toe of the Laetoli prints “is a cardinal sign of a humanlike gait.”4 This confirms an in-depth analysis by University of Chicago professor Russell Tuttle, who concluded in 1990 that the “footprint trails at Laetoli site G resemble those of habitually unshod modern humans.”5 |
Correct, and a neat bit of quote mining. Those tracks were made by Australopithecus, as we shall see a little farther along.
The researchers in the PLoS study compared three-dimensional scans of select Laetoli tracks with scans of modern tracks made by volunteers who walked normally across wet sand, as well as some who walked in an apelike crouch. They found that whoever made the Laetoli tracks “walked with weight transfer most similar to the economical extended limb bipedalism of humans.”6
Modern apes “walk” for short spans with bent and outward-pointed knees, whereas mankind’s unique gait involves knees pointing forward and legs straightening out with each step. |
Allow me to introduce you to "Little Foot." That too, is an interesting, nay fascinating story.
"The original Little Foot specimens were found by paleoanthropologist Ronald J. Clarke in 1994, while searching through boxes of fossil fragments labelled 'Cercopithecoids' at the site of Sterkfontein. These fragments came from the Silberberg Grotto, a large cavern within the Sterkfontein cave system. He spotted four left foot bones (the talus, navicular, medial cuneiform and first metatarsal) that were unmistakably hominin and most likely from the same individual. They were described as belonging to the genus Australopithecus, and catalogued as Stw 573.[1]
Due to the diminutive nature of the bones, they were dubbed "Little Foot". Dr. Clarke found further foot bones from the same individual in separate bags in 1997, including a right fragment of the distal tibia that had been clearly sheared off from the rest of the bone. Two fossil preparators and assistants of Dr. Clarke, Stephen Motsumi and Nkwane Molefe, were sent to the Silberberg Grotto to try and find the matching piece of tibia that attached to this fragment. Amazingly, within two days they found the remaining part of the bone protruding from the rock in the lower part of the grotto. Careful excavation by Dr. Clarke and his team lead to the uncovering of a complete skull and jaw in articulation, as well as other limb bones.
These were announced to the press in 1998, resulting in considerable media attention around the world."
As we are all aware, this creature belonged to A. africanus, not A. afarensis. The Lucy fossil, which still bugs creationists no end, was the latter species. The difference is important. Lucy had a splayed foot, handy for climbing. Little Foot, although older than Lucy, had a more modern conformation with little splay, handy for serious walking. There is a ]http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/b/be/Little_Foot_01.jpg/220px-Little_Foot_01.jpg"l]diagram[/url] in the link above, too big to post in here.
| Because the footprints look like they were made by perfectly modern humans, the 3.6 million-year-old age assigned to the tracks constrained the researchers to conclude “that extended limb bipedalism evolved long before the appearance of the genus Homo.”6 So, rather than following the evidence where it leads--which in this case is that the Laetoli tracks were made by “genus Homo” (modern man)--these scientists quickly modified the eternally plastic story of human evolution.7 |
And it ain't just the feet and limbs that points toward upright bipedalism. The juncture of the spine/cranium is set forward so that the head can be held upright. Try scuttling about on all fours for a while and see what it gets you.
The story of evolution is indeed plastic. It has to be or else there would be no place for new information. That is it's great strength, and the Bible's great weakness.
| The researchers reasoned that “human-like bipedalism clearly evolved within the first three to four million years of hominin evolution.”6 But this puts evolution in a very tough spot, because now man’s distinctive way of walking had to have “emerged” faster than the neo-Darwinian concept of natural selection can reasonably account for. Plus, there is no known fossil to represent the creature that supposedly walked just like a man, but was in fact not a man. |
I have already dispensed with this dreck. See above.
| These scientists evidently refuse to consider the idea that the Laetoli tracks were made by genus Homo because it would challenge their evolutionary assumptions. But in the creation/Flood model, mankind has existed alongside animals since the sixth day of the creation week. Accordingly, there is no surprise that people, who only thousands of years ago lived alongside australopiths, left modern footprints in supposedly ancient rock layers. |
I love it when they play that card! I love it because any scientist worth his diploma would like nothing better than to upset some of these "assumptions," and now and again, they do. Don't you wish you could? As for the Flood, it's a favorite story of mine. Alas, it's so easy to take apart that it's almost no fun any more.
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"What luck for rulers that men do not think." -- Adolf Hitler (1889 - 1945)
"If only we could impeach on the basis of criminal stupidity, 90% of the Rethuglicans and half of the Democrats would be thrown out of office." ~~ P.Z. Myres
"The default position of human nature is to punch the other guy in the face and take his stuff." ~~ Dude
Brother Boot Knife of Warm Humanitarianism,
and Crypto-Communist! 
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Edited by - filthy on 04/11/2010 07:51:03
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ICR interpretation: Laetoli Footprints.
