The Piltdown hoax was a hoax that occurred for over 40 years. The scientific community were outrage after learning the truth of the remains that were found. Charles Darwin a scientist that presented evidence that all living things descended from a common ancestry. Through a process of mutation, adaptation, failure and success, he claimed that all life today including man, is the result of millions of years of evolution. Charles Darwin claim that humans and apes were related but failed to have provable scientific evidence.

 A fossil skull has been found by a laborer at Basrkham Manor near the village of Piltdown and then given to Charles Dawson who was an amateur archaeologist. Charles Dawson who was a lawyer was interested in fossil hunting. He went out on search for fossils. He was particular on what finds he was looking for. He wanted to find spectacular discoveries, publicizing them and trying to build up an academic credibility for his work.  In Sussex he discovered an old Pleistocene bed that he would find remains of an ape-like jawbone with human-like teeth that seemed to link to the skull that Dawson got from the laborer. 

On December 18^th, 1912 Sir Arthur Smith Woodward and Charles Dawson presented the “Piltdown Man.” It was nicknamed the “earliest Englishman.” The world was at awe that they had discovered the first ape-man that proved Charles Darwin theory. Finally, a connection had been found and was made world famous. In the scientific community however, questions started to arise as experts had doubts about how human-like or ape-like this skull was. The jaw was missing the place of articulation, it was broken off and the canine tooth was absent as well but later was found. This made experts weary and ask more questions but it wasn’t until 1953 that an announcement was made that the Piltdown man was a fake. 

It was horrifically embarrassing because people spent their whole career looking at it and claiming it to be real. It was exposed finally from within the museum, the Natural History Museum. The jaw was not human, it was probably from an Orangutan, the teeth had been filed flat to disguise them. The fossils were boiled and then carefully stained with chemicals to give them an aged look. The canine tooth was crudely filed and colored with paint. It remains a mystery as to who really did it.

During these times scientist we’re believed to be scholars and gentlemen. No one could possibly do something like this it wasn’t even a possibility but now you know this can happen so they are alert to that possibility. I believe the human faults to be, being judgmental. Allowing your ego to interfere with your work. This to me negatively impacts the scientific process because it clouds your mind. You are no longer taking a scientific approach but rather a personal one.

The positive aspects of the scientific process that were responsible for revealing the skull to be fraud was measuring the Fluorine content in the fossil remain they were able to tell how old it was. After further testing of all the artifacts that were found were all fraud. If you remove the human factor from science, then there would be no way for new things to be discovered. Life lesson, do your research and don’t accept a fact without you fully testing all possibilities’ take other people’s evidence for truth, always ask questions and be spectacle.

Homologous Trait

 

a.       Briefly describe (not just identify) the two different species that possess the homologous trait.

Listed above you have a human hand and a limb of a cat. These are homologous structures because although they appear to be completely different and have different purpose, they are similar and share common traits. One of the similarities is the forelimb bones (tetrapods). They have the same basic pattern of bones as shown above, due to inheriting the pattern from a common ancestor.

b.    Describe the homologous trait of each species, focusing on the differences in structure and function of the trait. Why do these homologous traits exhibit differences between the two species? Make sure your explanation is clear and complete. (10 pts)

Human arms and cats front legs are homologous traits shared between the two. The human species uses its arms to manipulate the environment around them and we also use our arms to communicate, assistance in feeding and to navigate. Cats use their front legs for navigating and for hunting. Cats however do not control their environment like we do and their focus is simply to survive. Humans and cats share a common large upper bone in their respective arms and lower section of the appendage. It is made up of two bones in both species. Humans and cats are classified as mammals and share a common ancestor that had the same bone structure. All mammals today have the same structure as well. The backbones in mammal serve as an example of ancestral homology because this trait originated before mammals common ancestor. Other shared traits are morphological homologies (shared anatomical), ontogenetic homologies (developmental or embryonic similarities), and molecular homologies (similarities in genetic code). ("Introduction toAnthropology", 2015)

c.       Who was (generally, not specifically) the common ancestor of these two species and how do you know that ancestor possessed this homologous trait? (5 pts)

The common ancestor of these two species is called Dormaalocyon latouri. It is a cross between a panther and a squirrel. It lived about 55 million years ago. It possesses the same four limb bones as found in humans and cats. See image below. This is how I know that the common ancestor possessed this homologous trait.

http://www.ck12.org/user:cndhZ25lckBuZXZjLmsxMi5tby51cw../section/Evidence-for-Evolution/

Analogous trait

a.       Briefly describe the two different species that possess the analogous trait. (5 pts)

Sharks and penguins share analogous traits. The penguin is consider a bird and has a wing. The shark is a fish and has a fin. They live in two different environments. The shark lives in the ocean where its cold salt water and penguins live in the ant Arctic Ocean where it is icy cold. The differences in environments for these two animals makes their wings and flippers analogous traits. (“These examples of Analogous structures will surely surprise you,” 2016). 

b.      Describe the analogous trait of each species, focusing on the similarities in structure and function of the trait. Clearly explain why these analogous traits exhibit similarities between the two species. (10 pts)

The penguin through time has evolved and adapted to their environment. A penguin’s wing has evolved into a flipper where the bones are denser and closer together which forms a paddle. They use this to help them propel through water. They are also flightless creatures due to their bone structure. Sharks also use their fins to help move through water and help me propel straight up to catch their prey. They both have body parts that appear similar but belong to a different class of vertebrates. “In many cases analogous structures, or analogues, tend to become similar in appearance by a process termed convergence.”("Analogy," 2016).

c.       All pairs of organisms share some common ancestor if you go back far enough in time. Could the common ancestor of these two species have possessed this analogous trait? How do we know these traits are analogous and not genetically related from common descent? (5 pts)

Analogous structures is one that doesn’t indicate there is a recent common ancestor between two organisms. The anatomical structures may be similar and perform the same functions, they are actually a product of convergent evolution.

http://emiliep96.blogspot.com/2015/01/there-are-homologous-traits-in-humans.html 

DNA strand 

A T G G G G C T T G C C T T C T G G A A T T T G C G G

Historical Influences on Darwin

Charles Lyell, a geologist, had the most influence over Darwin’s development of his theory of Natural selection. I believe this to be true because Lyell passion was in Geology and believed that the Earth’s surface were produced by physical, chemical, and biological processes through long periods of geological time. He wrote a book, “Principles of Geology” which placed him among the most recognizable leaders of his field. He was also great friends with Darwin. In 1859 the publication of “Darwin’s Origins of Species” gave new insight to Lyell’s work and which lead to the publication of “The Geological Evidence of the Antiquity of Man.” Lyell accepted evolution by natural selection. Charles Lyell forever changed the way the earth was viewed in the scientific community. His studies/ publications contributed to adding powerful arguments of his own to Darwin’s theory, which he later adopted Darwin’s conclusion. This was a big deal because of Lyell’s status in the scientific community. It was Lyell who demonstrated that forces such as wind, water erosion, local flooding, frost, decomposition of vegetables matter, volcanoes, earthquakes, and glacial movements had all contributed in the past to produce the geological landscape that we see today. He found through research that the earth was older than we thought. The concept of deep time was Lyell’s most significant contribution to the discovery of evolutionary principles because the immensity of geological time permitted the time depth for the slow process of evolutionary change. From the bullet points listed I believe the following help Darwin built upon the knowledge that this information provided. The points I believe to most directly affect Lyell’s work are; resources are limited, organisms with better access to resources will be more successful in their reproductive efforts and if the environment changes, the traits that are helpful or adaptive to that environment will be different. I choose these because Lyell demonstrated that natural forces through geological time change the earth and if the climates are slowly changing we evolve base on the environments. The strongest will survive and move on to reproduce. I believe that Darwin could not have developed his theory of natural selection without the influence and ideas of Charles Lyell because Lyell influenced Darwin’s work. He was Darwin’s mentor and looked up to him. He theories help better understand natural selection. The attitude of the church affected Darwin and his decision to publish his theory by believing that if these new ideas of evolution were generally accepted, the Church would crash, the moral fabric of society would be torn apart, and civilized man would return to savagery. Darwin believed his work to be controversial and his wife didn’t agree with his ideas because of her strong religious convictions. The evolutionary theory was also viewed as a threat.

https://www.britannica.com/biography/Sir-Charles-Lyell-Baronet
 

If I were stranded on a desert island I would take with me a knife and canteen to hold your water. I choose these things because having a knife is very handy to have to help you make items you may need to survive. For example, "a fishing pole,or a spear!" Who knows, maybe you can use the knife to help you chop branches down to help start a fire later to stay warm or cook your food. I like to believe that it increases your chances of surviving. Its also a weapon to help defend yourself and help you hunt and prepare your food you catch.  Besides having a knife, having access to a canteen can help you stay hydrated and its easy to carry as you make your way through the desert island and fill it with water as you go.Having water by your side at all times is good because as humans, we need it to survive especially out in a desert island. I like to think of myself as a nature person meaning I feel connected to this earth and I can find my way by using the alignments of the sun and star's to help me tell time and have a sense of direction.