Scientists Unveil Missing Link In Evolution

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Scientists have unveiled a 47-million-year-old fossilised skeleton of a monkey hailed as the missing link in human evolution.

http://news.sky.com/sky-news/content/StaticFile/jpg/2009/May/Week3/15284798.jpg This 95%-complete ‘lemur monkey’ is described as the “eighth wonder of the world”

The search for a direct connection between humans and the rest of the animal kingdom has taken 200 years - but it was presented to the world today at a special news conference in New York.
The discovery of the 95%-complete 'lemur monkey’ - dubbed Ida - is described by experts as the “eighth wonder of the world”.

news.sky.com/skynews/Home/World-News/Missing-Link-Scientists-In-New-York-Unveil-Fossil-Of-Lemur-Monkey-Hailed-As-Mans-Earliest-Ancestor/Article/200905315284582?f=rss

They have a website here:
revealingthelink.com/
 
That is not the eighth wonder of the world. 47 million years ago, it might have been. As is, it looks like a rat. A big rat.

Hmmm…lemur monkeys…I always thought the famed yet elusive missing link was a bit further down the line.
 
I don’t really understand how they think this proves evolution? The platypus doesn’t prove that mammals evolved from birds, and we already knew that if evolution were true, then there would have to be a species from which the two lines evolved. I thought the missing link was something which showed that *evolution *had happened.
 
St_Francis said:
I don’t really understand how they think this proves evolution? The platypus doesn’t prove that mammals evolved from birds, and we already knew that if evolution were true, then there would have to be a species from which the two lines evolved. I thought the missing link was something which showed that *evolution *had happened.
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i also don’t see how this proves darwin’s theory of evolution. if this was such a great find,
why did it hang on the wall of a collector for so many years? sounds a little suspicious to me and very convenient for those who are wanting to say - “a ha! told you so!”
 
With her human-like nails instead of claws, and opposable big toes, she is placed at the very root of human evolution when early primates first developed features that would eventually develop into our own.
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Uh… Lemus of today have opposable thumbs and opposable big toes. Humans don’t have opposable big toes.

And some have human like toe nails instead of claws.

pin.primate.wisc.edu/fs/sheets/images/205med.jpg

So I don’t get this as proof of anything except that this is a very old Lemur monkey (or maybe not so old). Maybe someone can enlighten me.
 
The article forgot to mention that they also determined Ida’s last name is Untno.
 
Sky News:
During that period, the first whales, horses, bats and monkeys emerged, and the early primates branched into two groups - one group lived on mainly as lemurs, and the second developed into monkeys, apes and humans.

The experts concluded Ida was not simply a lemur but a ‘lemur monkey’, displaying a mixture of both groups, and therefore putting her at the very branch of the human line.
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Don’t branches in human evolution occur in many places, e.g. monkey/apes or apes/humans? Why is the lemur/monkey split any more important than the others?
 
This isn’t a fencing match where the opponents score points with each discovery. This is simply a piece of evidence that is part of a larger picture. The evidence suggests that the Earth is very old and that evolutionary processes have contributed to getting us to where we are now. This does no violence to God.
 
a_priori said:
This does no violence to God.
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I agree. All scientific discoveries should be taken prudently by Catholics in respect to the Divine Providence. This is one small piece in a huge puzzle although many on both sides will treat it as a be-all/end-all situation.
I see the fervor dying down in about six months, even three.
 
As exciting as this potentially is I think they are making too much noise in the media a bit too soon. From what I have heard this hasn;t really been peer reviewed and what not yet. It would be pretty embarressing if on further study they found they had to retract the missing link statement.
 
a_priori said:
This isn’t a fencing match where the opponents score points with each discovery. This is simply a piece of evidence that is part of a larger picture. The evidence suggests that the Earth is very old and that evolutionary processes have contributed to getting us to where we are now. This does no violence to God.
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You’re right a priori, however, the way that they present these “finds” does do “violence to God”.

Note how the article ends with a quote from the flummoxed Bishop of Worcester’s wife. To the media this is a “proof” that there is no God, Christians are all the Bishop of Worcester’s wife and, unfortunately, many uninformed people will take it as such. I’ve found that many Catholics are among the most clueless regarding these issues and most priests (that I’ve known) do nothing to put them in context. This is another instance of Pop Science chipping away at faith.
 
Mark651 said:
You’re right a priori, however, the way that they present these “finds” does do “violence to God”.

Note how the article ends with a quote from the flummoxed Bishop of Worcester’s wife. To the media this is a “proof” that there is no God, Christians are all the Bishop of Worcester’s wife and, unfortunately, many uninformed people will take it as such. I’ve found that many Catholics are among the most clueless regarding these issues and most priests (that I’ve known) do nothing to put them in context. This is another instance of Pop Science chipping away at faith.
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IMHO, Christians who insist the Earth is only a few thousand years old and unbelievers who insist that “evolution” proves there is no God are both wrong for opposite reasons. (Although the Christians believing in a young Earth have a better case than the unbelievers rejecting God altogether.)
 
Mark651 said:
To the media this is a “proof” that there is no God, Christians are all the Bishop of Worcester’s wife and, unfortunately, many uninformed people will take it as such.
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How does this affect The Elect either way? Those who are believers will keep believing and those who aren’t will just get to feel smug.
Maybe I just have an apathetic view of this…
 
scapularkid8 said:
How does this affect The Elect either way? Those who are believers will keep believing and those who aren’t will just get to feel smug.
Maybe I just have an apathetic view of this…
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I think you do! And I think that attitude is mirrored by many priests.

I know many Catholics my age (40 somethings) who are badly catechized/educated (most of whom went to Catholic schools) who’s faith can be shaken by this. They’re the people who are being targeted by this type of thing (as presented), Dawkins, Hitchens, etc. Should we just let them go? When these things come out, alarm bells go off–not for my faith, but for faithful but uninformed Catholics/Christians. They’re defenseless.

I’m a Revert and didn’t go to Catholic school. The rest of my family did. I’m the informed one. They’re not. What does that say about our priests, nuns and bishops? (This is a recurring theme with me). It doesn’t speak well of our Church in the U.S. that the best thing that ever happened to me and many others is not having gone to Catholic school.

I think that we should care about the faith of others. They try, many times as best they can, and this kind of thing hurts, especially when there’s little or no counterweight.
 
Don’t worry folks - it is not the missing link.

Human evolution: The spin machine in top gear

That fossil doesn’t “explain” human evolution; it complicates the picture.
The theory that was gaining ground was that humans were descended from tarsier-like creatures, but this fossil, touted as a primate ancestor, is a lemur-like creature.
 
buffalo said:
Don’t worry folks - it is not the missing link.
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Well, that’s a shame. I don’t know how many “missing links” have been found in my lifetime, but the number would be significant. One hates to see any club go without new members, and it seems it has been awhile since the latest “missing link”.
 
Uhhh, has anyone considered the odd aesthetic sense of a person who would hang that on his wall? It strikes me as an extraordinarily creepy bit of decor. But I guess I’m a Phillistine, so what do I know?
 
Mark651 said:
I think you do! And I think that attitude is mirrored by many priests.

I know many Catholics my age (40 somethings) who are badly catechized/educated (most of whom went to Catholic schools) who’s faith can be shaken by this. They’re the people who are being targeted by this type of thing (as presented), Dawkins, Hitchens, etc. Should we just let them go? When these things come out, alarm bells go off–not for my faith, but for faithful but uninformed Catholics/Christians. They’re defenseless.

I’m a Revert and didn’t go to Catholic school. The rest of my family did. I’m the informed one. They’re not. What does that say about our priests, nuns and bishops? (This is a recurring theme with me). It doesn’t speak well of our Church in the U.S. that the best thing that ever happened to me and many others is not having gone to Catholic school.

I think that we should care about the faith of others. They try, many times as best they can, and this kind of thing hurts, especially when there’s little or no counterweight.
Click to expand...
Here is where it started. 1968 and Humanae Vitae. Selling birth control pills was the overriding reason to have a “sexual revolution.” Throw in the Hippies who also advocated smoking dope and taking LSD (dropping acid, a powerful hallucinogen) and you see the fruit of it today.

Too many priests and nuns got caught up in the ‘change,’ and by 1970, this was the result:

time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,876637-1,00.html

You may be the counterweight. That’s right. You’re faithful witness, though we are all imperfect, is the start we need. It will begin with individuals like you, even if you think you’re somehow not ready or able. Pray to God for help and guidance, and do what you can.

Peace,
Ed
 
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