Re: Crowley theory
David Froehlich (eohippus@moe.cc.utexas.edu)
Thu, 19 Oct 1995 15:10:41 -0500
On Thu, 19 Oct 1995, Paul Crowley wrote:
> I presume you accept that there were major disadvantages in becoming
> bipedal - i.e. the mother had to use one or both arms to carry her
> child everywhere she went, meaning that she could not run, climb,
> use a club, or throw rocks when in the presence of a predator, nor
> could she sleep in a tree at night. In fact the viability of her
> existence is questionable.
>
> > You should be aware of your own assumptions . .
>
> I don't think that I was making *any* significant assumptions. It was
> you who stated that I was making unjustifiable ones. I was happy to
> consider the possibility because they can be difficult to see. But
> it's up to you to point them out.
>
Ok, lets do this by the numbers.
1) The female must have used one or both arms to carry the infant
why? maybe the infant held on, maybe dad carried the infant, or sister,
or aunt? maybe the kids were stashed somewhere safe (sort of like deer,
cheetahs etc do)? Maybe they evicted a digging creature out of its
burrow and stashed their kids their while someone watched and others
foraged (african wild dogs etc.) All of these are possible responses to
the problem you present. However you assume that the mother must (note
the terminology) have carried the infant everywhere.
Babbon mothers are saddled with an infant yet the group dynamics mean
that the female is safe. This is a behavoiral response to a problem.
Are you telling me that you can discern hominid behavoir of 5 million
years ago? Because you are certainly assuming you know how these
organisms dealt with their environment. (If I know this is an
insurmountable problem then the scenario that proposes it must be wrong
and thus AAS must be correct). I do not buy that bipedality presented
insurmountable problems that behavoiral modifications could not have
dealt with (remember these are very smart apes). Let me utilize a
recently quite common AAS arguement, "prove me wrong".
David J. Froehlich Phone: 512-471-6088
Vertebrate Paleontology Laboratory Fax: 512-471-5973
J.J. Pickle Research Campus
The University of Texas, Austin, Texas 78712
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