Darwinius masillae is getting a big publicity tour despite having been dead for quite a while. The ultimate coming out of retirement stunt.
On Tuesday morning, researchers will unveil a 47-million-year-old fossil they say could revolutionize the understanding of human evolution at a ceremony at the American Museum of Natural History.
But the event, which will coincide with the publishing of a peer-reviewed article about the find, is the first stop in a coordinated, branded media event, orchestrated by the scientists and the History Channel, including a film detailing the secretive two-year study of the fossil, a book release, an exclusive arrangement with ABC News and an elaborate Web site.
“Any pop band is doing the same thing,†said Jorn H. Hurum, a scientist at the University of Oslo who acquired the fossil and assembled the team of scientists that studied it. “Any athlete is doing the same thing. We have to start thinking the same way in science.â€
Another Lucy ? Prepared to be embarrassed.
Johnny. How was Lucy an embarrassment?
Some experts argue that Lucy was in some ways more adapted to walking upright than a modern human, whose pelvis has to be a compromise between bipedal locomotion and the ability to give birth to large brained babies. Others point out that her arms were longer than a modern human’s, and the bones of her fingers were curved — features seen in tree-dwelling primates. How much she used her climbing abilities, or whether they were simply evolutionary leftovers from arboreal ancestors, is a matter of debate.
Although her hip and knee joints were less specialized for an upright posture than our own, Lucy was clearly capable of walking bipedally, although running like a modern human was probably beyond her. Her funnel shaped ribcage and broad pelvis indicate that she probably had a rather large belly, like a modern ape, reflecting an adaptation to a relatively low-quality, high-bulk diet. The thick waist this gave her would have hindered her flexibility, and her high shoulders and the shape of her torso suggest it would have been difficult for her to swing her arms as we do we running.
I hope your not serious Ivory. Most well respected scientists have dismissed Lucy long ago for being a fraud.
Johnny was bucketed earlier. I don’t know why the filters aren’t working. I’ll be watching things.
Ah, creationists…what color is the sky in their world?
To clarify, Johny was referring to long disproven arguments on how Lucy was assembled from bones of different skeletons (not true) and how a knee bone was found 2m below the layer where the skull was found (irrelevant and badly worded since the entire area was sloped along a river gorge so while there is a 2m difference in elevation, the knee bone being found down slope could also be attributed to erosion, shifts in the geological strata, etc, but was definitely NOT found 2m vertically below in a different statum.) Arguments such as these were designed to cast unfounded doubt on fossil records and can be considered only marginally less ridiculous than the one where creationists slathered cement over a hat as “proof” that fossils millions of years old could actually form in just several thousand.
Why are people like Johnny so scared of the truth,and WHICH respected scientists have dismissed Lucy long ago for being a fraud?
The psychology that drives creationism is an interesting subject, but we’re unlikely to resolve anyone’s problems here. The main concern is good science education, and that means preventing creationists — whatever motivates them — from having input into science education.
IvoryGirl, Patrick is correct. We need to prevent creationists infiltrating thier non-science into the school classroom. I’m not opposed to Johnny or any other creationist posting a resonable argument on this site.
What I am opposed to is their religious preaching.
If someone shows up here and says: “I’ve heard there were problems with the Lucy fossil. Anyone know about that?” we could easily reply with factual information. If he then says “Thanks,” we’ve done a good deed. That’s not what this site is all about, but we have the information, so it’s no big deal.
On the other hand, if he responds with a creationist rant, it’s obvious that he’s just a troll, and he’ll find himself in the spam bucket. Other sites encourage that kind of traffic. Brandon may instruct me otherwise, but I think the purpose of this site isn’t to host such debates. Besides, arguing with creationist trolls is boring.
What Patrick said.
But if Ronda Storms shows up, my personal inclination would be to let the conversation run.
“But if Ronda Storms shows up, my personal inclination would be to let the conversation run.”
ROTFLMAO
Karl you forgot Qwen Lovejoy.
Superficially, her hip resembled a chimpanzee’s, which meant that Lucy couldn’t possibly have walked like a modern human.
http://alangrey.blogspot.com/2007/02/evolutions-lucy-lies.html