bytor2112 Posted May 19, 2009 Report Share Posted May 19, 2009 In what could prove to be a landmark discovery, a leading paleontologist said scientists have dug up the 47 million-year-old fossil of an ancient primate whose features suggest it could be the common ancestor of all later monkeys, apes and humans.Read more hereFossil Discovery Is Heralded - WSJ.com Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
the Ogre Posted May 19, 2009 Report Share Posted May 19, 2009 (edited) Oh . . . and I thought I was. (very cool article though) Edited May 19, 2009 by the Ogre Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DigitalShadow Posted May 19, 2009 Report Share Posted May 19, 2009 The discovery has little bearing on a separate paleontological debate centering on the identity of a common ancestor of chimps and humans, which could have lived about six million years ago and still hasn't been found. That gap in the evolution story is colloquially referred to as the "missing link" controversy. In reality, though, all gaps in the fossil record are technically "missing links" until filled in, and many scientists say the term is meaningless.Actually it appears the article is specifically saying that what most people refer to as the "missing link" was NOT found. Still very interesting article though :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wingnut Posted May 19, 2009 Report Share Posted May 19, 2009 Oh . . . and I thought I was.(very cool article though)I had to laugh because of your new avatar, and the idea that we all evolved from it. Lol. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Just_A_Guy Posted May 19, 2009 Report Share Posted May 19, 2009 A lemur?Are you telling me that this guy is my great-great-granddaddy? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DigitalShadow Posted May 19, 2009 Report Share Posted May 19, 2009 A lemur?Are you telling me that this guy is my great-great-granddaddy?No, I'm telling you that you and that guy share a great-great....great-great-granddaddy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dravin Posted May 19, 2009 Report Share Posted May 19, 2009 A lemur?Are you telling me that this guy is my great-great-granddaddy?Depends? Do you like to move it, move it? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moksha Posted May 20, 2009 Report Share Posted May 20, 2009 Actually it appears the article is specifically saying that what most people refer to as the "missing link" was NOT found. Still very interesting article though :) All new discoveries in this area are interesting. Like the article says, "In reality, though, all gaps in the fossil record are technically "missing links" until filled in, and many scientists say the term is meaningless".Are you telling me that this guy is my great-great-granddaddy? Has there been a recessive combination of genes manifesting itself in you family? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Palerider Posted May 20, 2009 Report Share Posted May 20, 2009 when I read....Missing Link....made me think of Pam........LOL!!!!!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
spiritseeker Posted May 20, 2009 Report Share Posted May 20, 2009 Okay I am going to probably show my ignorance here ... But, I always had one question about the whole evolution theory. And no science teacher I had would answer it. If evolution is true then why did it stop? I mean shouldn't we still be progressing??? I mean to an Atheist is this our highest possiblity as humans? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
the Ogre Posted May 20, 2009 Report Share Posted May 20, 2009 Okay I am going to probably show my ignorance here ... But, I always had one question about the whole evolution theory. And no science teacher I had would answer it. If evolution is true then why did it stop? I mean shouldn't we still be progressing??? I mean to an Atheist is this our highest possiblity as humans? It's continuing. Evolution moves in "fits and troughs", but even the "fits" are very slow.Have you ever watched the Xmen movies, that's next. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Just_A_Guy Posted May 20, 2009 Report Share Posted May 20, 2009 Has there been a recessive combination of genes manifesting itself in you family?Was that intended as a snide remark about my parentage, sir? On guard! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wingnut Posted May 20, 2009 Report Share Posted May 20, 2009 Okay I am going to probably show my ignorance here ... But, I always had one question about the whole evolution theory. And no science teacher I had would answer it. If evolution is true then why did it stop? I mean shouldn't we still be progressing??? I mean to an Atheist is this our highest possiblity as humans? No kidding. Check out the quote in my signature. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LittleWyvern Posted May 20, 2009 Report Share Posted May 20, 2009 Okay I am going to probably show my ignorance here ... But, I always had one question about the whole evolution theory. And no science teacher I had would answer it. If evolution is true then why did it stop? I mean shouldn't we still be progressing??? I mean to an Atheist is this our highest possiblity as humans? The thing about evolution that most people don't realize it that it's incredibly slow. It takes tens of thousands of years for evolutionary pressures to produce any large changes in the traits of a population. Today, evolution hasn't stopped... it's just confused. Modern society and civilization has produced a set of evolutionary pressures that is constantly in flux (especially medicine, where many things that before killed us aren't even selected against anymore). In a sense, in order for a population to develop a certain trait, that trait needs to be advantageous enough so that individuals who develop the trait through DNA mutation have a greater chance of reproducing. I can't think of any trait humans could develop today that fits that criteria other than good looks. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FunkyTown Posted May 20, 2009 Report Share Posted May 20, 2009 Okay I am going to probably show my ignorance here ... But, I always had one question about the whole evolution theory. And no science teacher I had would answer it. If evolution is true then why did it stop? I mean shouldn't we still be progressing??? I mean to an Atheist is this our highest possiblity as humans? In theory it hasn't. To offer up a theory: Remember that evolution takes millions of years. Our written records don't even go back 10, 000. The odds of seeing macroevolution in that time is microscopic. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DigitalShadow Posted May 20, 2009 Report Share Posted May 20, 2009 Okay I am going to probably show my ignorance here ... But, I always had one question about the whole evolution theory. And no science teacher I had would answer it. If evolution is true then why did it stop? I mean shouldn't we still be progressing??? I mean to an Atheist is this our highest possiblity as humans? Large evolutionary changes happen very slowly, especially in species like humans that take around 20 years to reproduce and start a new generation. We can observe small evolutionary changes in action though on organisms like bacteria and viruses that have a very short life span and reproduce very quickly. That's why you get the flu every year rather than just once and why you are told to take all the antibiotics you were prescribed even if you are feeling better or you might give rise to a resistant strain of bacteria.We are in fact still evolving, but all of recorded human history is a blink of an eye in evolutionary terms so it is not surprising we have not noticed large changes in the human species over this time. If you never had a science teacher who would answer your question, you probably never had a competent science teacher. Sadly that is not uncommon. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MarginOfError Posted May 20, 2009 Report Share Posted May 20, 2009 The thing about evolution that most people don't realize it that it's incredibly slow. It takes tens of thousands of years for evolutionary pressures to produce any large changes in the traits of a population. Today, evolution hasn't stopped... it's just confused. Modern society and civilization has produced a set of evolutionary pressures that is constantly in flux (especially medicine, where many things that before killed us aren't even selected against anymore). In a sense, in order for a population to develop a certain trait, that trait needs to be advantageous enough so that individuals who develop the trait through DNA mutation have a greater chance of reproducing. I can't think of any trait humans could develop today that fits that criteria other than good looks. Wisdom teeth. I’ve known some people that have never had to have their wisdom teeth extracted simply because they don’t have wisdom teeth. If such a trait were to slowly develop in humans in general, that would be evidence of a slow change in mouth size, and then evolution changing the number of teeth to accommodate the smaller mouth. I don’t think anyone has any longitudinal data on this, however. It’s just one example of a trait we could keep our eyes on. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LittleWyvern Posted May 21, 2009 Report Share Posted May 21, 2009 That's a good point, but I think the question becomes whether, with modern dentistry, having wisdom teeth is selected against enough to eventually eliminate this trait. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moksha Posted May 21, 2009 Report Share Posted May 21, 2009 If evolution is true then why did it stop? I mean shouldn't we still be progressing??? I think this continuing evolution is much like eternal progression, but on this plane of existence. Be patient and check back in two million years. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hemidakota Posted May 21, 2009 Report Share Posted May 21, 2009 Perhaps, check back in 4-billion years.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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