"Missing Link" found!
 

No, I'm not referring to the really hairy little guy I saw at the beach last Sunday while I was playing volleyball. I'm referring to this. The 47 million year old monkey fossils that actually appear to be the remains of the long-sought "missing link" in human evolution. I love that it was actually found decades ago and has been hanging on some random guy's wall as a decoration.

And here's a link to info on when the first shows about it will be aired around the world.

Re: "Missing Link" found!
 

I'm so glad you said that! (since these are still only claims, and some remain decidedly sceptical)

But yes - potentially - very exciting, and even if it's not related in the way we thought/hoped, still a marvellous fossil.

And now we cross live to our science correspondent, Sarah Palin....

("Oh gee.... Gosh darn, the Lord works in mysterious ways, blah blah blah....")

Re: "Missing Link" found!
 

Let's just get this out the way shall we.....

http://i44.tinypic.com/2pqki8k.jpg

Ok.

Carry on...

Re: "Missing Link" found!
 

Sean, by the way, I thought your serve had great form.

Re: "Missing Link" found!
 

Leave it to sean to find this.












Hey! I want one of those too cacophony. I mentioned it first.

****

Thank you, bryantm3. In regards to lemurs, my thoughts exactly.

Re: "Missing Link" found!
 

now THIS is something i feel like i can preemptively blame the media for. i predict a slow-news-day feeding frenzy with crazy religious zealots and bloodthirsty atheists engaging in open battle on every news network and website.

and for what? if you already believe in evolution, this changes nothing. and if you're too stupid to comprehend evolution, this isn't going to budge your opinion.


apparently there's a news program in australia that just asked, "is this the end of religion?" :rolleyes: actually, i wish we had a vomiting smiley because that's a more accurate depiction of my reaction.

Re: "Missing Link" found!
 

i fail to see how a lemur with a long tail really connects human evolution with that of monkeys. by the way, if evolution is real, how come bugs are still confused by lightbulbs? don't you think they've been around long enough?
my point is that the theory of evolution is still very full of holes, especially considering the fact that there still is no real link that shows that fish evolved into amphibians, reptiles into birds, etc. natural selection is one thing, as typified by native americans seperated from the rest of the world for thousands of years and developing different features. yet, why could the native americans still reproduce with europeans?

Re: "Missing Link" found!
 

And lightbulbs have been around for.....?

Camp fires are typically not a problem for moths.

(Butch ones on the other hand... )

Re: "Missing Link" found!
 

thank you for proving my point.

Re: "Missing Link" found!
 

what? and 'intelligent design' isn't?????:eek::rolleyes::p;)

Re: "Missing Link" found!
 

Interesting find. I don't believe in evolution, specifically that humans evolved from monkeys, so this is no big deal for me.

However, I always thought that the 'missing link', if there were to be such a thing, would be different than this. Like bigger, and without a tail.

Re: "Missing Link" found!
 

=P
i rescend my previous statement on the grounds of intoxication.

Re: "Missing Link" found!
 

:confused:

Re: "Missing Link" found!
 

Well, if you don't see it then it certainly must be an erroneous report. ;)

Not just bugs, but also many birds. Man-made lights that are on all night in cities and such have been having a pretty broad, nagative affect on bird migration patterns and overall behavior for years as well. The fact of the matter is we're developing technology and habits as a society that are outpacing other species ability to keep up in an evolutionary sense. That's a major reason why so many species are going extinct every day, why a full quarter of mammals are listed as at least being threatened as well as a full third of amphibians, and why half the world's forests have been descimated.

Again, because you have questions doesn't invalidate the theories. I have questions and things I don't understand at all about how the hell black holes work, but that doesn't invalidate their existence.

Re: "Missing Link" found!
 

Who claims that, exactly?

Re: "Missing Link" found!
 

Here, you can use my can opener. I stole it from a boy scout(former boy scout, he's an adult now), but you didn't hear about it from me.

Re: "Missing Link" found!
 

I guess no educated person actually does, but you know what I was meaning.

To correct myself, I don't believe that we come from the same evolutionary ancestor as monkeys.

Re: "Missing Link" found!
 

The native americans originated, like europeans, from africa... scientists have managed to use DNA mapping (or something along those lines) to link Native american DNA with African. They say that the first americans passed into north america by an ice bridge between russia and alaska. When that Ice bridge melted they were cut off and left to develop on their own. Thus even if, based on the theory of evolution, they would have developed differently from the european human they still have the same roots in their DNA and thus just like horses and Donkeys, different breeds of Cats and Dogs etc etc etc the Native american is successfully able to mate with Europeans...or any other human for that matter...

i saw this recently too which touches upon this idea.. http://www.ted.com/index.php/talks/s..._humanity.html

Tho this fossil has nothing really got to do with why the native americans or aboriginals are slightly different to Europeans Africans or Aisians.. this has got to do with the development of the root human, the Homosapian... it has already been prooven that these different types of human have the same DNA footprint...what needs to be proven is where and how that DNA footprint first came into existance.

Also lets say the comment left here about the flys not realising that a lightbulb will kill them was valid... taking the idea lets say that the lightbulb has been in existance for as long as the fly... the idea of Natural Selection and Darwins theory is that while the majority of flies would perish to the lightbulb, over millenia one or two flies would develop the brain capacity to realise the lightbulb was harmless.. that feature would be passed on from generation to generation, slowly at first but eventually to a point that there was clearly two species..the ones that are attracted to the lightbulb and the ones that are not..the ones that are not have longer lives, thus develop better, perhaps grow in size... and now these days this strain of fly has become a wasp, a bee etc... not in anyway threatened by the light. And this does not mean that the fly species would die out completely, it continues to co-exist with its more advanced cousins, and continues to perish to the lightbulb... same reason why monkeys and apes still exist today with us..

This fossil has qualities that display what would be similar to our flys minimaly higher brain capacity, its not the longer tail as someone said here, its the aposable big toes and the presence of nails rather than claws... you could imagine that this new form of lemur did not need big claws to dig into a tree trunk because it had a big toe that could hook onto it and grip him in... thus the claws become less essential and develop into nails...

I mean i amnt in any way an archeologist or paleantologist... but you have to admit that the fact that this hybrid species has even been found in the state it is in is something incredible.. and its worth considering how it applies tot he development of primates at least..and perhaps if you then come around to the idea humans too

Re: "Missing Link" found!
 

This whole thread makes me want to gouge my eyes out. Is it really this difficult to understand the principle of natural selection? Because I'm seeing some really stupid things being said in the name of debating evolution.

Do we need to pause for a refresher course?

Re: "Missing Link" found!
 

One of the first responses to the initial post was a prediction of a "slow-news-day feeding frenzy"

funny how the thread devolved

Re: "Missing Link" found!
 

here, let's brush up on the basics.

this is currently my very favorite video on the interwebs.

Re: "Missing Link" found!
 

So THAT'S why I've never met a fat spider monkey....

Re: "Missing Link" found!
 

that is the best part, isn't it? :p


i'm actually just replying so i can make sure my sig file updated.

Re: "Missing Link" found!
 

Crocoduck... does it quack? cus i want one now..

Re: "Missing Link" found!
 

And, now, for the current mindset of everything quick, fast, and easy to understand:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mYfKbx0Tdb8

You're not that tall, go ask Alice.

Thanks mom.

Re: "Missing Link" found!
 

Belief in evolution: stats!

The British Council has asked, with the help of Ipsos MORI, over ten thousand adults across ten countries from China to the USA, just what they think of evolution.

http://spreadsheets.google.com/ccc?k...5f6KX1PNcN7Z4w

Among the results, the % of people who do NOT think there is scientific evidence for evolution:

Argentina - 7
China - 5
Egypt - 19
Great Britain - 7
India - 2
Mexico - 9
Russia - 8
South Africa - 4
Spain - 5
USA - 24

Yes, I'm looking at that bizarrely high % next to USA.

I recommend you all buy someone a copy of this book when it's released. ;)

Gaps in fossil record are not holes in theory, y'all!

Re: "Missing Link" found!
 

Holy crap, these are humiliating numbers. 24% of Americans don't realize evolution is a proven theory?

Re: "Missing Link" found!
 

I'd love to see how many still believe The Bible is the "Word of God" as well.

I'm going to be, like, totally excommunicated from, like, no where.

Re: "Missing Link" found!
 

technically if it's proven it's not a theory anymore, it's a law.

i'm not trying to call you out, though. my only contribution to evolution debate these days is an effort to make sure we're all using the correct terminology and concepts. because i feel like the reason we've got 24% of people disbelieving in evolution is because they don't properly comprehend natural selection and what the theory actually states. so you've got people who don't get it, and in their confusion they wholesale reject it.

i feel like we've gone way past the point where we can provide these people with adequate clarification, but if we're going to make any progress at all that's the only way we'll get there.

Re: "Missing Link" found!
 

I think you're right. Not only do many fail to understand the evidence, but many fail to understand the concept of scientific proof, of evidence, and of the difference between a scientific theory, and the everyday sense in which we casually use the word 'theory'.

Re: "Missing Link" found!
 

And laws don't exist outside of formal logic/mathematics. The most formal way to prove a scientific theory inductively, IE by emperical evidence is by using something like bayesian inference, where it becomes a probability whether or not something is really "proven" or better put, never to be disproved. This is because of the uncertainties inherent in inductive reasoning outlined by Hume back in the day. But when the fuck are we ever going to hear that from science friday on npr? let alone 11 o'clock news?

But yeah, the best that can be said is "look, this what increasingly appears to be indisputable, and is a damn sight better than yer dino bronco busting messiah.

Re: "Missing Link" found!
 

I meant "proven theory" as in a theory that has since been proven. But yes, you're right.

Re: "Missing Link" found!
 

don't mind me, i'm just nit pickin' and bustin' balls.

Re: "Missing Link" found!
 

Just a couple of nice brief snippets for the doubters among us:

Show me the intermediate fossils!

Why are there still Chimpanzees?

(wish we could embed video on this forum)

Re: "Missing Link" found!
 

More RDF. Briefly addressing a couple more arguments against evolution:

Comparing the Human and Chimpanzee Genomes

The Evolution of a New Species

Worth a gander.

Re: "Missing Link" found!
 

Dawkins is fightin' the good fight. Ignorance is a scourge on society.

Re: "Missing Link" found!
 

A British film about Charles Darwin has failed to find a US distributor because his theory of evolution is too controversial for American audiences, according to its producer.

?!!

Re: "Missing Link" found!
 

Here you go doubters, watch this short intro to The Greatest Show on Earth

If you want the evidence, it's laid out in the book, released next tuesday (22 Sept) in the US. (Amazon) Been getting some good reviews.

And while I have your attention, Evolution Theory AND Fact

Re: "Missing Link" found!
 

This is one of the most disturbing statistics to me. The one about how many Americans don't believe in evolution that is. They might as well be saying they don't believe the earth is round fer cryin' out loud. And when that's piled on top of all the "birthers", people who think being "intellectual" is a bad thing, who can't name our Vice President and similarly ignorant people proudly flaring their dumbness, I really get scared for this country. I mean, how can we have a rational discussion or debate when we can't even find a common frame of reference regarding scientific realities like evolution? Don't these people ever think to look at recorded human history to see the glaring evolutionary path that it highlights for our own species? Do they think we haven't evolved since medieval times, or earlier? It's extremely disturbing.

Re: "Missing Link" found!
 

I feel for you, Sean.

I would say move to the UK, but seeing as we are turning into Communist Germany here, you would be better off moving to France.

And so will I.