Re: Homo erectus: racial variants of Homo sapiens?
Steve Geller (geller@ssl.berkeley.edu)
Wed, 08 Jan 1997 19:22:26 -0800
A Pagano wrote:
>
> The following is posted on behalf of David Buckna <dabuckna@awinc.com>:
> ...scientists had re-examined two major fossil sites
> in Java,
> and found that Homo erectus may have lived there as recently as "27,000
> years ago". (December 13, P.A1) This dating analysis, conducted by
> McMaster
> University geologists Henry Schwarcz and Jack Rink, will serve to cast
> further doubt on the so-called evidence for human evolution. Why? If it
> can
> be shown that Homo erectus lived at the same time as modern man, Homo
> erectus may be no more than racial variants of Homo sapiens. That is
> what
> creationists such as Duane Gish ("Evolution: The Fossils Still Say No!",
> Master Books, 1995) have been saying for decades.
<shrug> Or it could be evidence that modern Humans are descended from
one of a large number of hominids. This is what the theory of evolution
would lead us to expect.
It's like noting that other bird-like animals lived before
Archaeopteryx, and concluding that Archaeopteryx isnt a transitional.
To lend any real support for the "creation model", we need evidence for
an abrupt appearance of moderm man.
> from the neck down, the differences between Homo erectus and modern
> humans
> are minor.
Yes indeed. If hominids were being stuied by an insect-like alien, we'd
be lumped in with the rest of the Primates. <chuckle>
--
Steve Geller
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