Proteins, Apes & Us (Introduction)

by David Turell , Monday, April 16, 2012, 18:04 (4605 days ago) @ dhw

DAVID: The first hominins were tree-dwelling and entered the savannah when their uprightness allowed it. Key alteration in evolution theory: Upright BEFORE savannah.
> 
> dhw: However, supposing the innovation (i.e. the mutation to uprightness) was not random but was a direct response to environmental pressure? Then we have a very different scenario. As I've suggested in earlier posts, one or more localized events in isolated areas might have destroyed the forests and changed them into savannahs. In order to survive, the monkeys HAD to come down from the trees. 
> The authors of the research in 2009 have already responded in another article, defending the methodology and validity of their analysis and indicating that the area where the rdipithecus ramidus lived was very diverse and that it is wrong to generalize about a single type of environment. [/i]-Note the 'defense of methodiology'. All paleo scientists whether it is evolution or climate work with proxies. No direct evidence.
> 
> Would you still say that science leaves no room for the scenario I have put forward?-Find a proxy that fits your scenario! And you are all set to turn the world on its ear!