Re: "Ape Men -- fact or fiction?"

Jim Foley (jimf@vangelis.co.symbios.com)
2 Jan 1997 21:16:45 GMT

In article <32C88436.29BF@prodigy.net>,
Michael J. Gallagher <MIKEJOE@Prodigy.Net> wrote:

>My friend E-Mailed me the following article, and asked me to post it here
>for purposes of having the various arguments debated "by the other side."
>Looking for point-by-point debate, not flames. Thanks in advance.

This group does not want creation/evolution debates, so I'll answer some
of the points real quickly. For (a lot) more information, visit my
fossil hominids FAQ at

http://earth.ics.uci.edu:8080/faqs/fossil-hominids.html

>APE-MEN: FACT OR FICTION?
>
>by Dr. Gary Parker of Creation Science Ministries
>
>A. Neanderthal Man:
>*cave art, evidence of belief in the after-life,
>*large brain capacity = regular human being.
>*bone diseases, lack of iodine and vitamin D cause stooping and massive
> features.

False.

>*Most evolutionists agree these were regular human beings.

Sort of. Human, yes, but creationists tend to exaggerate the similarity
to us.

>C. Homo erectus:
>1. Java Man:
>*upper leg bone and skull cap found fifty feet apart in a gravel deposit
> by Eugene Dubois.
>*regular human skulls were found in the same deposit,

False. See http://earth.ics.uci.edu:8080/faqs/homs/a_java.html.

>but Dubois did not reveal this for thirty years.

False.

>*Dubois later stated he believed the fossils to belong to a large
>gibbon

False.

>2. Peking Man:
>*entirely ape-like skulls found in caves in China with the rear bashed in
> with tools buried in the same area.

False. See http://earth.ics.uci.edu:8080/faqs/homs/a_peking.html.

>*the tools were probably used on the ape, not by the ape

False.

>D. Nebraska Man:
>*a pig's tooth found in 1925 was thought to beling to a hominid

No, it was claimed to belong to an ape.

>F. Australopithecus:
>1. Zinjanthropus:
>*Louis and Mary Leakey found an ape skull with a huge lower jaw near tools.
>*Richard Leakey later found regular human bones beneath the skull.

No, they weren't regular human bones, and they were found elsewhere.

>2. "Lucy" (A. afarensis):
>*40% complete skeleton found by Donald Johanson in 1975.
>*other scientist did not look at it (not allowed to see it) until 1982-83.
>*skeleton just like that of a tree-seinging rain forest chimpanzee.

Garbage. The pelvis is very different, and looks much more like a
human (see http://www.cen.uiuc.edu/~priestle/aa/index.html)

>*while Johanson claimed Lucy walked upright, Charles Oxnard of USC says
> the anatomy "warns" against a ready acceptance of this.
>*Oxnard entered identical joint measurements of Lucy into a computer which
> concluded she walked just like an ape, not upright.

This badly misrepresents Oxnard's views.

-- 

Jim (Chris) Foley,                 jim.foley@symbios.com

Assoc. Prof. of Omphalic Envy      Research interest:

Department of Anthropology         Primitive hominids

University of Ediacara             (Australopithecus creationistii)