Thursday, April 08, 2010

Australopithecus sediba

So it IS an Australopithecus. I was confused by the headlines at various news sources screaming : "New Humans Discovered!" Oh wait, some people (well, Don Johanson anyway) think it belongs to Homo genus. Hey, is Richard Leaky still alive? Maybe they could all go on television together, and rip up each other's graphs in a public spat...remember that? That was awesome.

Discovered by a nine year old. Dude, that's some "What I Did on my Summer Vacation" story.


OK, set your watches and we'll see how long it takes before I receive the first comment telling me it is surely a fake, and citing Piltdown as some sort of evidence ("people were fooled! Oh my gosh! Every subsequent fossil must be a fake! Oh my gosh!") OR,I get the really compelling argument that "God made those fossils to test my faith."

I also find it fascinating that the articles I've read describe "walking upright" without using the term, "bipedal." Do you suppose they think it sounds dirty or something? I've always wondered if that's the real issue with teaching human origins in public schools-they'd be forced to say, "Homo erectus."


You're probably correct if you think I sound like I'm in a shitty mood today.

No comments: