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Re: Pangaean Society
Cambias (dkelly@acpub.duke.edu)
Mon, 06 Nov 1995 11:52:18 -0500
In article <dasherDHL54L.DDx@netcom.com>, dasher@netcom.com (Anton
Sherwood) wrote:
> : Ron Baber (rbaber@fwi.com) wrote:
> : : Anthropologists (most of them, anyway) are of the opinion that
> : : mankind evolved in Pangaea. They further opine that we humans
> : : now living descended from this common ancestor. That is the
> : : reason we refer to one another as "Cousin".
>
> mrs. peel <zeta@annex.com> says:
> : Is this really true? That man has been on earth since then?
> : I always though that man was pretty recent on in comparison to
> : what this guy is talking about.
>
> It strikes me as vacuous: yes, humans have
> a common ancestor which lived on Pangaea!
Pangaea broke up about 200 million years ago, during the Jurassic period.
Primitive mammals did exist then, but nothing recognizably hominid. Our
"common ancestor" at that time would be something like a shrew or possum.
Humans evolved in Africa, and the span of human existence on Earth has
not been long enough for much significant continental drift. Most of the
changes during humanity's tenure have been driven by the ice age cycle,
causing changes in sea level.
Cambias
Late Mammal
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