Evolution Continues to Advance

[Minimalist]

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/201...154902.htm

Humans have a distinctive hand anatomy that allows them to make and use tools. Apes and other nonhuman primates do not have these distinctive anatomical features in their hands, and the point in time at which these features first appeared in human evolution is unknown. Now, a University of Missouri researcher and her international team of colleagues have found a new hand bone from a human ancestor who roamed the earth in East Africa approximately 1.42 million years ago. They suspect the bone belonged to the early human species, Homo erectus. The discovery of this bone is the earliest evidence of a modern human-like hand, indicating that this anatomical feature existed more than half a million years earlier than previously known.

And the creatards will shriek in horror!

[Chad32]

I thought the only thing holding other apes back from making their own stuff was intelligence. I figured they did have the hands for it already.

[pocaracas]

"The dating is wrong... that happened 5,743 years ago".

[Minimalist]

The current edition of PNAS on their web site is 12-10 so maybe in a few days they will have this one available?

[Doubting Thomas]

Nah, they'll continue to beat the drum of "That's just a human/monkey hand" or "Since we have special hands that no other animals have, it proves that we were created that way by God."

Fundies don't trust scientists, so they're not likely to shriek in horror at anything scientists say. They'll just file it under "scientists are trying to disprove God" and forget it.

[LastPoet]

There was this old phrase:"Go and slap some sense into him". It is tempting sometimes

[Bad Writer]

Nah, they'll continue to beat the drum of "That's just a human/monkey hand" or "Since we have special hands that no other animals have, it proves that we were created that way by God."

Fundies don't trust scientists, so they're not likely to shriek in horror at anything scientists say. They'll just file it under "scientists are trying to disprove God" and forget it.

This conspiracy theory really bugs the hell out of me. Scientists usually begin their careers with the mindset of "Science is cool, and discovering things is awesome!" not "How can I best use my knowledge of science to debunk god claims today?"

Science progresses not in spite of god claims, but despite them.

[Jacob(smooth)]

Pfft. If creationists can get around the problem of neanderthal man then a mere hand bone will be easy for them to dismiss.

[Esquilax]

Pfft. If creationists can get around the problem of neanderthal man then a mere hand bone will be easy for them to dismiss.

I dunno that I'd call "ignoring completely," "getting around" a problem.