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"tree" has "everything" as an ances–
tor to modern
man-Rarnapithecus,
Austra/opithecus, Horno erectus
and
Neanderthal.
Then there are those who keep
sorne ancestors but reject others.
South African anthropologist Philip
J. Tobías starts his tree with an an–
cestor of
Austra/opithecus,
which
evolves into
Horno erectus,
to
Neanderthal, to modern man. The
various kinds of
Austra/opithecines
(such as
Zinjanthropus)
are put off
in side branches.
The late Dr.
L.
S. B. Leaky rea–
soned it this way:
Kenyapithecus
evolved into
Horno erectus,
which
evolved into modern man. Leakey
put most of the
Pithecanthropines
and the Neanderthals in a side
branch. He even placed his famous
"Zinj" fossil in a side branch, remov–
ing it from man's line of descent.
After looking at these confticting
family trees, it should be clear that
the postulated evolution of man is
just that-a postulate, not really
even a theory. As anthropologist F.
Clark Howell has stated: "Anyone
who feels that we already have the
problem solved is surely deluding
himself."
Stone Age Men Today
Of course, in any attempt to line up
one creature or culture as being "lat–
er" than another, we must always
remember that there a re many
" Stone-Age" men living today with
other cultures in the "Space Age."
The bushmen of South Africa and
Australia are well-known examples.
The Tasaday "Stone-Age" tribe
(see photo on page 22) on the Philip–
pine island of Mindanao is still an–
other example. Physiologically they
a re modern
Horno sapiens!
Yet their
culture (their tools, life-styles, etc.) is
earliest Stone Age!
Today there are only a few dozen
Tasaday left, and it is a wonder, say
anthropologists, that they have man–
aged to survive even this long. Their
lack of development is a lmost unbe–
lievable: They live without man–
made shelter, with no clothing except
for the occasional palm lea f. They
grow no crops. Their only tools a re a
few roughly shaped pieces of stone,
and their only food is wild berries,
shrubs, a few grubs, and tadpoles
from streams. Their language, al-
26
though distinctly different , has a
very limited vocabulary and almost
no grammar- communication - is
merely a few basic words haphazard–
ly strung together. They have no art,
no written language!
The Tasaday could easily be mis–
taken for
Horno erectus-supposedly
one of our very distant ancestors!
Archaeologlcal Bombshell
In August 1972, Richard Leakey,
son of the celebrated Dr. Louis S. B.
Leakey, found an amazing skull near
Lake Rudolph, Kenya. The skuil was
remarkably "modern" in appear–
ance-yet it was dated (by the potas–
sium argon method) at
2.~
million
years old. This skull was a bombshell
in archaeology. Skull 1470, as it was
labeled, completely upset the whole
evolutionary applecart for man's ori–
gins. Said Leakey:
" It
leaves in ruins
the notion that all early fossils can be
arranged in an orderly sequence of
evolutionary change."
Why was Leakey so concerned?
Because the skull was a complete
misfit! It is more modern in appear–
ance than
Horno erectus
and has a
large brain case-estimated at 800
ce. Yet it is so much older than
Horno erectus
that it just doesn't fit
properly on the evolutionary chart.
The evidence is that this man (or
woman) Jived contemporaneously
with the primitive apelike creatures,
the
Austra/opithecines!
Leakey said:
"Either we toss out this skull or we
toss out our theories of evolutionary
change.
It
simply fits no previous
models of human beginnings."
Ancestors from " Afar"?
In early, 1979, physical anthropolog–
ist Dr. Carl Johanson announced a
new family tree for man based on
sorne fascinating fossil finds in the
Afar region of Africa. Johanson
claims he has identified a new species
of ape-rnan which he dubs
Austra/o–
pithecus afarensis
(Afar ape-rnan).
According to Johanson , such
creatures existed from three to four
million years ago, walked erect on a
humanlike body, but had primitive
teeth and a small skull like an ape.
Since the Afar ape was "interme–
diate of what one thinks of as hu–
man and as ape," Johanson con–
tends that "we can definitely place
it in the zoological family of man."
Consequently, Johanson asserts tha t
Australopithecus africanus
is not
an ancestor of man but is part of a
" dead-end" side branch of the evo–
lutionary tree.
Yet other anthropologists are re–
luctant to relegate the famous
Australopithecus
fossils to "evolu–
tionary dead ends" and are challeng–
ing Johanson's claims. Mary Leakey
disputes Johanson's pronouncements
and labels his work "not very scien–
tific."
One problem is that the footprints
of Johanson's primitive hominids are
almost indistinguishable from mod–
ern man. "They are," says Johanson,
"virtually identical to modern feet. "
So, at Jeast in terms of feet, there has
supposedly been no evolution for mil–
Jions of years! "Man's evolutionary
tree," admits Johanson, "is looking
more Jike an evolutionary bush." But
as for Mary Leakey, Johanson con–
tends that she "really sbows a poor
appreciation of what evolution is all
about."
The conclusion should be obvious:
Nobody knows where man carne
from. Nobody, that is, who limits
himself to only the physical evi–
dence.
On the other hand, the Word of
God does provide an answer. Genesis
reveals that it was God, not evolu–
tion, t hat made the first true men.
"So God created man in his own
image ... mate and fema le created
he them" (Gen. 1:27).
Christians can accept the evidence
that there are apes and monkeys that
have certain resemblances to man. A
variety of apelike creatures have un–
doubtedly lived that are now extinct.
Indeed, the Bible allows for a world
befare Adam. But the evidence shows
that ancient "apes" were not man's
evolutionary ancestors; in fact, "prim–
itive hominids" have never been shown
to have evolved into anything!
No, far from being the evolutiona–
ry progeny of primitive hominids,
Adam and his descendants are the
special creation of the Great God of
the universe and have been placed on
earth for a very special purpose. Tha t
purpose is made clear in the fascinat–
ing free booklet
Why Were You
Born?
To obtain your free copy,
simply write to
The Plain Truth
at
the address nearest you (see inside
front cover).
o
The
PLAIN TRUTH August 1979