Fossil Find Is Missing Link in Human Evolution, Scientists Say

National Geographic News ^ | April 13, 2006 | John Roach

[Senator Bedfellow]

When the famous skeleton of an early human ancestor known as Lucy was discovered in Africa in the 1970s, scientists asked: Where did she come from?

Now, fossils found in the same region are providing solid answers, researchers have announced.

Lucy is a 3.5-foot-tall (1.1-meter-tall) adult skeleton that belongs to an early human ancestor, or hominid, known as Australopithecus afarensis.

The species lived between 3 million and 3.6 million years ago and is widely considered an ancestor of modern humans.

The new fossils are from the most primitive species of Australopithecus, known as Australopithecus anamensis. The remains date to about 4.1 million years ago, according to Tim White, a biologist at the University of California, Berkeley.

White co-directed the team that discovered the new fossils in Ethiopia (map) in a region of the Afar desert known as the Middle Awash.

The team says the newly discovered fossils are a no-longer-missing link between early and later forms of Australopithecus and to a more primitive hominid known as Ardipithecus.

"What the new discovery does is very nicely fill this gap between the earliest of the Lucy species at 3.6 million years and the older [human ancestor] Ardipithecus ramidus, which is dated at 4.4 million years," White said.

The new fossil find consists mainly of jawbone fragments, upper and lower teeth, and a thigh bone.

The fossils are described in today's issue of the journal Nature.

Found Links

According to White, the discovery supports the hypothesis that Lucy was a direct descendent of Australopithecus anamensis.

[stands2reason]

Just try debating with logic and reason. It won't kill you.

[Tribune7]

How the Biblical Canon came about

A timeline

[Iscool]

Here's a description of God, as He is, in the book of Revelation...

Rev 1:12 And I turned to see the voice that spake with me. And being turned, I saw seven golden candlesticks;
Rev 1:13 And in the midst of the seven candlesticks one like unto the Son of man, clothed with a garment down to the foot, and girt about the paps with a golden girdle.
Rev 1:14 His head and his hairs were white like wool, as white as snow; and his eyes were as a flame of fire;
Rev 1:15 And his feet like unto fine brass, as if they burned in a furnace; and his voice as the sound of many waters.
Rev 1:16 And he had in his right hand seven stars: and out of his mouth went a sharp two-edged sword and his countenance was as the sun shineth in his strength.
Rev 1:17 And when I saw him, I fell at his feet as dead. And he laid his right hand upon me, saying unto me, Fear not; I am the first and the last:

Although John was almost scared to death when he saw God, the bible says God greatly resembled the Son of Man, that is Jesus in the human flesh...And yes, God says He made us in His likeness/image, I take that as meaning physically...An image is something you can see...

And I'll bet God has His own formula for clearisil...

[Iscool]

"According to the bible which is also the oldest history book we have..."

Not even close.

OK...So which one is the oldest???

[Gumlegs]

Being the father of a gorgeous 20-something daughter myself I would make sure he put the handcuffs on before he walked in the door.

I'm tempted to defer to your wisdom on the basis of your FR name alone. But another expert has weighed in:

"Hands ain't everything." - Mae West.

[Iscool]

So... instead of 6 days it could have been longer...

Six days from the creation of light to the time of rest which is the seventh day...That's what the bible says...No mention as to how long the earth hung around...

[Coyoteman]

I have lots of great ideas for novels. Just can't write fiction worth beans. About 10 years ago I was hot to write a novel about what google is attempting to do by putting all published text online and indexed. I thought it was a pretty good idea.

How many words of fiction have you written?

Write 200,000-300,000 words and see what you think of your writing style then.

How, you ask?

You sit down and you write; Steinbeck has a good treatise on writing (Journal of a Novel); read and emulate that.

The real key is to write every day, five (or however many) days a week. Every week. Rack up lots of words. Don't go to writing seminars, just write!

When you are done you edit. Editing is easy. You just have to throw away about half of what you wrote (ignore the blood your are losing).

When you are done, you get to the hard part: selling the sucker.

But first, you have to crank out the words. Don't worry at first how good they are, just get them down. Don't go back and edit until you are done. WRITE! And then WRITE SOME MORE!

[The rest is left as an exercise for the student...]

[Conservative Texan Mom]

If God is a Spirit, what is his likeness?

Here is something else

1 John 4:16
And so we know and rely on the love God has for us.
God is love. Whoever lives in love lives in God, and God in him.

God is Love. Perhaps his likeness is the endowment of this emotion that is so very much at the root of our existence.

I'm sure you are already aware that the Hebrew word, Yom, can translate to day, as in 24 hours, or day as in "a length of time"

Consider this though

( 1 In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.
2 Now the earth was [a] formless and empty, darkness was over the surface of the deep, and the Spirit of God was hovering over the waters.

3 And God said, "Let there be light," and there was light. 4 God saw that the light was good, and He separated the light from the darkness. 5 God called the light "day," and the darkness he called "night." And there was evening, and there was morning—the first day.)

God separated the light from the dark. He called the light day, and the dark night. It does not say day was 12 hours. Day is defined by light, and night is defined by dark. God did not set up days as we know them in this verse, he set up the definitions for day and night.


(And God said, "Let there be lights in the expanse of the sky to separate the day from the night, and let them serve as signs to mark seasons and days and years, 15 and let them be lights in the expanse of the sky to give light on the earth." And it was so. 16 God made two great lights—the greater light to govern the day and the lesser light to govern the night. He also made the stars. 17 God set them in the expanse of the sky to give light on the earth, 18 to govern the day and the night, and to separate light from darkness. And God saw that it was good. 19 And there was evening, and there was morning—the fourth day.)

Night and day were not separated as we know them until the fourth day.

Also, look at this,

And there was evening, and there was morning—the fourth day.)

This phrase has always been interesting to me. Evening, and then morning, nighttime! It is what separates the days from each other. It is also a beautifully poetic way of separating each part of creation. It is mention after each "day" in creation in exactly the same way. But, night as we know it, was not established until the fourth day.

This is also interesting, as it was created on the third day, before God had physically separated daytime and nighttime as we know it.

(11 Then God said, "Let the land produce vegetation: seed-bearing plants and trees on the land that bear fruit with seed in it, according to their various kinds." And it was so. 12 The land produced vegetation: plants bearing seed according to their kinds and trees bearing fruit with seed in it according to their kinds. And God saw that it was good. 13 And there was evening, and there was morning—the third day)


Now this is from Genesis 2


(4 This is the account of the heavens and the earth when they were created.
When the LORD God made the earth and the heavens- 5 and no shrub of the field had yet appeared on the earth [d] and no plant of the field had yet sprung up, for the LORD God had not sent rain on the earth [e] and there was no man to work the ground, 6 but streams [f] came up from the earth and watered the whole surface of the ground- 7 the LORD God formed the man [g] from the dust of the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living being.)

God had already created plants, and shrubs, but they had not yet sprung up! Why, for the Lord had not sent rain, and there was NO MAN to work the ground. Streams came up from the Earth, and God formed man from the dust of the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life and the man became a living being. This could be literal, but it could also indicate that God, and He alone<has the power to create life. This verse is not the first to refer to life being brought forth from the Earth.

(Then God said, "Let the land produce vegetation: seed-bearing plants and trees on the land that bear fruit with seed in it, according to their various kinds.")

and

(24 And God said, "Let the land produce living creatures according to their kinds: livestock, creatures that move along the ground, and wild animals, each according to its kind." And it was so.)


and then this one from before

( God formed man from the dust of the ground)

[jec41]

It is thought by some that the tithe is most responsible for the spread of the Gospel. It was the first religion to incorporate tithes and allowed full time recruitment. Bible is also Latin it's meaning is small collection of books. There were many bibles but the Christian Bible is the most known. They were well protected and hidden after the barbarians burnt most of the major libraries of the world in a effort to wipe out knowledge. They did for a thousand years. What was left determined western civilization.

[Alter Kaker]

OK...So which one is the oldest???

I don't know if its the oldest, but the history on the Palermo Stone was composed 2500 BCE. Also, I'm not sure the Bible qualifies as a "history," although there are clearly historical components. Maybe testament of faith?

[Iscool]

You sure that stuff is all mythology???

Act 19:35 And when the town clerk had appeased the people, he said, Ye men of Ephesus, what man is there that knoweth not how that the city of the Ephesians is a worshiper of the great goddess Diana, and of the image which fell down from Jupiter?

Many people in that day apparently thought these things were real...

[jec41]

Many think themselves clones. They do not observe any change. Explains the good looking guy with the ugly girl and vise-versa.

[Iscool]

The clockwork, beautiful machine that evolution is, is a much greater accomplishment than, here gents, here it is,

I don't know...My thought is God is standing there looking at his creation pondering, and says to his angels, "Watch this"...He then flicks his thumb on his finger and suddenly the whole creation fills with stars, planets, suns and moons...That's a tough one to beat...

[hosepipe]

LoL...

[baltoga]

Thanks for the link. Now what NG does not discuss is the connection between Judas and the Gnostic Church. Now the NG show alludes to it by stating that many Christians were eager to martyr themselves (throw themselves to the Romans lions) so that they may enter into a special relationship with Christ.

Pardon my HTTP ignorance, but here's a link of the "Gospel of Judas".

http://www.markdroberts.com/htmfiles/resources/davinciopportunity3.htm#apr906

[Conservative Texan Mom]

Well, I know that some on these threads won't respect anyone who believes in God. I had a knock down dragged out debate yesterday with one who took great delight in ridiculing Christians. But, many on these threads are quite reasonable. On some things the only compromise is to agree to disagree. I think though some get frustrated when questions are asked and the asker has no intention of listening. They just want to fight. This is done by posters of both views. I am not singling any one view out.

Here's the thing, I absolutely LOVE GOD!!!!! I love him!!!!There are more Christians on this thread than we realize. If someone, who is not a Christian wanted to ask me a question about Christianity. I mean a genuine question. They have to feel comfortable enough to do it. The same as if I wanted to ask a question about science. I'm not going to go ask the person I went round and round with yesterday. He disrespects my belief, and treats people like poop. I will ask someone, who even though they may not share my belief, will treat me with respect. You never know. I do believe Christians have an example to set. Otherwise, we, and our beliefs get lumped into the "negative evidence" pile with a lot of other garbage. I don't want to represent my Lord that way. I know you don't either. The ultimate side is not who is right about our creation. It is who loves the Lord.

[baltoga]

Fascinating. I'll have to definitely read more on this aspect.

Thanks!

[Conservative Texan Mom]

You may notice that God did not say he created the earth on the first day...He created 'light' on the fisrt day of the Genesis creation...The earth was already there...And He didn't say how long it's been there...


It did say he created it.

I have come across this interpretation in my studies. This is the one that believes dinosaurs, and other prehistoric life had been created and died before the Genesis acount of creation.
Is that correct?

[Conservative Texan Mom]

I'm 35. I don't think I'm old, just a lot older than I used to be.

[jec41]

Many people in that day apparently thought these things were real...

Yep, the Greek Gods often lived among the people. You might want to read Helios creation, very similar to Genesis but older.