October 9, 2002
FAMILY FEUD:
'Oldest' Skull Causing Headaches (CBS News, Oct. 9, 2002)An ancient skull whose recent discovery was thought to have pushed back the dawn of man was not from a human ancestor after all, but from a gorilla or another ape species, some anthropologists say.The rebuttal, published in Thursday's issue of the journal nature, is the latest round in a scientific feud over the origins of humankind in Africa.
"I don't see how you can tell what it is. But it is not human," said [Milford H. ] Wolpoff, a University of Michigan anthropologist.
Presumably he doesn't mean that the way it sounds. Posted by Orrin Judd at October 9, 2002 7:25 PM
Comments
Of course it's not human. That's not even the question. It's whether or not it is the ancestor of a branch of the hominid family that eventually gave rise to the humans, or another line that either went extinct or gave rise to the great apes. Or an ancestor of all later apes (humans included). The very fact that there are characteristics which can be debated in terms of their relation to either or both is strong evidence in favor of an evolutionary link.
Posted by: Harry Tolen at October 9, 2002 10:34 PM