I cannot see the video but the problem remains that nobody has a good overall measure of how much genetic distance makes up a species. It just so happens that the Neanderhals are about equally between the chimpanzees and modern humans as their DNA is measured and about 1% difference from each. Very few people have noticed that this has a castastrophic reduction on the number of other species that you can get in between the two and more so since the distance from the chimpanzees up to neanderthals is thought to be four or five steps while on the other hand from Neanderthals to modern man is supposed to be one step at the most.
Clarly, something is wrong with this picture and it seems the only possible solution must be that there aren't really so mant species in between there. Some of the species as traditionally defined have got to be merged together.
Humans and apes are not "Only" a type of Old World monkey any more than humans are "Only" a type of ape. What that means to say is that they are all Cattarhines, and including the New World monkeys all are post-Tarsioid Anthropoides or Simians as opposed to Prosimians, both being suborders of the Primates and the arrangement usually credited to GG Simpson. The divisions are horizontal rather than vertical and include both ancestors and descentants of the divergent lines. That makes the distinction that apes and humans are derived from the same group as Old World monkleys but are kept apart from them.
Apes and Humans are not "Only" old World monkeys although all of them together are Catarhines: the divisions in primates are horizontal and contain both ancestors and descendants of the varios lines but counts the lineages separately. Together with the New World monkeys they form the Anthropoidea or Simians as opposed to the Prosimians, the two divisions being the major suborders of Primates. Using Catarhines as synonymous for Old World Monkeys is something of an oversimplification although you will see that in some of the books. Presumably though, at the point that dryopithecines crossed the border and developed the y-5 cusp plan on the molars as opposed to the +4, they have been apes and not monkeys; and most experts are quite particular on that point.
I cannot see the video but the problem remains that nobody has a good overall measure of how much genetic distance makes up a species. It just so happens that the Neanderhals are about equally between the chimpanzees and modern humans as their DNA is measured and about 1% difference from each. Very few people have noticed that this has a castastrophic reduction on the number of other species that you can get in between the two and more so since the distance from the chimpanzees up to neanderthals is thought to be four or five steps while on the other hand from Neanderthals to modern man is supposed to be one step at the most.
ReplyDeleteClarly, something is wrong with this picture and it seems the only possible solution must be that there aren't really so mant species in between there. Some of the species as traditionally defined have got to be merged together.
Best Wishes, Dale D.
AronRa is awesome.
ReplyDeleteI've been watching his videos for a while now, and the one on classifying humans and apes as a type of Old World Monkey is the most fascinating.
Humans and apes are not "Only" a type of Old World monkey any more than humans are "Only" a type of ape. What that means to say is that they are all Cattarhines, and including the New World monkeys all are post-Tarsioid Anthropoides or Simians as opposed to Prosimians, both being suborders of the Primates and the arrangement usually credited to GG Simpson. The divisions are horizontal rather than vertical and include both ancestors and descentants of the divergent lines. That makes the distinction that apes and humans are derived from the same group as Old World monkleys but are kept apart from them.
ReplyDeleteApes and Humans are not "Only" old World monkeys although all of them together are Catarhines: the divisions in primates are horizontal and contain both ancestors and descendants of the varios lines but counts the lineages separately. Together with the New World monkeys they form the Anthropoidea or Simians as opposed to the Prosimians, the two divisions being the major suborders of Primates. Using Catarhines as synonymous for Old World Monkeys is something of an oversimplification although you will see that in some of the books. Presumably though, at the point that dryopithecines crossed the border and developed the y-5 cusp plan on the molars as opposed to the +4, they have been apes and not monkeys; and most experts are quite particular on that point.
ReplyDeleteBest Wishes, Dale D.