No seriously, on the Evolution thing.....?

Question

I believe I am ever learning, and I am honestly curious here. I am not a conventional Creationist believer, so help me out a little.

How many complete evolutionary skeleton links have been found, and how many are missing? I read a few years ago, Lucy had been discredited, is that true?

Please, no judgment, I am seriously curious, and if you have UN-BIASED links, Id appreciate those too.

Answer 1

The knee joint of "Lucy" (Australopithecus afarensis) was discovered in the Fall of 1973 near Hadar in the Afar Triangle of Ethiopia over a mile away and 200 feet deeper than the other bones (uncovered in Oct. 1974) --which Johanson incredibly claims to have belonged to the same individual!! Actually, the ulna:humerus ratio of these bones is 92.5%, well within the range of true ape [chimpanzee (95%) vs. human (80%)]. In addition, the valgus angle (i.e., a measure of the extent that the leg above the knee bends outward or laterally) of Johanson's 1974 bones is about 15 degrees, which is indicative of a strong tree climber like an orangutan or spider monkey. Professional concensus as to "Lucy's" identity now favors that of arboreal ape, not an ape-to-man hominid intermediate.

Answer 2

Look, it isn't really like that. There isn't a set number found or missing. Fossels are hard to make and hard to find, so there will be more and some really unexpected ones.

The most basic thing to notice with the fossil record is that life started out simple and got more complicated over time. Science does still argue over details like how it could have happened so fast at times. But the overall fossil record is painfully clear that IT HAPPENED. The deeper you dig, the simpler the fossils get until you get to where there are only microscopic ones and finally layers without any. Any legitimate theory HAS to explain this basic fact, or come up with another way that we have all these "fake" fossils.

And Lucy is leaving Ethiopia next year and going on a museum tour of the US starting with Houston. http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/04243/369862.stm Does that sound like there is any big controversy about how big a find that she is? I picked this one because it points out how excited the museum really is. "Drooling" is the headline. I'll drive down and see her and I am not even a biologist.

Answer 3

The biggest thing that gets me is that they think belief is some kind of choice I can freely make. I cannot believe in a god any more than they can believe that Harry Potter is based on a true story. It's just not the way the human mind works. We don't choose our beliefs, they choose us. People INSIST I am wrong about this, even after admitting that they cannot choose to NOT believe in God. It's insane, and it is insulting. Along that line, they think I am "choosing" to be an atheist so I can not worry about being a decent human being. That one really drives me crazy. It implies that religious people are one bible verse away from becoming Jeff Dahmer. Again, it's insanity. As far as evolution goes, I think the biggest one that irks me are the people who agree that adaptation is possible, but cannot see that when you put thousands of adaptations on top of one another, you will end up in a very different place than where you started.

Answer 4

If you are interesting a reading a book or two that intelligently analyzes major problems with Darwinist science including the lack of evidence in the fossil record, I would heartily suggest "Darwin on Trial" by Phillip Johnson. He poses a devastating analysis of a side of Darwinian science the scientists dont want you to know. Also look for anything written by Johnathon Wells, William Dembski, Michael Behe, and Steven Meyer.

Answer 5

Buy or borrow a book on Geological History.
The fossil record goes back over 600 million years. It shows increasing complexity that verifies evolution of all species.
The ages of the rocks that the fossils are found in can be verified in many ways. Palaeontology, the science of dating rocks by the fossils found in them is a fundamental tool for mining and oil exploration billions is spent every year on these techniques without them the fuel you fill you car with would have run out years ago.

Answer 6

Lucy has not been discredited. There are claims that all that was found of her was a torso and a knee joint that was found seperately several meters away. This isn't true though, it's a fallacy made up by people who support creationism.

Of course it doesn't help their argument that some 20 other skeletons of Lucy's species was found nearby...

Answer 7

I agree with Lion of Judah.

Also when they made a cast of Lucy, he then took it to a grinding wheel and changed the anle of some joints, he said he did this to show that she was trying to go to a standing potions. In other words, he was manufacturing evidence.

I also believe that Lucy's hands and feet are missing, and so they put on more human type ones.

Answer 8

As evolution makes its changes in infinitesimal changes over great periods of time the best we can even hope for is to find fossils with similar structures that we can compare to observe evolutionary change. You are never going to find a complete time line of the hundreds of thousands of complete skeletons it takes to transition from one species to another.

Skeletal evidence however is only the tip of the mountainous iceberg of evidence in support of evolution.

Answer 9

I'm linking to one of the most comprehensive sites that explains this. Keep in mind that while Lucy is famous, there are more scientifically important skeletal remains.

Answer 10

It's not all about Apes, try checking out the unique species that live in Australia