Free Republic
Browse · Search
News/Activism
Topics · Post Article

Skip to comments.

Prehistoric skull found in dump may be missing common ancestor of apes & humans
The Guardian ^ | Monday November 7, 2005 | Dale Fuchs in Madrid

Posted on 11/07/2005 8:35:20 AM PST by dead

Palaeontologists excavating a dump outside Barcelona have found a skull dating back 14m years that could belong to a common ancestor of apes and humans.

The nearly intact skull, which has a flat face, jaw and teeth, may belong to a previously unknown species of great ape, said Salvador Moya, the chief palaeontologist on the dig. "We could find a cradle of humanity in the Mediterranean," he said.

A routine land survey for a planned expansion of the Can Mata dump in Els Hostalets de Pierola turned up the first surprise in 2002: a primate's tooth.

Since then, scientists from the Miquel Crusafont Institute of Palaeontology in Sabadell have unearthed nearly 12,000 fossils of primates and other animals that lived during the Middle Miocene era - between 14m and 8m years ago - when the area was covered by tropical rainforest and populated by the precursors of today's elephants, antelopes and monkeys.

Last year, the team found a 13m-year-old partial skeleton, also believed to be a common ancestor of apes and humans - a male fruit-eater, nicknamed Pau.

"If there is a place in the world where it is possible to find an entire skeleton of a common ancestor to the great apes and humans, it is Hostalets de Pierola," Mr Moya told El País newspaper. "In few places [will] you uncover so many connected vertebrae in such good condition."

The Can Mata dump sits above clay soil in which animal remains became trapped and well-preserved.


TOPICS: Culture/Society; News/Current Events
KEYWORDS: archaeology; evilution; history; monkeygod; multiregionalism
Navigation: use the links below to view more comments.
first previous 1-20 ... 121-140141-160161-180181-187 next last
To: Coyoteman

Thankfully, all they've found is dirt. If they hit rock,
the price would escalate and I'd be reconsidering why
I decided to do this.

Have a great one! ampu


141 posted on 11/07/2005 12:13:35 PM PST by aMorePerfectUnion (outside a good dog, a book is your best friend. inside a dog it's too dark to read)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 140 | View Replies]

To: dead

It sounds as if Bill Mayer died recently.


142 posted on 11/07/2005 12:27:53 PM PST by GarySpFc (Sneakypete, De Oppresso Liber)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Dimensio
And why are you here, when it's obvious that you don't care about what evolution states?

This is a political forum. Darwinism is cancer on conservatism.

143 posted on 11/07/2005 12:39:51 PM PST by Rightwing Conspiratr1 (Lock-n-load!)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 130 | View Replies]

To: Rightwing Conspiratr1
Darwinism is cancer on conservatism.

I know several conservatives, including my wife, who would jump off the conservative ride if creationism became the official position of the GOP.

One of the features of conservativism is, or is supposed to be, a reliance on facts, rather than feelings. The theory of evolution is supported by all of the available facts. Therefore, accepting the TOE is completely compatible with conservativism.

144 posted on 11/07/2005 12:46:17 PM PST by Palisades (Cthulhu in 2008! Why settle for the lesser evil?)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 143 | View Replies]

To: Right Wing Professor
It sets a standard he doesn't think he can reach.

BWAAAAAAAAAAAHAHAHAHAHAHA! Just what I was thinking.

145 posted on 11/07/2005 12:50:18 PM PST by balrog666 (A myth by any other name is still inane.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 133 | View Replies]

To: balrog666
If you are happy in thinking that you are some sort of monkey byproduct, I'm very happy to allow you to relish that fact.

Have a nice day, and always believe in what you are.
146 posted on 11/07/2005 2:04:03 PM PST by Beagle8U (An "Earth First" kinda guy ( when we finish logging here, we'll start on the other planets.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 145 | View Replies]

To: babygene
I don't think you would be able to tell from bones if an animal were human. There is that little thing called a soul.

You're saying animals have no soul? So all dogs don't go to heaven then.

147 posted on 11/07/2005 3:18:33 PM PST by md2576 (Don't be such a Shehan Hugger!)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 14 | View Replies]

To: jennyp
The irony of this "tooth tale" is that the creationists involved have committed the same error they and other creationists have inaccurately attributed to evolutionary scientists--creating an entire human fossil from a single tooth!

I'd never heard of Orce Man before either, and I thought I'd heard them all. Carl Baugh AGAIN. Think if the same mainstream scientist had been responsible for Piltdown Man and Nebraska Man and Archaeoraptor.

But Carl Baugh can come back with a new one and fool the YECs every time.

148 posted on 11/07/2005 4:11:39 PM PST by VadeRetro (Liberalism is a cancer on society. Creationism is a cancer on conservatism.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 90 | View Replies]

To: Rightwing Conspiratr1
Darwinism is cancer on conservatism.

Care to justify that?
149 posted on 11/07/2005 4:42:16 PM PST by Dimensio (http://angryflower.com/bobsqu.gif <-- required reading before you use your next apostrophe!)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 143 | View Replies]

To: dead

Alas, poor Yorick.


150 posted on 11/07/2005 4:46:20 PM PST by furball4paws (One of the last Evil Geniuses, or the first of their return.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Palisades; Rightwing Conspiratr1
One of the features of conservativism is, or is supposed to be, a reliance on facts, rather than feelings. The theory of evolution is supported by all of the available facts. Therefore, accepting the TOE is completely compatible with conservativism.

I'm constantly amazed at how many "conservatives" are eager to adapt Lib tactics when evolution is concerned. Suddenly feelings become more important than facts, science is only valuable so far as it advances a political agenda, and lies are perfectly acceptible.

151 posted on 11/07/2005 5:47:55 PM PST by highball ("I find that the harder I work, the more luck I seem to have." -- Thomas Jefferson)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 144 | View Replies]

To: Palisades
Why does the thought that we are closely related to chimpanzees bother you so much?

For the same reason that the smart kid is always hated by the rest.

152 posted on 11/07/2005 7:09:42 PM PST by Gumlegs
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 111 | View Replies]

To: Palisades
I know several conservatives, including my wife, who would jump off the conservative ride if creationism became the official position of the GOP.

I'm one. In fact, I am VERY tempted to contribute to Santorum's opponent, based on the support he's given to the ID idiocy.

153 posted on 11/07/2005 7:21:19 PM PST by WildHorseCrash
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 144 | View Replies]

To: WildHorseCrash

That's disappointing. I didn't think he'd be sucked in by this silliness.

What support has be given to it?


154 posted on 11/07/2005 8:44:49 PM PST by highball ("I find that the harder I work, the more luck I seem to have." -- Thomas Jefferson)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 153 | View Replies]

To: highball
Sorry, let's try that again.

What support has he given to it?
155 posted on 11/07/2005 8:45:25 PM PST by highball ("I find that the harder I work, the more luck I seem to have." -- Thomas Jefferson)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 154 | View Replies]

To: Fiddlstix; blam; FairOpinion; Ernest_at_the_Beach; StayAt HomeMother; 24Karet; 3AngelaD; asp1; ...
Thanks Fiddlstix. Ordinarily I don't ping the list for this kind of topic because it becomes a bloodbath in short order. However, this one appeals to me because it looks a little heretical -- the previously unknown primate from 14 million ya was dug up in Barcelona. :')

To all -- please ping me to other topics which are appropriate for the GGG list. Thanks.
Please FREEPMAIL me if you want on or off the
"Gods, Graves, Glyphs" PING list or GGG weekly digest
-- Archaeology/Anthropology/Ancient Cultures/Artifacts/Antiquities, etc.
Gods, Graves, Glyphs (alpha order)

156 posted on 11/07/2005 9:42:57 PM PST by SunkenCiv (Down with Dhimmicrats! I last updated my FR profile on Wednesday, November 2, 2005.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Publius6961
Digging the large pits to begin the process is where the skull and other artifacts were discovered.

Thank you.

I was thinking 'dump' in terms of excavating at an ancient midden site.

157 posted on 11/07/2005 11:10:24 PM PST by ApplegateRanch (Islam: a Satanically Transmitted Disease, spread by unprotected intimate contact with the Koranus.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 34 | View Replies]

To: highball

I have yet to see a single ETer define conservatism coherently, athiest conservative is as much an oxymoron as queer conservative. Conservatives rely on tradition and practice not useless speculative theories. ET is as speculative useless and braindead as Marx's Das Kapital.


158 posted on 11/08/2005 1:56:29 AM PST by Rightwing Conspiratr1 (Lock-n-load!)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 151 | View Replies]

To: Battle Hymn of the Republic

Cha-ka? There's a congressman from Philadelphia who goes by that name.


159 posted on 11/08/2005 2:05:05 AM PST by Fresh Wind (It is Watergate yet? Is it Watergate yet?)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 12 | View Replies]

To: aMorePerfectUnion; Coyoteman
I believe it was fair.

Yet another "just an opinion"

160 posted on 11/08/2005 3:05:42 AM PST by Oztrich Boy (Paging Nehemiah Scudder:the Crazy Years are peaking. America is ready for you.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 138 | View Replies]


Navigation: use the links below to view more comments.
first previous 1-20 ... 121-140141-160161-180181-187 next last

Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.

Free Republic
Browse · Search
News/Activism
Topics · Post Article

FreeRepublic, LLC, PO BOX 9771, FRESNO, CA 93794
FreeRepublic.com is powered by software copyright 2000-2008 John Robinson