Scientists unearth 'missing link' jawbone

Scientists are postulating that a 10 million year old jawbone unearthed in Kenya's northern Nakali region may belong to the so-called evolutionary "missing link" - the common ancestor of African great apes and humans. The fragment, along with 11 teeth, was discovered in 2005 in volcanic mud flow deposits by Japanese and Kenyan …

[Anonymous Coward]

Don't tell the Yanks...

...what with all that "Creationism" bollocks.

[Anonymous Coward]

Don't tell the Yanks? ermm.

Didn't realize 'Creationism' was an entirely American concept. I guess the Pope stole the idea and rewrote history to make it sound like the Church came up with it.

[Anonymous Coward]

Too late

If the footbone's connected to the kneebone, and the kneebone's connected to the thighbone, and the thighbone's connected to the hipbone, well, it won't be long before dat jawbone's connected to the mainbone, cos awlllllllllll God's Children Got Rhythm. Welcome our new Brother Missinglink.

[Chris Morrison]

EM....??

Does anyone actually believe we came from monkeys and orangutans or is it only the scientists that want more funding for their jobs?

Give it a week and this story will magically disappear. Someone will discover it was actually just a male orangutans jaw or something.

If this evolution takes millions of years where are all the intermediate fossils, and what went on with the cambrian explosion!

Chris

Flame war coming,

5...4...3...2...1...

[Anonymous Coward]

re: Too late

Brother Missinglink couldn't be with us today, but we think we got a couple of his teeth!

Amen! Now hear the word of the Lord!

[Ferry Boat]

My uncle done a grumble in the shower

I spy a new unit of measurement in the making:

"somewhere between the size of a female gorilla and a female orang-utan"

Welcome to the orang-orilla.

So adult humans are about 1.634 orang-orillas in size. A fully grown male gorilla would be a good 2 orang-orillas.

[JeffyPooh]

Knowing their limits...

Paleoanthropologist are some of the worst for not knowing what they don't know.

They are constantly proposing detailed theories about exactly what happened in the distant past; but being highly dependent on nothing new and surprising ever being found in the future. These theories tend not to last very long.

If they were honest, they'd just stick to the facts and admit that they really don't know much at all.

[Anarchy]

@ Chris Morrison

I am descended from chimps

You are descended from gimps

[Anonymous Coward]

@ anonymous coward

Hey anonymous coward, don't you ever do any work? - all you ever do is post comments on el reg articles, mostly contradictory ones at that.

get a life you sad f*ck

[Peter]

missing brains?

Did any of you 'believers' read this article?

The fact of the matter is: scientist never say we descend from apes or monkeys.

They just say we have common ancestors.

Stories that magically disappear?

What about the Aquatic Ape theory, disappeared? No.

The East Side Story (Rift Valley) has disappeared? No.

Toumaï, Ardipithecus, Lucy, Australopithecus Africanus, Homo Erectus, Homo Habilis, Homo Antecessor, Homo Sapiens & Homo Neanderthalensis... disappeared? They did, their stories have not (Neither has the prove). They can be found in many musea all over the world.

Listening to all this creationism $!*% makes me 'believe' there are some who got stuck in the Miocene...

H

[J]

Hogwash!

10 Million years!? Everybody knows the world is only 6,000 years old! This just in: my imaginary friend confirms that...

As for telling the yanks, too late... It's the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences... USA.

[Anonymous Coward]

Wondering whether to take the bait...

I am sat here at my desk in the late afternoon, wondering if dear Kevins' comment is a joke or if he really, really, truly thinks that all the "Anonymous Cowards" comments come from the same person, and that it isn't El Reg placing the Anonymous Coward caveat on people who post anonymously.

Wonder if Kevin is American?

N.B. Have posted anonymously to avoid being googled in 5 years time if I was ever looking for a new job again....

[Matt Bryant]

On the wrong track!

These scientists are barking up the wrong tree! I've seen the "missing link" countless times driving white vans around the M25, especially the Essex section.....

[Nìall Tracey]

Where are the intermediate fossils?

Chris Morrison asked:

"If this evolution takes millions of years where are all the intermediate fossils,"

Not all dead things fossilise -- the overwhelming majority get eaten or decompose. There may have been entire species, genuses or families of animals that simply weren't ever fossilised, so we'll never know about.

"and what went on with the cambrian explosion!"

According to George Bush it was the Iranians, and he's now planning a counter-strike.

[ElFatbob]

@ Anarchy

Strange how you seem proud to claim heritage from monkeys.

So somebody found a jawbone they think will fuckin make their career and we're all supposed to whoop with joy because it may 'prove' that we are decended from apes.

Anybody remember how NASA got substantial funding re-instated for Mars exploration after suddenly 'discovering' evidence that it may have supported life xxxxxx million years ago (the implication being that we could conceivably live there after inflicting earth with our locustisation)?

[Phil]

I didn't descend from monkeys

Everyone else did :P

Seriously, I look around at the planet and history of the human race and to put it bluntly, if we weren't created, we'd have died out years and years ago.

[tom]

Why bother...

I was going to post an attempt at humor, something along the lines of "how dare you post this so-called research when it's obvious that the earth is about 150 years old"... But, I guess there's no point. These barely-contained rants lovingly hand-crafted by genuine creationists are the real deal. I could never top that.

Ain't nothin' like the real thing, baby.

[Adrian Esdaile]

Blasphemers! Heathens!

The Earth is FLAT, and was created last THURSDAY!

Search that jawbone for signs of noodles and tomato sauce; for surely it is another sign from the Flying Spaghetti Monster!

Repent, midgits! Let yourselves be touched by His Noodly Appendage!

[Alistair]

His noodly appendix

The Lord God obviously likes this sort of argument, otherwise he wouldn't have planted that oddly-sized jawbone in the rocks for us to find and pontificate over.

[Anonymous Coward]

@ anonymous coward again

hey anonymous coward, don't try and trick me into thinking you're many people, get on with your work.

[Anonymous Coward]

@ kevin

Ok.. you caught me.

I really am just one person.. and I've been trolling these boards for a long long time.

Sometimes I even talk to myself with opposing viewpoints, just to throw people off. ;)

[Shakje]

Pretty poor attempt

at covering your arse kevin. C-, must try harder.

[Anonymous Coward]

poor attempt to cover? , my arse

I like the idea that "anonymous coward" sits in front of a computer all day simply commenting on el reg articles, that's why he's always first to comment. He should be an institution like amanfrommars. Maybe we need a social thread for him as well, like the occasional admisson that his boss might be onto him, or that Candice in accounts is just walking past and he needs to go.

[Robin]

Earth's Age

The Earth isn't 150 years old, it's only 40 and some months. (Kudos to whoever figures out that that's how old I am...)

:)