Ho-Hum, Another Human Missing Link (Temple of Darwin in full religious revival mode)

CEH ^ | May 19, 2009

[GodGunsGuts]

May 19, 2009 — Shoppers typically are wary of over-hyped ads, knowing that any claim sounding too good to be true probably is.  What would they think about media reports claiming a new fossil monkey is the “8th wonder of the world”?

    The scientific paper in PLoS ONE¹ had hardly been published before the press went ape, as if on cue, at the buzzphrase missing link.  A couple of press releases about the new lemur fossil of a female nicknamed Ida are calm and rational, like the one by Gautum Naik at the

Wall Street Journal.  If what he wrote is true, that existing debates will persist in spite of the fossil, then the statements made by other reporters are clearly over the top (sampling below)...

[GodGunsGuts]

Ping!

[Squidpup]

[Aquinasfan]

There’s no doubt, no doubt whatsoever, that this is a fossil.

[cripplecreek]

Can we call if Fred Phelps?

[<1/1,000,000th%]

2 more missing links.

[qam1]

All that was found was a well-preserved fossil in Germany that is 95% lemur, alleged to be 47 million years old. The only things it lacks from modern lemurs is a specialized tooth for grooming, a specialized claw for grooming, and a wet nose.. Other than that, the fossil looks like a modern lemur.

Following the article's own link to the story, The article leaves out

She has nails rather than the claw typical of non-anthropoid primates such as lemurs, and her teeth are similar to those of monkeys........... Evidence in the talus bone links Ida to us. The bone has the same shape as in humans today.

Gee sounds like a lot to miss, I'm sure it was a legitimate mistake.

[CottShop]

Saw this in the paper htis am- unbelievable! Those touting it as a missing link really are making monkeys out of htemselves- which apparently, they don;’t mind doing. At least the scientists aren’t being as silly as the press over the find (but htey’re close)

[CottShop]

The scientific paper, as expected, is much more reserved in tone. “We do not interpret Darwinius as anthropoid, but the adapoid primates it represents deserve more careful comparison with higher primates than they have received in the past.” In fact, the most remarkable thing about the fossil was its exceptional preservation – and its shady past. The fossil had a checkered history. It was found by private collectors in 1983 and split into two halves. One half was doctored up by a Wyoming fossil collector to make it look complete, reported Science Daily. The other half stood on a German collector’s wall till 2006, then fell into the hands of a private dealer, who presented it to Prof. Hurum at a fossil trade show. Sky News said Hurum had to raise the equivalent of $1 million US dollars to obtain it – ten times the price of rare fossils. No one is saying whether he is hyping the fossil to help recoup his investment.

Hmmm piltdown man all over again- Yay science!

[GodGunsGuts]

Isn’t that what the Evos want...to make monkeys out of themselves?

[GodGunsGuts]

Yep, all these overhyped missing link stories have a very similar ending!

[Liberty Valance]

Google found a new smirking chimp ...

[GodGunsGuts]

Yeah, I saw that. Very in your face of them...but it woulnd’t be the first time. Conservatives have got to come up with their own search site!!!

[shibumi]

This is the real thing!

This link comes complete with a Certificate of Live Birth from Hawai’i. It’s name is Bark Mohammed Lemur.

[woollyone]

::grin::

[Alamo-Girl]

Thanks for the ping!

[Alamo-Girl]

LOLOL!

[count-your-change]

Everyone better make their deals and collect the advance money before the hype wears off and someone figures out that it may be an interesting fossil but that’s all it is.
If it is.

[tpanther]

Making monkeys out of themselves is actually a pre-requisite to being an evoloon.

[tpanther]

“Isn’t that what the Evos want...to make monkeys out of themselves?”

If that’s not bad enough, they fling poo at anyone that doesn’t agree with them.