Oldest member of human family found

Nature ^ | 07/11/2002 | John Whitfield

[jennyp]

The implication of this fossil is clear: It's time for another CR/EVO thread!

[jennyp]

You can see some beautiful photos of the fossil here.

[Paul Atreides]

[jennyp]

[That Subliminal Kid]

I wonder if this one will turn out to not actually be a human ancestor like a few of the other "big" discoveries.

[jennyp]

Such as?

[That Subliminal Kid]

Why do people debate Evolution? Nobody debates the composition of the Sun. Nobody debates gravitational pull of bodies. Evolution is such an "obvious fact" after all.

[That Subliminal Kid]

You're kidding me right? Neandertal was found last year to have no part in human ancestry. I can't remember what became of piltdown man.

[The Old Hoosier]

Piltdown man, for example.

[Geezerette]

digging through the sand dunes of northern Chad,

Chad?

g

[VRWC_minion]

I believe there was a headstart on this find here, different article but same topic.

[Burkeman1]

Yawn. I am truly tired of this stuff. They find one skull and now everything has changed. How many times have we heard this before? I remember "Lucy". I thought that "changed" everything? Who knows. I am tired of this pseudo science. I was watching some pathetic show about Dinosaurs and it had animated creatures (Discovery Chanel I think). And they were showing how these creaturees lived! What time of day they feeded- what they ate- and who their modern ancestors were! Such crap! At one point they showed some alligator type thing which the voice over said was the earliest ancestor of the Whale! Oh Really! And they know this how. So what was right after this species? Well - they showed a large extinct whale that looked nothing like the alligator guy. Where are the numerous in between fossils? I am not a creationist but something tells me the current theory of evolution is a house of cards.

[Redcloak]

Oldest member of human family found,

[jennyp]

I believe there was a headstart on this find here, different article but same topic.

LOL! And THAT thread had an "already posted", too!

[Consort]

Toumai?

They should have had a "Name That Sahelanthropus Tchadensis" contest. My choice would have been "Skully."

[BMCDA]

So, now you've got your own board, eh? ;)

[mississippi red-neck]

We where both thinking of the same person until I remembered that they said the fossil was a member of the human race.

[AndrewC]

The implication of this fossil is clear: It's time for another CR/EVO thread!

Or another four or five. Upon review, this article does state something about which I have wondered.

Chimps, for example, have no fossil record.

[LibWhacker]

Grandpa!

A very interesting find. And it's so well preserved! I'm sure the debate is going rage now in paleoanthropological circles. That brow definitely looks ape-like to me. And the brain is so small.

[That Subliminal Kid]

OH, it's easy! See, if I have this being that looks like this, and this other being that looks like that, and they have remotely similar morphology, I can dream up a story where all these other beings I've never seen came between them, so they're related, see? I mean, don't forget- Chimp DNA is 97% the same as human.. But wait.. does that mean that 3% caused all the observed difference? So.. hmm.. maybe DNA is a much more sensitive thing that can't mutate like a wad of play dough.. hmm.. I'm confused. I need to go indoctrinate myself with more TalkOrigins. I'll be back to proselytize.