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Dark_Warrior
Guest
Are pigs genetically closer to humans than apes or monkies? I only ask because a creationist was using this the other day to make a point, anotherwords evolution didn’t happen.
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thistle
Guest
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FindTruth7
Guest
Well does anyone know where in the world he got this information?
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rossum
Guest
The creationist was wrong. S/he was being lied to by whatever creationist source the information came from. If you can, ask for the source of the information and we can check it out.
rossum
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puzzleannie
Guest
the creationist is obviously the mother of teens who was having a bad day after tackling their rooms. as usual, when an absurd claim is made you must ask for proof. there was a pop writer about thirty years ago who claimed we are closer to elephants and seals and this proves we spent part of the evolutionary cycle in the sea for some millenia. I don’t recall he got any serious support from any other scientists.
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Just_Lurking
Guest
Guinea pigs (which are not pigs) are genetically closer to humans than most other mammals, but certainly not as close as apes and monkeys. This is known because they have also inherited the gene mutation that affects vitamin C synthesis.
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The_Barbarian
Guest
You can see a DNA phylogeny of mammals here:
scienceblogs.com/evolgen/upload/2008/05/mammal_phylogeny.jpg
Note that pigs (suis) are placed in the even-toed hoofed animals, with carnivores, bats, and odd-toed hoofed animals.
Primates (including humans) are in an entirely different group, that of primates, rodents, and lagomorphs (rabbits and the like).
scienceblogs.com/evolgen/upload/2008/05/mammal_phylogeny.jpg
Note that pigs (suis) are placed in the even-toed hoofed animals, with carnivores, bats, and odd-toed hoofed animals.
Primates (including humans) are in an entirely different group, that of primates, rodents, and lagomorphs (rabbits and the like).
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rossum
Guest
No. Apes, including ourselves, have one error in our vitamin synthesis pathway. Guinea pigs have a different error in their vitamin C systhesis pathway. Guinea pigs are not particularly close to humans. You are correct that they are not pigs.
rossum
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mchale
Guest
At a guess, it might be that they got confused because pigs are more likely to be carriers of diseases that can impact humans than other animals that are commonly consumed by humans (in this country at least). Thus, for a time at least, it was believed that pigs might be more closely related to people than say cows and sheep. Clearly however, I doubt science ever believed they were more closely related than the primates.
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Bill
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Corki
Guest
A classmate of my son’s used to insist that wolves evolved from dolphins. Must have been reading the same pop writer.
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