Did you miss this part? So mutations caused by retroviral element occurred only in the chimp lineage. Is that so surprising?
They say there is a similar element found in other great apes. They didnt say they found the *same* element in the some other great apes, much less at the *same* position.
Do you see the difference? ERVs are very mobile pieces of DNA and can move both horizontally and vertically. The AIDS virus for example incorporates in the genomes of hematopoetic cells. I am sure there are infectious retroviruses that can enter the germ line.
Talk Origins is not a scientific site and it would be best to not get your info there.
The link I gave you before was written by a real working scientist (an immunologist - Edward Max), who thouroughly references everything he uses in the paper. Most of the data was taken from peer-reviewed publications.
This: PtERV1-like elements are present in the rhesus monkey, olive baboon and African great apes but not in human, orang-utan or gibbon, suggesting separate germline invasions in these species68.
alone shows the TO argument to be overstated.
As far as the *same* element, it is never the *same* and if you don;t understand that you do not understand molecular evolutionary biology.
Max's argument is too pat and simply wrong in light of evidence that has come to light since it was written.