Recent investigation has unveiled that the Pithecanthropus is an extinct branch of the primates. Where they human?

-- Atila (me@somewhere.com), May 05, 2000

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-- Atila (me@somewhere.com), May 05, 2000.

A little (opinionated) background from a Minnesota State Univeristy at Makato internet page:
"Known now as Eugene Dubois, Marie Eugene Francois Thomas Dubois was born in Eijsden (Netherlands) on January 28th, 1858 and died in Haelen (Netherlands) on December 16th, 1940. Dubois, a surgeon, anthropologist, anatomist and paleontologist earned worldwide fame through his discovery of Pithecanthropus erectus (now Homo erectus), the 'upright, ape-man of Java.'"

"Dubois was intent on finding the "missing link", the evolutionary connection between apes and modern humans. In 1891, while digging into fossil rich ash and river sediments in Java, he found Pithecanthropus erectus. The name meant "ape-human which stood upright." Dubois was scorned for his find and his belief that he had found the missing link. Modern science, however, has vindicated Eugene Dubois for he was the first to find what we know now as Homo erectus, a direct ancestor of fully modern man."

"Dubois attended Amerstad University and earned a degree in Anatomy. In 1899, he became Professor of Crystallography, Mineralogy, Geology and Paleontology at Amerstad. In the meantime, he began searching for man's primitive ancestors in the Netherlands East Indies. Supported by the Dutch colonial government, he worked in Sumatra and Java from 1888 to 1895; from 1891 to 1893, Dubois found the famous remains of Pithecanthropus (a skull cap, a few molars, and a femur) near the village of Trinil, Java. In his view, the remains provided the missing link between ape and man."

"After returning to Europe in 1895, he spent many years trying to convince the world of his findings. Dubois fossils were the first hominid remains to be recognized as material proof for human evolution. His findings helped give shape to the rising science of paleoanthropology. After the 1900s, he withdrew from the controversy on Pithecanthropus and devoted himself to various anatomical, paleontological and geological studies."


More background, this time from another opionionated source, "Fossil Hominids -- The Evidence for Human Evolution" at http://www.talkorigins.org/faqs/homs/ -- a site that has detailed information, photos, timeline tables, etc., on the subject of "hominids."

"[An example of Pithecanthropus erectus (Homo erectus/Java man) was d]iscovered by Eugene Dubois in 1891 near Trinil in Java. Its age is uncertain, but thought to be about 700,000 years. This find consisted of a flat, very thick skullcap, a few teeth, and a thigh bone found about 12 meters away (Theunissen, 1989). The brain size is about 940 cc. ... Many creationists consider Java Man to be a large ape, but it is far more humanlike and has a far larger brain size than any ape, and the skull is similar to other Homo erectus skulls."


I present this for anyone who wishes to discuss this subject with the gentleman who started the thread. (I'm sorry, but I myself am not captivated by the topic. Time is precious. I have scarcely enough time available to use on "today's reality," without delving into the unfathomable twists and turns of "prehistoric possible reality.")
aaa

-- aaa (a@a.a), May 06, 2000.

Dear Atila,
This is a strange question. By becoming extinct, it leads one to wonder if it was human? Don't see the connection.

In The Everlasting Man G.K. Chesterton contemplated these problems. The scientist, he said, ''. . . if he finds a skull in the hollow of a hill, cannot multiply it into the vision of a valley of dried bones. Dealing with a past that has almost etirely vanished, he can only go by evidence and not by experiment. And there's hardly enough eveidence to be evidential. Thus, while most science moves in a sort of curve, being constantly corrected by new evidence, this science flies off into space in a straight line, uncorrected by anything . . . . the habit of forming conclusions is so fixed in the scientific mind-- it talks about the idea suggested by one scrap of bone as if it were a metal scrap from an airplane. The marvelous and triumphant airplane is made up of a hundred mistakes [corrected as development goes along] --The student of origins can only make one mistake and stick to it.'' Later in the chapter he comments on Pithecanthropus, with characteristic Chestertonian humor.

-- Eugene Chavez (rechavez@popmail.ucsd.edu), May 07, 2000.