Piltdown Man Hoax

       The Piltdown man fossils were dug up in a hug pit of gravel in England in 1919 by Charles Dawson. Once this piece of a human skull was found, Dawson decided to call in two others to help with the search for more pieces, Author Smith Woodward and Pierre Teilhard de Chardin. When the Piltdown fossils were first discovered, scientists believe that those fossils were the missing link between humans and apes. Although, this one piece did not stop the search for the connection of apes and humans, it only motivated them in search for more to possible complete a whole skull. The three men found more fossils that look to be a Paleolithic ancestor. England were so ecstatic to hear that they had found ancient human fossils. With the fossils being discovered, Author Keith, who was England's leading anatomist, was able to have evidence of his theory of evolution. Keith was on board with the Piltdown man because it provided him with actual fossils for his theory. People remained on the hunt for more fossils for the Piltdown man and they did continue to find more, however, once Dawson had passed away, there were no more fossils to be found. Hence, the reason for the Piltdown man to be proven fake.  

       All humans have faults which is why we are not perfect. We all make mistakes and yet we just learn to forgive and forget the mistakes in which we have made. There are some faults that come in to play in this scenario. For example, pride and jealousy are two important faults. Charles Dawson was so proud of himself because of the findings he had discovered. Dawson was so excited to finally have be recognized by the scientific community. Although, jealousy comes into play also once people found out about these discoveries Dawson had made. England scientists could possibly be jealous because they wish they had the ability to find the dated discoveries other countries had been making. Dawson's discovery had an impact on the scientific community and Dawson could be finally accepted by other scientists. These fossils were able to show other countries that England is actually able to dig up findings that are important and interesting to see.

        Scientific testing was done and had lead to the conclusion of the Piltdown man hoax. There were stainings on the bones that were appearing after the fluorine analysis that was going on in Piltdown in 1949. The fluorine analysis allowed scientists to date how old these fossils were. The teeth on the part of the jawline that were present seemed to have been filed down in order for them to look more human. Going back to the staining, they had found a person down the road who could have been another suspect for the hoax of the Piltdown man. He could have been the one behind all of it because in possess were tools that had the same exact staining the fossil had. Everything about this fossil seemed to have been from an ape, and yet someone filed down and stained it to look more human like in order to trick everyone that this fossil was a fossil of a common ancestor between humans and apes.

        I do not believe someone can remove all the human factor from science. Humans are who discover all the findings and scientists do all the calculations in order to date how old a fossil is. Although, sometimes humans do make mistakes, just like stated previously, which is why human have an impact of new discoveries just like with the Piltdown man hoax. If a human was to not mess with this fossil found and not file down any teeth or stain it, I feel the Piltdown man would not be considered a hoax. It was because of this human contact that proved it to be fake. Many believed that this was the connection between humans and apes, however, one human fooled the whole world coming to the conclusion after many testing that the Piltdown man was not real.

       The lesson I have learned after the Piltdown man hoax was that I need to be careful of what people say. Not everything I hear is true. Many people like to twist true information and make it seem completely different then how it actually was said. There is a little truth to every lie. It also could be like the game telephone because if someone hears a statement incorrectly, it could change the way the information is portrayed to another person. I will now learn to no believe everything I hear, and if I were to hear something crazy, I will definitely either do some research or go the actual source from which this information came from.

Body Size and Sexual Dimorphism

Lemurs

a.) These primates live in Madagascar Islands or Comoro Islands which is on the Southeast coast of Africa and have evolved with the ability to live in an extreme seasonal environment. Lemurs deal with disgustingly dry weather all the way to drenching wet weather. They are called arboreal which is why they live in trees, but there are also some that live on the ground too. During the rainy seasons, most Lemurs live in the rain forest because there are more food there but will leave once the seasons over. These primates will adapt easily to any environment they're given.

b.) Lemurs vary on body size, depending on the type of Lemurs you are looking at, however, in general they're very small in size. Their length is between 90 centimeters and 110 centimeters. They have long pointy noses that allows them to smell which is what they depend heavily on. They rely on their balance skills. They vary on weight from 1.1 ounces to about 20 pounds. Compared to an anthropoid primate, their brain to body size ratio is smaller. It's the same for male and female lemurs, not much of a difference in size regardless of their gender, although their colors are different. Lemurs lack sexual dimorphism, however, they show sexual dichromatism, which is when males and females of the same species show different patterns and color fur. Males posses black/dark chocolate fur while females are lighter brown/chestnut color.

c.) The lemurs are relatively small and have mess body mass then most primates. When in the rain forest, jumping from tree to tree, they have the ability to throw themselves a lot further then most primates larger then them. Lemurs weigh less and since they're smaller, they're able to hide up in trees from their predators easily. Their body size is huge advantage in their habitat because it enables them to either be on the ground or up in the trees. Most of them live in trees, however, larger Lemurs supposedly live on the ground.

Spider Monkeys

a.) Spider monkeys are found in the tropical rainforests of Central and South America and can be found all the way north to Mexico but some species are also found in Brazil, Peru, Ecuador, and Colombia. They live in trees just like Lemurs do but prefer undisturbed evergreen rainforests and the upper canopies. They very rarely come down to ground level. Because they live pretty much in the upper canopy, they are pretty well adapted to their environment in the treetops and are fairly strong. They are considered the acrobats of New World primates.

b.) These primates have very little sexual dimorphism as well. Males (about 24 pounds) tend to be slightly larger then females (about 21 pound). Their length is about 35 centimeters including their tails. Males are more dominant than females, however, I have read that females are the ones who scare predators away.

c.) The spider monkeys characteristics allows them to adapt to their lifestyle quite well. Their long arms allows them to swing from tree to tree, using the hand over hand method called brachiation. Their hook type hands gives them the ability to grip the branches and swing right off of them to the next one and their tails are strong enough to hold their whole bodies. These prehensile tails allows them to move throughout the rainforest with security and ease.

Baboon

a.) These primates live in the grassland of Africa, the savannas, woodlands and some live in the tropical rainforest and baboons are very adaptable for any environment they live in. They mostly live in tall trees or cliff faces. They can survive a long time without water because at night, they can lick the dew around them to give them the refreshing water.

b.) Smaller, thinner, and lighter baboons live in the coastal and southern Kenya while darker and more heavy ones live in western and central Kenya. No matter the size, both are considered “dogfaced”. They range from 50 to 100 pounds and are 14 centimeters to 30 centimeters at the shoulder. These primates are one of the largest primates. They are sexual dimorphic mainly in size because the males are nearly twice as big as females. Although, color is sometimes another sexual dimorphism. Males are usually a white and silver color with red or tan around their face while females are mainly just brown in color.

c.) Because Baboons are one of the largest primates, their body size allows them fight off predators well. They're still able to move quickly and they live in the open grasslands of Africa enabling them to see far in the distance in case there are predators near. Males have a bigger body than females so they can compete for mating partners when given the opportunity.

Gibbon

a.) Gibbons live in the evergreen tropical rainforest of southeast Asia and scattered in the forests of China, Burma, Philippines, and Malaysia. They also live in the upper branches of trees and swing from tree to tree. These primates rarely are on the ground and when they walk, whether it be on the branches or on the trees, they will put their arms over their heads to balance them.

b.) Because of their body size, they are considered the lesser of the apes and are relatively smaller then most apes. They have an average of 3 feet in height and weigh around 17 and 26 pounds and their fur color could range from cream/brown to black. These primates also show very little sexual dimorphism. Males and females are around the same size, however, their coloring of the skin and fur is what can be determined male or female. Males are mainly black while females are more of a golden color. This seems to be the way most of these primates can tell between males and females.

c.) Gibbons have long arms enabling them to swing from tree to tree. They also have hook hands and when they're in locomotion, they can move at around 35 miles an hour and flying through gaps of 50 feet just in one leap. Their light weight bodies and long arms is what allows them to fly through the rainforest so quickly. Since they are rarely on the ground, they mainly stay in the treetops which helps them stay away from predators. Their little bodies is an advantage of them hiding in the branches.

Chimpanzee

a.) These great apes only can be found in Africa starting from the west coast of the continent to as far east as Tanzania. They also live in the tropical rainforests, although this place used to be the equatorial forest belt of Africa. These apes are very adaptable to any given environment they live in. Some can adapt to open woodlands, open savannahs, and swamp forests. Whichever habitat they adapted to will determine their behavior. Chimps rarely venture away from forests because they spend most of their time in the trees where the eat, sleep, and socialize. They do not stay high in the trees, but are in the mid to lower tree levels including the ground.

b.) There's a difference between the males and females in these primates because males are usually around 75 to 150 pounds with a height between 3 to 4 feet while females weigh around 50 to 100 pounds with a height of 2 to 3 feet. In regards to the color, males and females have the same black hair all over their bodies, with white beards, pale faces and prominent ears.

c.) Because their bodies are bigger then most, they are able to fight off predators heading in their direction and have long arms to enable them to travel between trees. Their body weight, however, is what makes them not able to live in the treetops of the rainforest like the some of the other primates. They have bigger hands allowing them to grip the trees when traveling on the branches.

The environment has a huge influence on the way these primates live. All of their long arms allow them to swing throughout the rainforests and trees. Their body size depends on the habitat that their living in too. Because chimpanzees and baboons have bigger bodies, some often live on the ground while the other primates like lemurs, spider monkeys, and gibbon are able to live in the trees because of their light body weight. Chimps and baboons have to fight off more predators when on the ground which is why they have bigger bodies, in contrast to the other primates and their smaller bodies.

Homologus vs Analogous Traits

Homologus Traits

1. A: The two species I have chosen to have homologus traits were kangaroos and koalas. The homologus trait that they share are the pouches on the their stomach in which they use to carry their babies in for further development beyond the womb.
   B: The pouch is the obvious similarity between the two species. However, the pouch's structure is set up differently for each species. For the koala, the pouch opens backwards and down while the kangaroo's pouch opens in front of the body horizontally. The pouches have developed differently according to each species environment. For example, the kangaroo's pouch would not work right for the koala because koalas climb trees and the way it has developed would make the offspring fall out easily. Same with the koala's pouch, with the way it's developed would make the offspring fall out easily if kangaroo's had this type of pouch when they go hopping along.
   C: The common ancestor of these two species is Hypsiprymnodon bartholomaii which is considered a musky rat-kangaroo. These ancestors had these pouches and have evolved over time because of the competition with placental mammals.
   D:
   

Analogous Traits

2. A: The two species I have chosen to have analogous traits were dolphins and sharks. Dolphins and sharks both live in the ocean and they definitely look like each other and it's very hard to tell them apart sometimes if you saw one swimming out in the ocean from shore. They both live in the ocean but have several analogous traits.
   B: Sharks and dolphins have many similarities that are analogies. For example, body shape, flippers, dorsal fins and their side fins. Their flippers help each species to move in a forward motion while their fins help the species turn and stop when they want. When it comes to the dorsal fin, they obviously both have one which we see when they're swimming in the water. These fins are necessary for marine animals because it gives them stability when swimming in the water. Each of these analogous traits have evolved independently because they are far from each others branches on the “tree”. Both of the these species experience environmental pressures that allowed them to adapt in order to survive.
   C: If we go far back in time, I definitely feel their common ancestor could have possessed these analogous traits. Sharks have been around for many many years and have evolved from fish while dolphins are newly evolved but have evolved from land-mammals who have “returned to the water”. Fish and mammals are nothing alike if you hear their names so how could sharks who are related to fish have a common ancestor with dolphins who are closely related to elephants and other mammals? If we go back far enough in time, we could possibly find an ancestor who has possessed these analogous traits, but for now it remains unknown. 
   D: 
   

DNA Code

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