Different in degree or kind: split off 6.6 myo? (Introduction)

by David Turell , Wednesday, February 03, 2016, 19:32 (3003 days ago) @ David Turell

If we split off from chimps 6.6 million years ago, is that enough time for random mutations to make the marked differences in skeletal structure and brain capacity we exhibit?-http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2016/01/160128155012.htm-"Based on this model, and using what we know about life history traits in apes, they revisit the question of when humans and other apes split. Accounting for changes to life history on the ape phylogeny suggests that mutation rates have declined toward the present, supporting the notion of a mutational slowdown. The resulting split time estimates reconcile the genetic and paleontological data, and in particular, they suggest that the human-chimp split may have occurred as recently as 6.6 MYA."-Comment: Eight myo ago is the usual estimate. This shorter time is more evidence against random mutations.