Peski Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Hi Kat,
>
> I wached it a little more closely last night, and
> enjoyed more than the other night. From a
> layman's perspective, they did a great job of
> placing the various fossil discoveries in relation
> to eachother.
>
> Let me see if I've got the theory right:
>
> +- 3M years ago, Lucy was the first bipedal
> chimp-like human ancestor.
>
Old data
Australopithecus anamensis --- 4 MYA
Ardipithecus ramidus (perhaps Australopithecus ramidus)-- 4.4 MYA
more controversial
Orrorin tugenensis --- 6 MYA



> Various "branches" of Ape-Human like ancestors
> descended from Lucy, sometimes two or more
> branches living in the same time period, some
> branches "dead ends".
>
> 800k years ago, Homo Erectus (Java Man), a tool
> user, spread from Africa, throughout Europe and
> Asia.

newer data Homo erectus (Homo Ergaster)---- 1 MYA
>
> 50-80k years ago, Neanderthals, descendants of
> Homo Erectus, lived in Europe.

Neanderthals in Europe 130,000- 28,000 years ago
>
> 40k years ago, Homo Sapiens, a separate species
> also descended from Homo Erectus, migrated in to
> Europe from Africa in a "second wave", encountered
> and wiped out Neanderthal.
>
>
>
> Some other theories or ideas I've heard that were
> not discussed on the program:
>
> Homo Sapiens and Neanderthals inter-bred, and
> Neanderthal wasn't necessarily wiped out by Homo
> Sapiens.
Very controversial. the weight of the evidence is against any extensive inter breeding.

>
> Some very early human descendants originated in
> Australia or Asia, not Africa.
NO Way!!!!

>
> How much controversy is there today on these
> issues?

there is always controversy in the field of human paleontology .
Bernard
>
> Peski
> “You can get into a habit of thought in which you
> enjoy making fun of all those other people who
> don’t see things as clearly as you do." - Carl
> Sagan