<br><br><div><span class="gmail_quote">On 11/10/05, <b class="gmail_sendername">Donovan Arnold</b> <<a href="mailto:donovanjarnold2005@yahoo.com">donovanjarnold2005@yahoo.com</a>> wrote:</span><blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="border-left: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204); margin: 0pt 0pt 0pt 0.8ex; padding-left: 1ex;">
How does Oliver fit into this debate?<br><br>This half-chimp half human that use to live in an area<br>populated by humans was discovered and had many human<br>traits, it was later discovered that:<br><br>"blood tests revealed Oliver had 47 chromosomes — one
<br>more than a human and one less than a chimp.<br><br>hthttp/wwwwwotten.com/library/crcryptozoologyuhumanzee<br><br>and a more serious article:<br><br>hthttp/wwwwwibigfootencountersom/creatures/ololiverathtm<br>More on our missing link friend and the like:
<br><br>hthttp/wwwwwaparascopeom/en/crcryptozooimissingLinksthtm<br><br>Not that I am defending creationism scientifically, I<br>think it is an opinion, and an unfounded one at that,<br>but how many of these so called missing links are the
<br>failed genetic offspring between humans and chimps? It<br>is gross to think about, but it must have happened and<br>Oliver is evidence that humans and chimps can produce<br>offspring.</blockquote><div><br>
Whiule I'm willing to entertain that humans and chimpanzees are
genetically similar enough to breed -- other, more genetically
dissimilar animals, like dolphines/beluga whales and lions/tigers can
breed -- your argument falls basically in the same category as
speculation as to how many "missing links" are alien/Bigfoot hybrids.<br>
<br>
Oliver was a circus novelty act for the vast majority of his life, and
descriptions of him are very much in the tradition of The rudimentary
genetic testing available when he was alive found ambiguous evidence
that he might've had 47 chromosomes or might've had 48. This tells us
very little. First of all, having an abnormal number of chromosomes is
not particularly uncommon. For instance, humans with only a single X
chromosome develop something called Turner syndrom, which, other than
something which the literature confusingly calls a "webbed neck" and
infertility, can survive just fine.<br>
<br>
Also, more advanced tests on Oliver in 1998 found no evidence of 47 chromosomes.<br>
</div>The chronology of what you're proposing is equally
ridiculous. What you're proposing is that some kind of random sorting
placed chimpanzee/human hybrids in strata where there are no modern
humans to be found? I'm stretching to think of any sort of mechanism
that would explain that, even to make fun of it. Plus,
Austraelopithicenes -- the only "missing link" that might be described
as being something like a chimp/human hybrid -- were sort of chimplike
from the waist up, but, unlike Oliver, (a) lacked the reinforced
knuckles that descendents of knuckle-walkers have, and (b) had a pelvic
girdle designed for walking upright, not just adaptable to walking
upright.<br>
<br>
Please save speculation on human origins to reputable sources like physical anthropologists and the Weekly World News.<br>
<br>
-- ACS<br></div><br>