Piltdown Hoax

The Piltdown Hoax took place in 1912 near the Southern English town of Louis in Piltdown.
An amateur archaeologist by the name of Charles Dawson found a piece of an ancient human skull - a jawbone, while digging in a gravel pit.

Up until then remains of primitive humans had been found in Germany, Asia, and France but none in England which was huge because England finally had found human fossils.

The scientific community was taken on an emotional roller coaster if you will, of ups and downs. With the discovery by Dawson, the scientific community thought a big discovery was made by piecing together the missing link between apes and humans. It wasn't until the 1950's, when a full blown analysis using an updated dating method, was it discovered that the fossils discovered by Dawson were actually of a female orangutan. Scientists found that the bones were superficial and the artifacts were stained. Also, after examining the teeth on the skull, they found scratches which indicated to them that the teeth were filed down and a steel knife may have been used to cut into the bone to perhaps shape it to look like a human skull. This determination was made because of the evidence found when the analysis was conducted. Also, scientists, back in the day were looked upon as gentlemen and scholarly and no one ever thought anything like what happened at Piltdown could have occurred.

Being that Scientists are human and part of being human is making mistakes. The mistakes made in Piltdown boiled down to one person, Dawson, and being that he was an ambitious person and wanted to fit into the scientific community, he ultimately attempted to pull off the unthinkable. The notoriety he must have received after his 'find' must have taken him to another level and probably thought no one would ever discover what he did. By doing what he did, scientists believed they finally found the missing link between apes and humans but after scientists in the 50's discovered Dawson's findings were not accurate, they went back to square one. 

Up to date dating methods and current analysis was the cause of revealing Charles Dawson's hoax because those things were not available during Dawson's days.

"To err is human, to forgive is divine' comes to mind when thinking if it is possible to factor out the fact that we are humans, we are not perfect, and we are entitled to make mistakes - even scientists fall into the category of being human.  However, as long as the person doing the research is objective and has an open mind, it could be possible to remove the human factor from science.

The fossils found in Piltdown were assumed to be of a human and it wasn't until years later that that theory was proven to be inaccurate. This discovery was made because scientists took the time to re-examine those findings using up to date equipment - in this case, dating method. I am almost positive had these resources had been made available in Piltdown in 1912, Charles Dawson would never have gotten away with this hoax. This being said, the life lesson which can be learned in this particular case, in my opinion, would be that no matter who one is - rich, poor, famous, not famous, etc., don't believe what everyone says just because they say it. Especially when it has to do with science!

Compartive Primate Blog Post

Lemurs rule the treetops of the tropical rainforest. Wild lemurs live only on Madagascar, a large island off the east coast of Africa, and on the nearby Comoros Islands. While some Lemurs may also live in the dry forest. 

Depending on what species the Lemur may be, the most common locomotor trait is the arboreal quadrupedalism - walking and running on all fours along branches. The lemurs' strong hand and fingers help them to climb trees easily while their muscular legs are adapted for jumping. When they need a change of pace, as in with the Sifaka lemur, they may hop sideways on their back legs as if they were on a pogo stick. Brown lemurs and ring-tailed lemurs scamper along the forest floor on all fours. But other lemur species find traveling on the ground to be a hard thing to do because their bodies just aren’t built for walking.

Some believed the Lemur is the most diverse of all primate groups which is why They have been able to adapt successfully to changes in their environment and the main reason they are endangered is because of the actions of humans and not their inability to survive in their natural environment.

Sifaka Lemur

Spider monkeys live mainly in the top of the tree canopy and can be found in the lowland rain forests from Mexico to South America, by the coasts of the banks of the Amazon, south to Bolivia and the Matto Grosso in Brazil, and also in the mountain forest slopes of the Andes. "Spider monkeys live in the evergreen rainforests, semi deciduous and mangrove forests, lowland rainforests to mountain forests. In these forests they live mostly in the upper canopy, preferring undisturbed high forest, almost never coming to the ground. They prefer wet than dry forests." (http://www.zooschool.ecsd.net/spider%20monkey.htm)

Spider monkeys are called "the supreme acrobat of the forest." because in the wild, it is rare when they come down to the jungle floor. Spider monkeys use several different types of locomotion: quadrupedal, because they use all four limbs for locomotion as seen while walking or running and when feeding. Suspensory locomotion - when hanging, climbing or moving through the trees, using only two limbs when leaping. 

Spider Monkeys are considered to be the smartest of the primates because they can adapt to new surroundings. They have also been known to use primitive tools,like a rock to break a nut or use a stick to pull a fruit over to them that they can’t reach.

Spider Monkey

Baboons are found in savannas and woodlands and are extremely adaptable. The one major requirements for this habitat seems to be water sources and safe sleeping places in either tall trees or on the face of cliffs. When water is not always available, baboons drink every day or two, but can survive for a long period of time by licking the night dew from their fur.

Baboons locomotor pattern is quadrupedal and on their digits which means walking on their toes with the heels not touching the ground.  This is known as being a digitigrade quadrupedalism.

Baboons can quickly adapt to changing conditions and can survive on many very different types of food resources, as long as they get the nutrients they need.  Their diets differ widely depending on the habitat they live in and the resources available to them.  "They are also very flexible behaviorally, with different types of social organization and social behavior depending on environmental conditions.  If one of these changing conditions happens to be increased overlap with humans and the availability of human-produced resources, then baboons will very easily adapt to this new situation and start incorporating human-derived foods into their diet." (http://www.imfene.org/causes-of-baboon-commensalism)

Baboon

Gibbons live in Southeast Asia and can be found in tropical evergreen forests.

They have very long arms, hands and fingers, which they use in a spectacular arm-swinging locomotion called brachiation. They have short thumbs which is set down on the palm, and their fingers form a hook. Gibbons have very good bipedal locomotion, that they use on stable surfaces that are too large to grasp. When walking bipedally, their arms are held up to keep from dragging and to help them balance. They are sometimes observed putting their weight on their hands and swinging their legs through as if using crutches.

Gibbon

Chimpanzees are found across a west-east belt in equatorial Africa and live in a wide variety of habitat types that includes dry savannas, evergreen rainforests, montane forests, swamp forests, and dry woodland- savanna mosaics (Goodall 1986; Fruth et al. 1999; Poulsen & Clark 2004). Because they can live in different habitats, chimpanzees must be very adaptable to their surroundings.

Chimpanzees usually walk using all fours - on the soles of feet and the knuckles of their hands and can also walk upright but only if they need to use their arms to carry something. They are very good at climbing trees, where they spend much of their time, including when they sleep, and can swing from branch to branch in the trees, which is called brachiating. 

Chimpanzee

Researching the world of these five Primates was so intriguing. Although all five are 'monkeys', they are all their different species - just like us humans. We weren't all made from the same mold. Each has a different way of getting around - locomotor patterns. They each live in different habits and while some may be able to easily adapt if taken out of their environment, others can't.  

Analogy/Homology

1 

a.) The two different species that possess the homologus traits I chose are:

        The bones of a human skeleton and the bones of a bat's front limb.  

       

b.) Both the human skeleton and bat's front limb differ in size but they also have the same overall structure, and both limbs end in five digits. Both also have a forearm in which consists of the following bones: Humerus, Radius, Ulna, Carpals, Metacarpals, and Phalanges. Some differences are that human bones are covered by skin whereas bats are covered by hair. Also, humans use their forearm to write, play the piano, pick up objects, etc., and bats use theirs to fly.

c.)  It isn't really known who, generally, the common ancestor of these two species was, however, it is known that they do come from common ancestors. According to http://bioweb.cs.earlham.edu/9-12/evolution/HTML/live.html, they should and they do share common anatomical traits. "More significantly, they are derived from the same structures in the embryo. Structures that are embryologically similar, but have different functions, are called homologous structures. A comparison of homologous structures indicates that they are quite similar. This suggests that they evolved from a common ancestor."

d.)

Bat's front limb

human limb

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

       

2.  a.)  The two different species that possess the analogous traits I chose are: Sweet potato and potato

     b.)  Both have the same function but serve the same purpose - they are both a food, both can be planted, and both can be eaten.

      c.)  Both did for the fact that they are a vegetable but what makes them different is that one is a stem (potato) and the other a root (sweet potato).

      d.)

Potato

Sweet Potato

  

Protein Synthesis

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