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New Discoveries in Evolution

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  • New Discoveries in Evolution

    Friends

    A new find in the evolution of humanity. http://www.sciencemag.org/content/34...abstract?rss=1

    The site of Dmanisi, Georgia, has yielded an impressive sample of hominid cranial and postcranial remains, documenting the presence of Homo outside Africa around 1.8 million years ago. Here we report on a new cranium from Dmanisi (D4500) that, together with its mandible (D2600), represents the world's first completely preserved adult hominid skull from the early Pleistocene. D4500/D2600 combines a small braincase (546 cubic centimeters) with a large prognathic face and exhibits close morphological affinities with the earliest known Homo fossils from Africa. The Dmanisi sample, which now comprises five crania, provides direct evidence for wide morphological variation within and among early Homo paleodemes. This implies the existence of a single evolving lineage of early Homo, with phylogeographic continuity across continents.

    A layman's article can be found here: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/cadell...b_4122501.html

    I love Huffington Post!!!

    go with the flow the river knows . . .

    Frank
    Last edited by shunyadragon; 01-24-2014, 05:55 AM.
    Glendower: I can call spirits from the vasty deep.
    Hotspur: Why, so can I, or so can any man;
    But will they come when you do call for them? Shakespeare’s Henry IV, Part 1, Act III:

    go with the flow the river knows . . .

    Frank

    I do not know, therefore everything is in pencil.

  • #2
    This new find corroborates other hand bone finds in Africa including associated primative Acheulean tools. http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/1...=human-origins

    The discovery of a 1.4-million-year-old hand-bone fossil reveals that the modern human ability to make and use complex tools may have originated far earlier than scientists previously thought, researchers say.

    A critical trait that distinguishes modern humans from all other species alive today is the ability to make complex tools. It's not just the extraordinarily powerful human brain, but also the human hand, that gives humans this unique ability. In contrast, apes — humans' closest living relatives — lack a powerful and precise enough grip to create and use complex tools effectively.

    go with the flow the river knows . . .

    Frank
    Last edited by shunyadragon; 01-24-2014, 07:04 AM.
    Glendower: I can call spirits from the vasty deep.
    Hotspur: Why, so can I, or so can any man;
    But will they come when you do call for them? Shakespeare’s Henry IV, Part 1, Act III:

    go with the flow the river knows . . .

    Frank

    I do not know, therefore everything is in pencil.

    Comment


    • #3
      Friends.

      What is happening in the discoveries in the science of evolution? In about 1960 all the fossils of our primate ancestors would fit on your coffee table with room to spare. The evidence for evolution throughout the history of life was impressive at this time, but many gaps and unknowns existed. There was enough to make falsifiable predictions of what should be found to confirm evolution for all the life on the earth. Since that time thousands of primate fossils, and literally hundreds of thousands of fossils of other life forms have been found that confirm these predictions. The gaps are being filled by more and more fossil discoveries every year. The purpose of this thread is keep all posted on these discoveries. First source academic publications will be used when ever possible. The only other publications that will be used are those that reference first source academic publications of these discoveries. I welcome others who wish to post new discoveries on evolution.

      go with the flow the river knows. . .

      Frank
      Last edited by shunyadragon; 01-24-2014, 08:15 AM.
      Glendower: I can call spirits from the vasty deep.
      Hotspur: Why, so can I, or so can any man;
      But will they come when you do call for them? Shakespeare’s Henry IV, Part 1, Act III:

      go with the flow the river knows . . .

      Frank

      I do not know, therefore everything is in pencil.

      Comment


      • #4
        Permit me to quibble here. These are not "new discoveries in evolution" by any means. These are new discoveries in paleontology. The fossil record relates to the theory of evolution the way one particular bridge hand relates to the rules of bridge. What paleontology is showing us is one particular sequence, out of an infinitity of possible sequences. It just happens to be the sequence that was followed, but any one of those infinity of possible sequences would be an equally valid illustration of the application of the theory. Not one of them would change the theory itself. Indeed, the theory of evolution would be exactly what it is today even if fossilization were impossible.

        Comment


        • #5
          Actually, I feel that paleontologists have something to add to the knowledge about the process of evolution, for example in things like habitat tracking and punctuated equilibrium. If the theory of evolution has the same form regardless of fossils, then evolutionary biologists are depriving themselves of a lot of relevant data. See N. Eldredge, Reinventing Darwin.

          As for the OP, by all means let's post on human evolution, even if that is just one small branch, declining in diversity.

          Comment


          • #6
            Originally posted by phank View Post
            Permit me to quibble here. These are not "new discoveries in evolution" by any means. These are new discoveries in paleontology. The fossil record relates to the theory of evolution the way one particular bridge hand relates to the rules of bridge. What paleontology is showing us is one particular sequence, out of an infinitity of possible sequences. It just happens to be the sequence that was followed, but any one of those infinity of possible sequences would be an equally valid illustration of the application of the theory. Not one of them would change the theory itself. Indeed, the theory of evolution would be exactly what it is today even if fossilization were impossible.
            OK! This does not change anything. These paleontology discovers and associated research add information to confirm the theory of evolutions. Let's not quibble, let's post more results of research and discoveries in paleontology that support and confirm evolution.

            This, of course, will not convince the hardened hearts of stalwart Creationists who reject evolution regardless of the evidence, but it does educate those willing to accept the evidence that over time the apparent gaps in the evidence are being filled.
            Last edited by shunyadragon; 01-27-2014, 02:52 PM.
            Glendower: I can call spirits from the vasty deep.
            Hotspur: Why, so can I, or so can any man;
            But will they come when you do call for them? Shakespeare’s Henry IV, Part 1, Act III:

            go with the flow the river knows . . .

            Frank

            I do not know, therefore everything is in pencil.

            Comment


            • #7
              Originally posted by shunyadragon View Post
              OK! This does not change anything. These paleontology discovers and associated research add information to confirm the theory of evolutions. Let's not quibble, let's post more results of research and discoveries in paleontology that support and confirm evolution.

              This, of course, will not convince the hardened hearts of stalwart Creationists who reject evolution regardless of the evidence, but it does educate those willing to accept the evidence that over time the apparent gaps in the evidence are being filled.
              I think I still disagree. Paleontology is using evidence of the one path followed as an illustration of the principles, just as a bridge hand illustrates the game without altering the rules of play. Paleontological discoveries do not support or confirm the theory. They illustrate the theory. However, I'll agree somewhat with Jonathandavid that even with a full-fledged theory, all of the ramifications are not obvious. Punctuated equilibrium and the related notions of the importance of isolated and local speciation events, do emerge from the stochastics of population dynamics, but the actual observations can inform the explanation as much as a good explanation can predict observations.

              I'm concerned that we not blur too much the distinction between the fact of evolution (it happens) and the theory of evolution (the mechanics producing the fact).

              Comment


              • #8
                Originally posted by phank View Post
                I think I still disagree. Paleontology is using evidence of the one path followed as an illustration of the principles, just as a bridge hand illustrates the game without altering the rules of play. Paleontological discoveries do not support or confirm the theory. They illustrate the theory. However, I'll agree somewhat with Jonathandavid that even with a full-fledged theory, all of the ramifications are not obvious. Punctuated equilibrium and the related notions of the importance of isolated and local speciation events, do emerge from the stochastics of population dynamics, but the actual observations can inform the explanation as much as a good explanation can predict observations.

                I'm concerned that we not blur too much the distinction between the fact of evolution (it happens) and the theory of evolution (the mechanics producing the fact).
                Disagree, all the discoveries and research is not in paleontology. Biology, particularly genetics, contribute a great deal of discoveries and research in support of evolution.
                Glendower: I can call spirits from the vasty deep.
                Hotspur: Why, so can I, or so can any man;
                But will they come when you do call for them? Shakespeare’s Henry IV, Part 1, Act III:

                go with the flow the river knows . . .

                Frank

                I do not know, therefore everything is in pencil.

                Comment


                • #9
                  Originally posted by shunyadragon View Post
                  Disagree, all the discoveries and research is not in paleontology. Biology, particularly genetics, contribute a great deal of discoveries and research in support of evolution.
                  Disagree with what, exactly? Biology, and particularly genetics, tell us the mechanisms. Paleontology shows us one example of what those mechanisms produced. Not that a case study is necessarily useless in helping us to see and understand underlying principles.

                  Comment


                  • #10
                    phank

                    This thread does make the distinction between the theory or the fact of evolution. It is titled simply about the discovers and advancements that support evolution.
                    Glendower: I can call spirits from the vasty deep.
                    Hotspur: Why, so can I, or so can any man;
                    But will they come when you do call for them? Shakespeare’s Henry IV, Part 1, Act III:

                    go with the flow the river knows . . .

                    Frank

                    I do not know, therefore everything is in pencil.

                    Comment


                    • #11
                      Originally posted by phank View Post
                      Disagree with what, exactly? Biology, and particularly genetics, tell us the mechanisms. Paleontology shows us one example of what those mechanisms produced. Not that a case study is necessarily useless in helping us to see and understand underlying principles.
                      And again I would submit that this dichotomy is false. Paleontology gives insight in the process of evolution in ways that biology of modern creatures cannot. For example, the actual extent of island evolution is only shown by paleontology; we have no idea what this general principle entails without observing it in fossils. Another example is the molecular clock, for example from the work by Hedges & Kumar; they needed to calibrate their clock with a specific date, and how do they get that date? Through paleontological data. In their 1998 Nature paper, they calculated the mutation rate by using the date for the divergence of mammal and bird earliest non-common ancestors. This rate tells us something about evolution in a very general sense, paleontology is more than the particular historical tale of how the process has played out. There are many more examples; Gould's book The Structure of Evolutionary Theory is built on the principle that paleontology's view offers fundamental insights into the workings of evolution, particularly in rates of change and hierarchy in selection. These views have been influential in the field.

                      Comment


                      • #12
                        Adding New Discoveries in Evolution which link says we inherited proneness to some diseases from Neanderthals. For your interest.

                        Comment


                        • #13
                          Originally posted by David Hayward View Post
                          Adding New Discoveries in Evolution which link says we inherited proneness to some diseases from Neanderthals. For your interest.
                          Neat!!
                          Glendower: I can call spirits from the vasty deep.
                          Hotspur: Why, so can I, or so can any man;
                          But will they come when you do call for them? Shakespeare’s Henry IV, Part 1, Act III:

                          go with the flow the river knows . . .

                          Frank

                          I do not know, therefore everything is in pencil.

                          Comment


                          • #14
                            800,000 year old footprints in Norfolk, Britain.

                            "They are direct evidence of the earliest known humans in northern Europe."

                            Comment


                            • #15
                              Originally posted by David Hayward View Post
                              800,000 year old footprints in Norfolk, Britain.

                              "They are direct evidence of the earliest known humans in northern Europe."
                              I don't get it. How do they know these were made 800,000 years ago as opposed to 10,000 0r 5,000 years ago?
                              Atheism is the cult of death, the death of hope. The universe is doomed, you are doomed, the only thing that remains is to await your execution...

                              https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jbnueb2OI4o&t=3s

                              Comment

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