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List of general misunderstandings and confusing details regarding human evolution
 Humans evolved from monkeys.
Humans evolved from the last common ancestor (LCA) of humans and chimps, which was an ape, not a monkey.
Lucy and Australopithecus afarensis are synonymous.
Lucy refers specifically to the 40% complete skeleton AL 288-1, while A. afarensis encompasses AL 288-1 and all other specimens exhibiting similar morphology.
ER 1470 was discovered by Richard Leakey.
ER 1470 was actually discovered by Bernard Ngeneo in Koobi Fora.
A. afarensis is the oldest hominid.
A great many hominid species are much older than A. afarensis, e.g., A. anamensis (3.9-4.1 mya); Ardipithecus ramidus (4.1-5.2 mya); Orrorin tugenensis (6 mya).
Lucy and her kneejoint were discovered more than seventy meters apart in the strata and three kilometers away.
Variant: Lucy's remains were scattered throughout a forty-mile radius.
This argument was first propounded by creationist and geocentrist Tom Willis. The “kneejoint” in question does not belong to AL 288-1 (Lucy), but is a separate discovery, AL 129-1.
Mary Leakey discovered the Laetoli footprints.
The footprints were actually found by Paul Abell in 1978.
The more dominant savanna environment was the trigger for the evolution of bipedalism.
This scenario could not have been possible considering that the earliest hominid remains are associated with a woodland fauna. Savannas do not become prevalent in Africa until about 2 mya, while the first indisputable trace of bipedalism occurs 4.4 mya.
The first A. anamensis specimen was discovered by Meave Leakey in the 1990s.
KP 271, which is currently assigned to A. anamensis, was discovered by Bryan Patterson at Kanapoi in 1965.
Richard Leakey discovered KNM-WT 15000 (Nariokotome Boy)
The Nariokotome IV skeleton was actually discovered by Kamoya Kimeu, leader of the Hominid Gang.
Lucy is 3.9 million years old
A revised date of the Hadar tuffs reveals a much more accurate date of 3.2 mya
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Copyright ©2001-2003, Allegra H., all rights reserved. Please contact me via e-mail if you wish to reproduce this material.
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