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Afarensis

Anthropology, Evolution and Science

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afarcomp3.jpg Afarensis is a 3.5-2.8 million year old hominin from the Kada Hadar member of the Hadar formation in the Middle Awash, Ethiopia. He is approximately 41 inches tall, weighs approximately 60 pounds and has a cranial capacity of a whopping 410 cc (approximately). Afarensis is currently considered to be transitional between apes and humans and displays some traits of both. Since he spends a lot of time on the couch watching monster movies, some observers question whether he is an obligate biped (although no one has observed him climbing a tree). He also has a blog called Transitions:The Evolution of Life His previous blog can be found here.
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"Loyalty to petrified opinion never broke a chain or freed a human soul..."
Mark Twain


"Ideology is a poor substitute for rational thought..."
Afarensis


"It isn't faith that makes good science...it's curiosity"
Prof. Jacob Barnhardt, The Day the Earth Stood Still


"This man wishes to be accorded the same privilege as a sponge. He wishes to think!"
Clarence Darrow, Inherit the Wind


"...I become fearful when I see people substituting fear for reason..."
Klaatu, The Day the Earth Stood Still


"I want you to grab life by its little bunny ears and get in its face..."
The Simpsons


"This is between me and the vegetable..."
Seymour Krelborn, The Little Shop of Horrors


"There are bad laws and cruel laws and the people who enforce them are both bad and cruel..."
Thea, Isle of the Dead


"With the first link, the chain is forged. The first speech censored, the first thought forbidden, the first freedom denied, chains us all irrevocably." Jean- Luc Picard, Star Trek: The Next Generation

"But the limit of tolerance for these human foibles is obtained when the proponent of a questionable scientific doctrine endeavors to maintain it against all possible odds by misrepresentation, misinformation and suppression of contradictory data, and by insinuating unfairness in opponents of his views."
Franz Weidenreich, Morphology of Solo Man


"Man stands alone in the universe, a unique product of a long, unconcious, impersonal material process with unique understanding and potentialities. These he owes to no one but himself, and it is to himself that he is responsible. He is not the creature of uncontrollable and undeterminable forces, but his own master. He can and must decide and manage his own destiny."
George Gaylord Simpson, Life of the Past


Yeah he's the Dick to the Dawk to the phd, he's smarter than you he's got a science degree! Yeah he's the Dick to the Dawk to the phd, he's smarter than you he's got a science degree!
Unknown

Whoever fights monsters should see to it that in the process he does not become a monster. And when you look into the abyss, the abyss also looks into you.
Frederich Nietzsche


But when a long train of abuses and usurpations, pursuing invariably the same Object evinces a design to reduce them under absolute Despotism, it is their right, it is their duty, to throw off such Government, and to provide new Guards for their future security.
The Declaration of Independence


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Primatology:

Know Your Primate: Pan paniscus

Know Your Primate grew out of posts I wrote specifically for the Friday Ark back on my old blog. The point was to write short, informative posts about whatever species struck my fancy (and at that point was not limited...

Brain Size and Life History Among Primates

A new study in the Journal of Human Evolution examines the relationship between brain size and life history. I don't have access, but Physorg.com also has the story....

Know Your Primate: Ateles paniscus

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National Geographic Made Me Throw Stuff At My TV Today

It happened while I was watching a show called Human Ape. In some ways the show was an interesting exploration of the differences between humans and apes. There was some interesting stuff I agreed with and there was some stuff...

Know Your Primate: Afropithecus turkanensis

Normally, at this point I would give the classification of the primate, but in this case that is not really possible as Afropithecus turkanensis is incertae sedis. This simply means that the exact relationship of Afropithecus has not been worked...

The Gorillas of Virunga: An Update on the Killings

I'm sure many of you remember the orgy of gorilla killing at Virunga National park in 2007. According to The BBC there have been some developments in the case....

Chimps and Spearing

Brian has an interesting update on the spear use by Fongoli chimps. Definitely a must read!...

Did Primates Arrive in North America Before They Arrived in Europe?

That is the question raised by the discovery of a new species of Teilhardina (you can go here to learn more about Teilhardina). The new species, Teilhardina magnoliana, was discovered in Mississippi and is written up in PNAS (unfortunately, it...

Lemurs! The Evil Greg Laden Beat Me To The Lemurs

Greg scooped me on the lemur research but that's okay because I beat him to the gorilla sex story. So, what is the story about?...

The Chimps Continue to Construct a New Niche

Or maybe they are just being observed filling their old niche more frequently. At any rate, the chimps I have blogged about here and here are in the news again. There is not much to report, other than that the...

Saturday Know Your Primate: Hapalemur griseus

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Chimps, Dirt, and Malaria

National Geographic is reporting on an interesting story about self medicating by eating dirt. Chimps in Uganda's Kibale National Park have been observed eating dirt. Not just any dirt, though, but a type rich in kaolinite: Experts had previously suggested...

Gorillas, the Missionary Position, and Oral Sex

To steal a line from my blog buddy Duane, I find this Science Daily article abnormally interesting. Fair warning, this post is probably not work or child safe....

Chimps, Cultivated Fruits, and Sex

PLoS One recently published a research paper called Chimpanzees Share Forbidden Fruit. The paper reports on studies of crop raiding behavior (and the aftermath) in Bossou, Guinea. The research covered one year and consists of observations on 786 crop raiding...

Know Your Primate: Cercopithecus neglectus

Order: Primates Suborder: Haplorrhini Family: Cercopithecidae Subfamily: Cercopithecinae Genus: Cercopithecus Species: Cercopithecus neglectus Common Name: De Brazza's Monkey The De Brazza's monkey lives Africa, mainly in an area bounded by southern Ethiopia, Cameroon and northern Angola. They reside in forest,...

What We Can Learn From Bones: Paleodiets, Early Hominins, and Mole Rats, Part Two

Before going further, let me remind readers of the purpose behind "What We Can Learn From Bones." Creationists like to make two main claims about paleoanthropology. First, they claim that all we have are bone fragments and teeth, and by...

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