The Fossil Record And Hominid Development

The dodo record offers no genuine missing conceive in the hominid evolution. Even those dodos, which allegedly validate the fortuity that man and ape evolved gradually over time from a common etymon, elicit suspicion of authenticity. An incident causing much(prenominal) suspicion was the discovery of Piltdown Man. In 1912 Charles Dawson discovered a fogy with an “ape-like bait, but a human cranium“ near Piltdown, England.[i] The lump responded with enthusiasm. One British newspaper reported, “One of the most past prehistoric finds of our time has been made.[ii] Triumph turned to disgrace, however, when from 1949 to 1953 a numberless of tests were conducted on the fossil to examine its legitimacy. Investigators discovered that “the cranium and lower jawbone were not the same age or paleolithic at all, and the teeth had been filed to make a much human teeth in an apes jaw. The bone tool was modern, and even the fossil rhinoceros tooth and oth er bones came from elsewhere and were artificially stained to match.”[iii] Thus, the “ more interesting lesson to be learned from Piltdown Man is that scientists, like everyone else, hind end be fooled into seeing what they want to see.” [iv] The fossils of Ramapithecus, which “were discovered in N India and in E Africa, beginning in 1932,[v] further show this lesson. After the initial verdict that Ramapithecus was the last common beginning between apes and humans, this fossil endured a series of tests to confirm that conclusion. The supporters of Ramapithecus were in short silenced, because “the most damaging blow was the realization that, because of a elemental error in interpreting anatomy, the upper jaw of Ramapithecus had been hypothesise incorrectly.”[vi] The search then ensued for Ramapithecus’ correct location in the fossil record. “Ulimately, enough Sivapithecus remains were found to validate the vista that what had be en called Ramapithecus was completely a sma! ller...If you want to get a skilful essay, identify it on our website: BestEssayCheap.com

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