Oldest Hominid Skull In Australia Found Near Bega (7 Million Years Old)

Bega District News ^ | 1-13-2006

[CarolinaGuitarman]

Absolutely, and the *prehistory researcher* the claims come from is a loon. *Out of Australia* theories have to be the least likely of all scenarios.

[Chode]

yeah... i know 8^) what i meant was at one time, PekingMan was thought to be the oldest till Lucy or some such came along, now this one.

it sometimes looks like multi-genisis...

[Chode]

yup... mine too

[monkapotamus]

[Mike Darancette]

THE endocast of a primitive hominid-like skull was recovered from among the rubble of a volcanic plug in the Bega district in May 2005

The find could suggest that a race of ancestral hominids had evolved in Australia from tree-dwelling primate ancestors by seven million years ago.

The story starts out saying endocast later saying "earliest skull found" which is it?

I'm having trouble with the 7 mya number.

[b_sharp]

I'd be interested to find out where Australia was 7 million years ago. Was it attached to Africa that long ago?

[mewzilla]

That looks like a coprolite :)

[VadeRetro]

Or old rock-hard bubble gum.

[Ichneumon]

Now, I will admit I know next to nothing about examining bones, but those look just like stones he found with vaguely skull-like proportions.

EXACTLY my impression as well.

[b_sharp]

Sorry, my head was somewhere else with this one.

[dljordan]

"Let's hear all those high-school dropout, mail-order "Reverends" now tell us how all this is bunk."

Hey! I resent that! I'm a Reverend of the Universal Life Church and so's my wife. It cost me $25 and I got a certificate suitable for framing.

[b_sharp]

He looks to be the Aussie version of Ed Conrad.

[Ichneumon]

I'd be interested to find out where Australia was 7 million years ago. Was it attached to Africa that long ago?

No it wasn't. Even 50 million years ago, the continents were about in the same configuration as today, except that India hadn't yet slammed into Asia (and pushed up the Himalayas), and Africa hadn't quite yet joined up with Asia (via what is now called the Middle East). India, by the way, was rather a speed-demon when it comes to the speed of tectonic plate movement. Also, ocean levels were rather higher, cutting off what is now a land bridge between North and South Americas,

Earth 50 million years ago (from http://www.dinosauria.com/dml/maps.htm):

[VadeRetro]

I'd be interested to find out where Australia was 7 million years ago. Was it attached to Africa that long ago?

Not even close. I think Australia was free of Antarctica, its last Gondwana neighbor, by about 80 million years ago.

[CarolinaGuitarman]

"Sorry, my head was somewhere else with this one."

I missed it too until CoyoteMan mentioned it looked funny because the story came out so soon after *discovery*. I then reread the article and picked up on the *prehistory researcher* phrase. A quick google of Gilroy and I came upon the crackpot websites. If I hadn't done that, I would probably have been in the dark too. I'm not a bone-man, I'm a book-man. (History degree) :)

[Coyoteman]

I missed it too until CoyoteMan mentioned it looked funny because the story came out so soon after *discovery*. I then reread the article and picked up on the *prehistory researcher* phrase. A quick google of Gilroy and I came upon the crackpot websites. If I hadn't done that, I would probably have been in the dark too. I'm not a bone-man, I'm a book-man. (History degree) :)

I am more of a bone type, but very much like theory too.

When you come up with a theory which turns everything else on its head (no pun intended; or, not much), then you better bring some evidence to the table.

This business of endocasts is interesting, but there are a lot of things I would like to see on an endocast, such as blood vessels, brain morphology, etc. All I see from these pictures are somewhat cranial-shaped lumps. That's not much to go on if you want to turn the current thoughts on evolution up-side-down.

Some of the real cranial endocasts are quite detailed; the ones shown in the website linked on a previous post are pretty poor.

Like a lot of you, I'll wait for the evidence to build up before I bet the rent money.

[shuckmaster]

The height of the individual would have been hobbit size, ie around one metre,"

How does he determine the height of the individual from a partial endocast of a skull? I'm skeptical that he could even determine it's a hominid from a partial endocast. Something fishy about this whole story.

[b_sharp]

Thanks. I realized my mistake some few minutes after I posted that question. For some reason in the dark recesses of my mind I had the date much farther back than 7 million years.

[PatrickHenry]

One of these ought to do it: Select one of the times from the list on the left and travel through time.

[wyattearp]

So there is NO evolution of hominids from mamalian primates (proper mammals) in Australia.

Maybe it's a marsupial hominid? %-)