| From: pedro | 26/10/99
17:08:13 |
| Subject: Evolutionary linage |
post id:
2582 |
| Why is it that if human evolution
from primates was successful we don't see some evidence towards this
trend in the primates of today? I believe the bone structure of the human foot was a major factor in developing erect posture and the start or Homo sapien lineage. Yet in all the time that passed our primate cousins are still stuck with feet with bone structure similar to their hands. Why does evolution let them down? If it proved such a success in one lot of primates why not all primates? You'd think the process would have gradual and continuous so you should be able to trace some evidence of it today instead of coming to sudden stop. Why is the evolutionary lineage cut so ie the missing link. Ta Pedrothefish | |
| From: pedro | 26/10/99
17:23:28 |
| Subject: re: Evolutionary linage |
post id:
2593 |
| Hi Pedro, what is the evolutionary pressure for the apes to change away from their current niche? They seem to be doing fairly successfully at the moment. So the requirement for a foot allowing upright stance would not necessarily allow prehensile feet, which would actually work against the reproductive success of an ape. Paul | |
| From: pedro | 27/10/99
13:52:55 |
| Subject: re: Evolutionary linage |
post id:
2832 |
| Thanks Pual ,How about the
pressure of having any trees to exersise their prehensile albiet humans
fault but our intervention and not evolution will determine their
survival.And there's still the question about the break in our linage back
to the primates. Sorry I can't seem to get down on paper the thoughts
going on in my head. cheers pedrothefish | |
| From: steve(primus) | 27/10/99
14:19:16 |
| Subject: re: Evolutionary linage |
post id:
2841 |
| And there's
still the question about the break in our linage back to the primates.
Humans, apes, monkes, lemurs and bushbabies are all primates. Do you mean that we haven't yet found the proto-hominid that was the ancestor of apes and humans? We probably haven't but lots of other goodies have been found. Fossilisation is a rare process. Our knowledge of all the dinosuars, for instance, comes from fewer than 2000 fossils. Even so, a lot of fossils have been found which demostrate the human lineage, as we understand it at the moment, very nicely. Some branches of the tree died out - the robust australopithecines for instance - while others evolved into modern humans and chimpanzees. Apes' feet and hands vary enormously. Knuckle walkers like gorillas and chimpanzees are very different from the arborial orang outans and the brachiating gibbons. The ability to use feet as hands is mainly lost in humans as we spend most of the time walking on our feet and encase them in shoes. If, however, you look at people who have no hands or have lost the use of them, you find that they can do most manual tasks using their feet. With training and practice there is no reason why everyone couldn't do the same thing. Our feet are not so different from those of a chimpanzee, it is just that we use them in different ways. | |
| From: michael c | 27/10/99
14:38:31 |
| Subject: re: Evolutionary linage |
post id:
2852 |
| Just remember Pedro that humans
aren't descended from any of the other primates that exist today. They
have been evolving as well just like the humans have. All the primates
have evolved independantly and would be very different from their common
ancestors. Michael C J | |