Piltdown, East Sussex, England 1912 is where Charles Dawson, a British amateur archaeologist, along with Arthur Smith Woodward, England's leading geologist at the time, and French paleontologist, Pierre Teilhard de Chardin excavated an ancient human skull as well as a part of that same skulls jaw which was dubbed Piltdown Man. the significance of Piltdown man is that at the time of its discovery it led to the belief that the human brain developed to large sizes before humans could walk up right and that England's human ancestors may have been the oldest of all ancestors.
However the hoax was exposed after World War II in 1949 through the use of a Fluorine test which involved measuring the fluorine content within fossils, with bones buried underground build up fluorine and the longer a bone is under ground the more fluorine it builds up, in order to roughly date the fossils. the results revealed that the fossils were no where near 1 million years old. further research ensued which revealed that the jaw was actually the jaw of a female orangutan and that the teeth of the jaw were filed down. this of course sent a shock to scientist since nobody before hand would have thought that a hoax to this degree could happen.
when coming to human faults chances are the main faults are A. not bringing up many questions about the fossil finding due to the leading geologist in England, giving him high prestige, having identified the findings despite being an expert on fish fossils. and B. national pride because if this hoax wasn't a hoax at all then it would have meant that humans the oldest human ancestors originated from England which beforehand hadn't had much findings on ancient human fossils.
I don't think that its possible to remove the "human" factor from science because human error leads to revision of our mistakes and scientific theories are never set and stone and are always up to be revised in the event an error is found which in turn allows to gain greater understanding of the world around us. as such I wouldn't want to remove the "human" factor either for that same reason.
the lesson here is quite obvious, be cautious about taking information at face value. there may be times where things are exactly what they appear to be with no hidden secrets, but there will be times, more often than not, where information that's presented to you may be incorrect or have some type of error or may be the result of invalid information or research or falsified findings and at that point its best to question such information and try to find the truth to it or you could risk believing a lie for half your life.
Tuesday, November 18, 2014
Wednesday, November 12, 2014
Comparative Primate: Dentition Patterns
1. Lemurs
a. Lemurs and inhabit Madagascar which consist of two completely different climate zones, eastern rain forest and western deserts. They are also arboreal meaning they live in trees and are either found at the rain forest canopy or the forest mid-level. however, ring tailed lemurs also venture to the ground and spends most of their time there.
b. Lemurs have heterodont dentition pattern meaning they have multiple tooth morphological (molars, canines, incisors, etc.) and have a dentition pattern of 2.1.3.3 or a pattern 2 incisors, 1 canine, 3 premolars, and 3 molars. their teeth has a tooth-comb structure.
c. due to living atop trees lemurs diet consist of things like fruits, seeds, plants, and sap. their tooth-comb teeth allows for easier acquisition of such foods as their teeth makes it easier to pluck seeds and cut through bark to attain sap.
d.
2. Spider Monkeys
a. Spider monkeys inhabit rain forest from central america to south america. Like Lemurs they are also arboreal and live atop trees.
b. Similar to a lemur spider monkeys's dental formula is 2.1.3.3 so they have a pattern of 2 incisors, 1 canine, 3 premolars, and 3 molars.
c. A spider monkey's teeth aid it in attaining fruit and nuts, which make up most of its diet, by allowing it to pluck fruit from trees and bite and chew harder nuts.
d.
3. Baboon
a. unlike the lemur and spider monkey baboons are land dwelling and primarily live in open Savannah and woodlands but like the lemur are native to Africa.
b. Baboons possess powerful jaws as well as sharp canines and unlike the lemur and spider monkey have a dentition pattern of 2.1.2.3 or a pattern of 2 incisors, 1 canine, 2 premolars, and 3 molars
c. given that the baboon has a very diverse diet within its habitat ranging from mostly grass, to fruits and nuts, insects and fish (making them omnivores) it can be said that their teeth can be seen as an adaptation as their canines would allow them to tear through fish and insects while its premolars and molars would aid in chewing its foods.
d.
4. Gibbon
a. unlike the three primates listed above Gibbons are native to Asia, particularly south to southeast Asia. however, like lemurs and spider monkeys they inhabit rain forest both tropical and sub-tropic.
b. Gibbons share an identical dentition pattern to baboons being 2.1.2.3 or a pattern of 2 incisors, 1 canine, 2 premolars, and 3 molars
c. like baboons the gibbons is omnivorous dentition patterns allow it to eat a wide variety of foods such as fruit, seeds, tree bark, insects, spiders, and bird eggs so it can be assumed that their dentition patterns are an adaptation to allow it to consume various foods leading it to be able to adapt and survive if there is a change in its diet like if a food source like insects suddenly went extinct it would be able to live off of the other foods in its diet
d.
5. Chimpanzee
a. Chimpanzees inhabit rain forests and wet savannah areas within Africa. they mainly feed and sleep atop trees but overall spend about an equal amount of time on ground as they do in trees.
b. Like Baboons and Gibbons, chimpanzees also have a dentition pattern of 2.1.2.3 (2 incisors, 1 canine, 2 premolars, and 3 molars).
c. A chimpanzee's dentition patterns allow it to be able to eat a variety of foods such as fruit, which is the main part of its diet, seeds, berries, and other smaller animals, including other primates making it omnivorous. thus they are able to adapt to a change to its diet due to being able to eat various foods.
d.
a. Lemurs and inhabit Madagascar which consist of two completely different climate zones, eastern rain forest and western deserts. They are also arboreal meaning they live in trees and are either found at the rain forest canopy or the forest mid-level. however, ring tailed lemurs also venture to the ground and spends most of their time there.
b. Lemurs have heterodont dentition pattern meaning they have multiple tooth morphological (molars, canines, incisors, etc.) and have a dentition pattern of 2.1.3.3 or a pattern 2 incisors, 1 canine, 3 premolars, and 3 molars. their teeth has a tooth-comb structure.
c. due to living atop trees lemurs diet consist of things like fruits, seeds, plants, and sap. their tooth-comb teeth allows for easier acquisition of such foods as their teeth makes it easier to pluck seeds and cut through bark to attain sap.
d.
2. Spider Monkeys
a. Spider monkeys inhabit rain forest from central america to south america. Like Lemurs they are also arboreal and live atop trees.
b. Similar to a lemur spider monkeys's dental formula is 2.1.3.3 so they have a pattern of 2 incisors, 1 canine, 3 premolars, and 3 molars.
c. A spider monkey's teeth aid it in attaining fruit and nuts, which make up most of its diet, by allowing it to pluck fruit from trees and bite and chew harder nuts.
d.
3. Baboon
a. unlike the lemur and spider monkey baboons are land dwelling and primarily live in open Savannah and woodlands but like the lemur are native to Africa.
b. Baboons possess powerful jaws as well as sharp canines and unlike the lemur and spider monkey have a dentition pattern of 2.1.2.3 or a pattern of 2 incisors, 1 canine, 2 premolars, and 3 molars
c. given that the baboon has a very diverse diet within its habitat ranging from mostly grass, to fruits and nuts, insects and fish (making them omnivores) it can be said that their teeth can be seen as an adaptation as their canines would allow them to tear through fish and insects while its premolars and molars would aid in chewing its foods.
d.
4. Gibbon
a. unlike the three primates listed above Gibbons are native to Asia, particularly south to southeast Asia. however, like lemurs and spider monkeys they inhabit rain forest both tropical and sub-tropic.
b. Gibbons share an identical dentition pattern to baboons being 2.1.2.3 or a pattern of 2 incisors, 1 canine, 2 premolars, and 3 molars
c. like baboons the gibbons is omnivorous dentition patterns allow it to eat a wide variety of foods such as fruit, seeds, tree bark, insects, spiders, and bird eggs so it can be assumed that their dentition patterns are an adaptation to allow it to consume various foods leading it to be able to adapt and survive if there is a change in its diet like if a food source like insects suddenly went extinct it would be able to live off of the other foods in its diet
d.
5. Chimpanzee
a. Chimpanzees inhabit rain forests and wet savannah areas within Africa. they mainly feed and sleep atop trees but overall spend about an equal amount of time on ground as they do in trees.
b. Like Baboons and Gibbons, chimpanzees also have a dentition pattern of 2.1.2.3 (2 incisors, 1 canine, 2 premolars, and 3 molars).
c. A chimpanzee's dentition patterns allow it to be able to eat a variety of foods such as fruit, which is the main part of its diet, seeds, berries, and other smaller animals, including other primates making it omnivorous. thus they are able to adapt to a change to its diet due to being able to eat various foods.
d.
Thursday, November 6, 2014
Analogy/Homology Blog Post
1. two species possessing a homologous trait.
a. Humans and Dolphins
b. dolphin's pectoral fins have a similar bone structure to the human arm and hand sharing the same bones: Humerus, ulna, radius, carpals, metacarpals, and phalanges. However, the function of the human arm and hand and the dolphin pectoral fin are vastly different with the human arm and hand being used for things like writing, eating, constructing objects, making gestures, self defense, etc. while the dolphin's pectoral fins are used for balance, and help a dolphin steer and stop while swimming.
c. Humans descend from primates, while dolphins descend from a land mammal due to their need for air and the bone structure of their fins greatly resembling the bone structure of land mammals.
d.
2. Two species with an analogous trait
a. Platypus and ducks
b. both species possess bills however while a duck's bill is used for eating and anything relating to eating food like filtering out extra water or inedible things a platypus's bill is used detect smaller prey while it swims under water through electrolocation, which is being able to sense an object through a weak electrical field, in addition to use its bill to eat.
c. the common ancestors of both species may have possessed similar traits but given how platypus are mammals and ducks are birds they would most likely have had different ancestors thus their traits would still be analogous as a result.
d.
a. Humans and Dolphins
b. dolphin's pectoral fins have a similar bone structure to the human arm and hand sharing the same bones: Humerus, ulna, radius, carpals, metacarpals, and phalanges. However, the function of the human arm and hand and the dolphin pectoral fin are vastly different with the human arm and hand being used for things like writing, eating, constructing objects, making gestures, self defense, etc. while the dolphin's pectoral fins are used for balance, and help a dolphin steer and stop while swimming.
c. Humans descend from primates, while dolphins descend from a land mammal due to their need for air and the bone structure of their fins greatly resembling the bone structure of land mammals.
d.
2. Two species with an analogous trait
a. Platypus and ducks
b. both species possess bills however while a duck's bill is used for eating and anything relating to eating food like filtering out extra water or inedible things a platypus's bill is used detect smaller prey while it swims under water through electrolocation, which is being able to sense an object through a weak electrical field, in addition to use its bill to eat.
c. the common ancestors of both species may have possessed similar traits but given how platypus are mammals and ducks are birds they would most likely have had different ancestors thus their traits would still be analogous as a result.
d.
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