Evolution requires intermediate forms between species and paleontology does not prove them. (David Kitts)
Thinking about the musings from DAY 86: The Scientific Revolution – Part 3 – What Missing Link?...
I would submit to you that for decades, ‘Lucy’, a collection of 47 bones, was the missing link that closed the evolutionary transition between apes and humans. I would further submit to you that when science tried to justify what amounts to 23% of a human skeletal system as evidence of our ‘missing link’, Darwin’s Theory of Evolution still comes up short.
The fact is ‘Lucy’ has not been the first and only attempt to justify the ‘missing link’ between apes and humans. ‘Lucy’ has not been the first and only attempt to justify Darwin’s Theory of Evolution.
Here are 7 more examples throughout history to where the ‘missing link’ eventually falls short:
1) 1891-1892, Java, Dutch East Indies, (present day Indonesia):
Eugene Dubois, a known proponent of Darwin’s Theory of Evolution, found the following within a year: a large skull-cap, three teeth, and a thigh-bone. The skull-cap and thigh-bone were found approximately 50 feet apart.
Dubois named his discovery, Anthropopithecus erectus, and then renamed it Pithecanthropus erectus, or ‘Java Man’. (These bones are also referred to in the current day as: Homo erectus erectus).
In the 1930s Dubois made the claim that Pithecanthropus was built like a “giant gibbon”, which is curious because after his discoveries, several scientists have concluded that 2 of the 3 teeth came from an orangutan.
I would submit to you that even if the scientific community was to universally accept as scientific fact that: 1) the bones collectively found 50 feet apart were in fact all from a single fossilized remains, and; 2) the 3 teeth, were in all in fact from the same fossilized remains, these bones still only represent 0.0097% of the human skeletal system. (Teeth are not actually considered bone).
2) 1907, near Heidelberg, Germany:
A single jawbone was discovered by Daniel Hartmann, who claimed that is was very human-like, just bigger and as he described it, more ‘robust’. Named Homo heidelbergensis, or ‘Heidelberg Man’, this ‘missing link’ to humans was ultimately based on .00485% of the adult, human skeletal system.
3) 1912, Piltdown, East Essex, United Kingdom:
In 1912, Charles Dawson contacted Arthur Smith Woodward, Keeper of Geology at the Natural History Museum in London, England, stating he had found a section of a human-like skull. (The reason that it was a section and completely intact could be the fact that workman at the site broke it up because they thought it was a fossilized coconut…in England.)
More bones were found at the site, as Dawson and Smith Woodward claimed they were connected to the same individual. A Geological Society meeting named this collection of ‘missing link’ bones, Eoanthropus dawsoni (“Dawson’s dawn-man”).
Questioned from the beginning, Eoanthropus dawsoni remained controversial until it was conclusively exposed in 1953 as a forgery.
4) 1922, Nebraska:
A tooth that Harold Cook had for ‘some time’, was given to Dr. Henry Osborn to identify the specimen. Osborn, in collaboration with 3 others: Dr. William D. Matthew, William K. Gregory and Dr. Milo Hellman, agreed that this tooth was enough scientific evidence to prove that it was more closely related to humans than to apes. (Remember that teeth are not considered bones.)
The discovery of Hesperopithecus haroldcookii, or ‘Nebraska Man’, was published in Science, a peer-review, academic journal of the American Association for the Advancement of Science. First published in 1880, the AAAS is still considered today as one of the world’s top academic journals.
The original classification of Hesperopithecus haroldcookii proved to be a mistake, and was retracted in 1927.
Like ‘Heidelberg Man’, scientists tried to prove the validity of Darwin’s ‘missing link’, based off of a discovery of a single tooth.
5) 1932, India-Nepal:
In 1932, a student Edward Lewis, discovered a single fragment of an upper jaw. The shape and parabolic curve of this jaw made it appear human, however, it has since been proven that this jaw is no ‘missing link’ for two reasons: 1) The fragments were pieced together incorrectly and; 2) In the animal kingdom, there is a baboon, (Theropithecus), that has the same parabolic curve with their jaw as humans.
6) 1959, Olduvai Gorge, Tanzania:
In 1959 Louis Leakey, discovered the skull of an ape-like creature in Olduvai Gorge, East Africa. Leakey named it: Zinjanthropus boisei. It was nicknamed by the news media as “Nutcracker Man” because of its large jaw. Since some crude stone tools were found nearby, Leakey believed that he had discovered Darwin’s ‘missing link’. Leakey claimed the date of Nutcracker Man to be 600,000 years old.
Hans Reck, a German anthropologist, had found a perfectly normal and complete human skeleton in the same area in 1913. Louis Leakey already knew this because he had examined this skeleton in the Munich museum before his discovery. Leakey eventually retracted his claim that Nutcracker Man was the ‘missing link’, concluding that it was only an Australopithecine or extinct ape.
These conclusions continue to be the general scientific consensus today.
7) 1960, Olduvai George, Tanzania:
In 1960, Jonathan Leakey, the first son of Louis and Mary Leakey, discovered a partial juvenile skull, hand, and foot bones in Olduvai George.
After the discovery, Louis Leakey, South African scientist Philip Tobias, and British scientist John Napier, determined that a new species of humans had been discovered. This new species, Homo habilis, (‘handy man’), faced scrutiny almost from the beginning of its discovery due to some experts who believed that Leakey had in fact mixed both ape and human fossilized remains. In 1999 two leaders in the field wrote a paper that was published in Science claiming that “Homo” habilis should not even be considered a member of Homo, but rather an australopithecine, or extinct ape.
I would submit to you that on seven occasions from 1891 to 1960, individuals who claimed to have discovered scientific evidence that Darwin’s ‘missing link’, the evolutionary transition between apes and humans, had been found…
All eventually went 0 for 8.
Or to put it another way…
The science regarding the connection to Darwins Theory of Evolution and the ‘missing link’…
Changed 8 different times.
That is a lot of scientific change in just under 70 years.
Is there any place where the science doesn’t change?
There is…
And where is this place where science doesn’t change?
That will be covered next time.
Do not feel discouraged if you still cannot come to a conclusion regarding the scientific evidence presented and then eventually disproven, between 1891 and 1960. Do not feel discouraged if you are still unsure as to whether or not to believe or not believe in the idea of a ‘missing link’ between man and ape. Instead, understand that the evidence you are gaining will assist you to eventually come to a solid, scientific conclusion about humans and other scientific phenomenon as well.
7 And the Lord God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul. (Genesis 2:7 KJV)
Was today’s blog a little confusing at times? Was the content perhaps a little overwhelming? Did you feel lost not understanding some or most of the subject matter?
Those feelings are totally understandable and it is ok to have one or more of those feelings. Remember that you are reading DAY 87: The Scientific Revolution – Part 3 – What Missing Link? – Conclusion.
If you haven’t been in class since the first day of school…or when the project began…or when the contract was first signed, etc., these feelings make perfect and logistical sense.
Please feel free to go back to where all of this began: