Taking the Stand next in the case on Evolution is the Ape-Men discoveries that many evolutionist cite give proof of the common decent between man and apes.
A lot has been made about the close relation between man and primates. It has long been said that of all the animals, humans are more closely related to the primates more than any other genus family and species. Evolutionist point to studies done where primates can be taught to communicate and other simple reward based tasks.
Ernst Mayr an evolutionist cites the homology between apes and humans as proof of common descent. Homology is the study of similar structures between certain species. “For example,” as Chris Sherrod explains in his book on the flaws of evolution “if we compare a bat’s wing, a bird’s wing, a man’s arm, and a porpoise’s fin, we can see very similar patterns in how the bones are arranged” 1
Sherrod continues to point out that the homological similarities come from different types of cells and DNA and they develop in a different pattern during embryological development. Additional, it is just as easy to say that they come from a common designer as it is to say they come from a common ancestor. Evolutionist must explain the incredible similarities between the hands and feet from random mutations, that all end up the same.
Molecular geneticist, David Berlinski notes, “Chimpanzees, bonobos, and gorilla reason; they form plans; the have preferences; they are cunning; they have passions and desires; and they suffer. This is the same of cats, I might add. In as much of this we see ourselves. But beyond that what we have in common with apes, we have nothing in common, and while the similarities are interesting, the differences are profound.” 2
Difficulties between the primates and man are what ultimately caused Darwin’s partner or collaborator, Alfred Wallace to doubt his own theory about evolution. He saw the extreme advancements of the human race leaps and bounds ahead of all the primates. Besides obvious differences between physical appearances, there are other issues to address including; the human brain, the organs of speech and articulation, the human hand, the external human form, with its upright posture and bipedal gait. It is only human beings that can rotate their thumb and ring finger in what is called ulnar opposition in order to achieve a grip, a grasp, and a degree of torque denied of any of the great apes. Sure science has its guesses, but they are not backed by facts. Do we understand why among the animals humans alone have acquired language? A refined delicate moral system? Or art, architecture, music, dance, or mathematics?
There is much more to mention about the homology, but we will move on and perhaps address more homology in later posts. The next section of my blog I want to spend some time examining the hominoids that have been discovered by paleontologists. A hominoid is a claimed extinct man like ape that led up to the modern humans. Many of the hominoids have been given names due to the location and details of the discoveries. These hominoids can be broken down into 3 categories; fakes, mistakes, and unknowns. I will not go into great detail about each one, but you are welcome to “dig up” more information in books and articles.
First the fakes, there have been a number of discoveries that have initially gotten praise by those who support evolution and have turned out to be fakes. One most famous was Piltdown Man, found in 1912 where someone had filed down an orangutan jaw and stained it and attached to a human skull.
Secondly, there have been a number of hominoid discoveries that when originally discovered were touted as support for evolution, but in more recent times and under a deeper look, paleontologists have backed off from their original views and labeled them as something else. Nebraska Man, found in 1922 was used in the famous Scopes Monkey Trial and was a strange-looking tooth. It turns out it was only an extinct pigs tooth. Lucy, who was only about 3 feet tall was thought to be a pygmy, was actually an orangutan.
The last group of hominoids are a bit of a mystery and there is not a lot of evidence to point in any direction anyway. Many of the hominoid fossils are only skulls, incomplete fragments of bones, and really not much to make educated guesses on. While some are strange, with the knowledge of bone crippling diseases that we are aware of today it is more likely that these few hominoids are human remains that have suffered from bone diseases like Ricketts or arthritis. Other human remains dated around the same time period show us that humans were already walking upright at this current time period. Ones like Java Man, Peking Man which was actually 14 monkey skulls that appear to crushed at the base, Neanderthal Man found in Germany in 1856 who had a sloping down forehead and a was found to actually be human that cared for family, wore clothes, and looks very similar to the aborigines living in Australia today.
As always questions, comments, snide remarks are welcome.
End Notes:
1. Sherrod, Chris, Faith, Facts, and Reason Study #5 The Flaws of Evolution, pg. 84
2. – Berlinski, David, The Devils Delusion, Chapter 8
DId God Really Say... 