More Evolutionists Say 'Ida' Is Not a Missing Link | The Institute for Creation Research

More Evolutionists Say 'Ida' Is Not a Missing Link

A fossilized lemur-like creature, nicknamed "Ida," was broadly heralded in 2009 as one of man’s earliest ancestors. At the time, and despite the hype, various paleontologists expressed doubts regarding the placement of this fossil in man’s evolutionary tree.

Now, after a careful look at the evidence, more researchers are refuting Ida’s "missing link" status. These more measured analyses, however, are not being promoted with as much enthusiasm as the unsubstantiated initial claims that Ida was "our connection with the rest of all the mammals."1

A recent article in the Austin American-Statesman highlighted research by University of Texas anthropologist Chris Kirk and his colleagues, who recently published a critique of Ida in the Journal of Human Evolution. Kirk told the Statesman, "It’s a spectacular fossil, but it really doesn’t have any relevance for human evolution."2

The study’s authors refuted specific claims made by paleontologist Jens Franzen and others in a 2009 PLoS Biology paper, which named Ida Darwinius masillae in honor of British naturalist Charles Darwin’s 200th birthday.3

The relevance of Ida to human ancestry depended on her being a haplorhine, a "dry-nosed" group of primates thought to include monkeys, apes, tarsiers, and humans. Kirk and his colleagues revisited Ida’s tooth, skull, jaw, and other body features, and concluded that she was a strepsirrhine, a "wet-nosed" group that includes lemurs and aye-ayes, and that she was thus irrelevant to human evolution. (Some primates do not clearly fit either classification.)

Evolutionists had initially argued that if Ida was one of the earliest haplorhines to have evolved, then she might have been an ancestor to later haplorhines, which they believe eventually became humans. But these later researchers wrote in the Journal of Human Evolution, "Our review of the available evidence leads us to conclude that Darwinius is not a haplorhine and certainly not an anthropoid [man-like creature]."4

The American-Statesman reported that Franzen and his colleagues plan to publish a rebuttal of Kirk’s dissent. Like so many other evolution-inspired research questions, the issue of whether or not Ida belongs in man’s evolutionary past may remain wrapped in confusion and never be resolved by researchers who refuse to interpret the data using anything other than an evolutionary paradigm.

Ida’s prominence may someday diminish, but that will most likely happen only after another fossil is erroneously presented as the latest, greatest "missing link."5

References

  1. A quotation from British naturalist Sir David Attenborough, contained in Attenborough on Ida: this little creature is going to show our connection with all other mammals. The Guardian. Posted on guardian.co.uk May 19, 2009, accessed May 20, 2009.
  2. Castillo, J. UT researcher among those challenging ’missing link.’ Austin American-Statesman. Posted on statesman.com March 4, 2010, accessed March 9, 2010.
  3. Franzen, J. L. et al. 2009. Complete Primate Skeleton from the Middle Eocene of Messel in Germany: Morphology and Paleobiology. PLoS One. 4 (5): e5723.
  4. Williams, B. A. et al. Darwinius masillae is a strepsirrhine―a reply to Franzen et al. (2009). Journal of Human Evolution. Published online before print February 26, 2010.
  5. For a brief list of prior debunked "missing links" in man’s supposed evolutionary past, see Batten, D. 2010. Human evolution: oh so clear? Creation. 32 (2): 46-47.

Image credit: PLoS

* Mr. Thomas is Science Writer at the Institute for Creation Research.

Article posted on March 19, 2010.

The Latest
NEWS
A Subsurface Ocean on Mimas?
Scientists have analyzed data obtained from the Cassini spacecraft and concluded that irregularities in the orbit of Saturn’s moon Mimas indicate...

NEWS
In Theaters March 20 & 21: The Ark and the Darkness
Is Genesis true? What about Noah’s Flood? How did Noah fit the animals on the ark? Wasn’t it a local flood? Have you asked these questions? Though...

NEWS
Enigmatic Fossil Plants
The pre-Flood world thousands of years ago was unlike the world of today.1 Unfamiliar animals and plants were common, and there were a lot...

NEWS
Surprisingly Colorful Fossil Snail Shells
Finding organic compounds such as flexible dinosaur collagen and complete bone cells1,2 is becoming common, much to the shock and consternation...

NEWS
March 2024 ICR Wallpaper
"He is not here; for He is risen, as He said." (Matthew 28:6 NKJV) ICR March 2024 wallpaper is now available for mobile, tablet,...

CREATION PODCAST
Homo Erectus: The Shocking Truth About the "Ape Man"...
Homo erectus, or "Upright Man," has been upheld as a piece of mankind's "evolutionary history" since its discovery in 1891....

NEWS
Mystery of Moths' Warning Sound
Insects of all types continue to amaze entomologists with their design and physiology. Cleveland Hickman, Jr., et al. stated, “insect ears are...

NEWS
Geneticist Fired for Affirming Humans Once Lived 900 Years?
Geneticist Alexander Kudryavtsev, the head of the Russian Academy of Science’s Vavilov Institute of General Genetics, has been fired, reportedly...

ACTS & FACTS
Creation Kids: Solar Eclipses
Designed by Susan Windsor* You're never too young to be a creation scientist and explore our Creator's world. Kids, discover fun facts...

APOLOGETICS
Motmot's Beauty Displays God’s Gracious Design
Beauty is God’s good gift. Whatever is truly good and beautiful comes from God (James 1:17), whose own beauty is beyond words. King David longed...