Paleo – Page 116

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Early Man Studies: Start Over

February 19, 2004

Anthropologist Leslea J. Hlusko (U. of Illinois) had some stern advice for her paleoanthropologist colleagues in PNAS1 recently. Noting that “Competing interpretations of human origins and evolution have recently proliferated despite the accelerated pace of fossil discovery,” she thinks an approach is needed that integrates genetics and development with the search for bones. She takes […]

Fossils

Oldest Fossil Insect Alleged

February 11, 2004

In a pattern that sounds familiar, an insect fossil has been found that (1) is the oldest ever discovered, and (2) shows that “winged flight may have emerged earlier than previously thought.” Estimates put this fossil at about 400 million years old, among the first creatures to colonize the land. Though wing impressions were not […]

Early Man

Evolutionists Publish Racist Book

February 6, 2004

“Disturbing” is how Robert N. Proctor (Penn State) describes a new book by two prominent evolutionists in the Feb. 5 issue of Nature.1 The book is Race: The Reality of Human Differences by Vincent Sarich and Frank Miele (Westview, 2004), and Proctor has a lot of politically correct diatribe to heap on it, though reluctantly: […]

Darwin and Evolution

Why Darwin Is Like Yoda, and Darwinism Like Marxism

February 4, 2004

Homage for the master is palpable in John Vandermeer’s review (Science, Jan. 23)1 of a thick new book entitled Niche Construction: The Neglected Process in Evolution by Odling-Smee, Laland and Feldman (Princeton, 2004). Vandermeer seems almost worshipful in his opening lines: The nascent germ of many novel ideas in biology can be traced directly or […]

Dinosaurs

How Snakes Lost Their Limbs

February 2, 2004

Penn State scientists have a story for how snakes, which presumably evolved from lizards, lost their legs. They had to burrow through tight places. Part of their story involved disproving that snakes evolved from sea-going reptiles, like mosasaurs, explains the press release from Penn State’s Eberly College of Science. They compared genes from […]

Dating Methods

Hundreds of Whales Buried Suddenly in Diatoms

February 2, 2004

A remarkable fossil find has been found in Peru: 346 whales buried in diatomaceous earth. The preservation of the whales is so pristine and complete, the authors of the paper in the Feb. 2004 issue of Geology1 conclude that the whales had to be buried rapidly, in days or weeks. If so, it represents a […]

Fossils

Extinction Puzzle Explained as Selection Effect

February 1, 2004

It’s not evolution, it’s statistics. That’s the conclusion of Robert Scotland and Michael Sanderson in the Jan. 30 issue of Science. What’s the puzzle? When biodiversity is examined in the context of species richness, a consistent feature emerges: Most taxonomic groups are species-poor, relatively few are species-rich, and the frequency distribution has the shape of […]

Dumb Ideas

The New Phrenology Ostracizes Neanderthals

January 27, 2004

Scientists contrasted different points on Neanderthal skulls to modern human skulls, and concluded Neanderthals were a separate species. The New York Times report by John Noble Wilford says that not all scientists are convinced, however, by the analysis published by Katerina Harvati et al. in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences1 Jan. 26 […]

Fossils

La Brea Tar Pits Trap Scientists

January 24, 2004

Visitors to the La Brea Tar Pits are not told the whole truth about the fossils.

Fossils

Fossil Worm: Does It Help Solve Cambrian Explosion Puzzle?

January 14, 2004

A soft embryo of a Cambrian worm, exquisitely preserved, makes Graham Budd (U. of Uppsala, Sweden) ask some hard questions about it and other recently-discovered embryo fossils in the Jan. 15 issue of Nature:1 These fossils raise several questions, to say the least. First, how could they possibly be preserved? Second, why are they concentrated […]

Fossils

Chinese Puzzle: New Primate Fossil Raises Eyebrows

January 1, 2004

A new fossil primate skull from China, alleged to be 55 million years old, provides “much-needed substantial evidence of early primates in Asia,” says Robert Martin (Field Museum, Chicago), reporting in the Jan. 1 issue of Nature.1 But “interpretation of the creature’s eye size and activity pattern,” he says, “will spark debate.” (This is code […]

Dumb Ideas

Line Between Neanderthals and Modern Humans Blurs

December 23, 2003

There seems to have been an intergradation between big-boned Neanderthals and modern humans, according to the BBC News. “Newly identified remains from Vindija in Croatia, which date to between 42,000 and 28,000 years ago, are more delicate than ‘classic’ Neanderthals,” writes Paul Rincon. Not only that, stone tools found nearby look like those of modern […]

Birds

How Darwinism Produces Job Security

December 22, 2003

One thing Darwinism has going for it: it provides endless opportunities to research stories that are nearly impossible to prove. A case in point was provided in the Dec. 18 issue of Nature.1 John R. Hutchinson (Royal Veterinary College, UK), in a News and Views article on bird evolution, reviewed the new angle […]

Early Man

Art Evolution Is Backwards

December 18, 2003

Early art has again been shown to be the work of advanced intellect and culture (see Apr. 22 headline and embedded links). Carved animal figurines found in Germany1 estimated to be 30,000 to 33,000 years old, display a level of craftsmanship not expected among primitive humans. In the Dec. 18 issue of Nature2, Anthony Sinclair […]

Fossils

Despite New Fossil, Origin of Marsupials Still Puzzles Evolutionists

December 12, 2003

Although the earliest known marsupial has just been found in China1, Richard L. Cifelli and Brian M. Davis, writing in the Dec. 12 issue of Science2 consider the phylogenetic trees of marsupial and placental mammals conflicting and puzzling. Problems include (emphasis added): Switcheroo: Fossil marsupials are predominately found in North America, but living ones are […]

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