Re: Final Solution of the Aquatic Question


Pauline M Ross wrote:
> On 16 Aug 2005 19:41:37 -0700, "Algis Kuliukas" <algis@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
> wrote:
>
> >To throw another spanner into the works... Could it not also be that
> >only *some* of our ancestors lived off the African mainland. Perhaps
> >*some* others, who remained on the mainland, received the marker but
> >were then replaced by the ones who had not received it?
>
> Yes, I suggested something like this upthread, and asked whether such
> a scenario would have been feasible. I haven't yet had a meaningful
> answer to that point.

Possible, but this requires some ancestors living elsewhere for which
there's presently no evidence. It requires pretty much complete
replacement as well to eliminate all traces of the retrovirus at
different points throughout the genome.

> The point is that it has been assumed that our ancestors were in
> Africa, and only in Africa, until the first Homo erectus turn up in
> Asia at 1Mya or so. But it is just an assumption, and there is nothing
> at all to suggest where our ancestors were at 3-4Mya, the estimated
> time of the retrovirus marker.

Nothing at all? You mean fossil hominids with derived characteristics
in common with humans are nothing? By just an assumption, you make it
sound like it's a wild guess, Pauline. This is not the case at all. It
is an assumption based on many things, including the presence of fossil
forms that share traits with modern humans to the exclusion of all
other creatures. No evidence of similar creatures exists elsewhere
other than in Africa.

.

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