Piltdown Hoax

1. The Piltdown Hoax is the deception of  the link between men and apes. In the early 1800’s, a piece of skull was found in the hills of Sussex in England. The piece of skull was then passed on to an archeologist named Charles Dawson. To Dawson, the skull appeared to be  prehistoric. Dawson then met Arthur Smith Woodward at London’s Natural History Museum about his discovery. Dawson and Woodward geared up for a digging, for they have felt that this piece of skull is crucial to finding the link between men and apes. This piece of skull may also be the answer to England’s first human. They finally found a jawbone with human like teeth that seemed to match with the skull Dawson obtained from the worker. British science were impressed when Dawson and Woodward presented a human skull next to “the earliest English Man’s” skull. It was the pride of England, for it was thought to be missing link. Piltdown became the most famous place on earth because the fossils of the first man to inhibit the Earth was found there; and it was in England.

After the second world war, scientists conducted tests, such as fluorine tests, that resulted into finding out that the fossil were about 100-1,000 years old, which is considered to be young if the fossils were prehistoric. In 1953, scientists decided to perform tests to determine whether the artifacts were really that young. It was obvious to the scientists that the strains on the skull were superficial. The fossil were also found to have been stained and cut after the piece of skull was fossilized. The teeth that were found to be filed into place, and there were scratches on the teeth most likely made by something sharp. The jawbone was revealed to be an orangutan jawbone, and dated to be only 100 years old. There were also many pieces of the jawbone removed to fit the upper part of the skull. Scientists were astonished by this discovery. Charles Dawson was now a prime suspect to this scam. After unearthing the Piltdown Hoax, Dawson was now known to have forged half a dozen archeological finds in his lifetime. Now scientists are questioning whether Dawson had committed this fraud by himself, or with the aid of a professional. Dawson and Woodward were highly respected men in the field of science, but now they are looked upon as counterfeits. There was another person who was suspected to have participated in the hoax. Hinton found artifacts that had the same staining as the skull found in Piltdown.

It was stated that in the olden days, scientists were seen as scholars and gentlemen, and that they would not commit such a forgery; but now scientists know that this kind of fraud can and will happen.


2. As human beings, we are not perfect. The scientists who were involved in the Piltdown Hoax were intelligent men, but pride and prestige caused them to commit fraud. It was repeatedly mentioned that Neanderthal fossils were found in Germany, France, and Spain, but not England. At this time, early 1900’s, England was in war with Germany, so the English pride was hurt that there were not any kind of fossil found in England to prove prehistoric humans lived there. The pressure of being the best had gotten the best of the scientists to commit such a fraud.

3. In the 1920’s more discoveries of fossils were unearthed, but these fossils were dated to be thousands years after the Piltdown man, but it was less human like. There was some inconsistency. A test was performed, fluorine test, to recover the age of the fossils found in Piltdown. Scientists measured the amount of fluorine in the Piltdown fossils to determine how old it was. Professor Frank Spencer stated that the teeth in the fossil were filed into the jaw using something scratched and implemented the molars down.

4. As long as we are humans, I do not think it is possible to remove the human factor to reduce or prevent these kinds of errors from happening again. There is the want and the pressure of being the first one to discover something unknown to the world, and as long as the scientist is human, it will not be removed. I would like for the human factor to be removed, so that there would be little errors and selfishness behind discoveries, but then again without the human factor, there would be no passion behind it as well. Also, this way we can learn from others mistakes. When it comes down to it, I do not think I want the human factor to be removed.

5. The lesson I learned from the Piltdown Hoax does not only pertain to science discoveries, but also in my personal life. Even if the resources seem to be reliable and are from people who are respectable, it does not always mean it is right or it is true. It is how some misunderstandings between friends start. Apparently, it can also cause a world wide scam.

The fossils should have been investigated by an outside source to avoid any bias conclusions.

Primates...

Lemurs-
a. Lemurs are inhabitants of the island of Madagascar, located off the continent of Africa. Lemurs populate rain forests, as well as the dry areas of Madagascar. They share their niche along side squirrels, monkeys, and woodpeckers. Lemurs are mostly herbivores, therefore they are usually among trees and plants.

b. The locomotion behavior in lemurs varies. There are lemurs that become accustomed to side to side clinging and jumping that when on the ground, lemurs would jump side ways usually standing upright since they are so used to clinging and switching to branches side to side. They also walk in all fours. In addition, lemurs have also been reported to be very good swimmers.

c. The lemurs locomotor skills, such as swinging from branch to branch perpendicularly and jumping side ways while on the ground, is forced by the environment. Since there were bigger land animal predators in Madagascar, lemurs learned to stay on trees for safety. Lemurs eat only plants, fruits, and small insects, although it is indicated that lemurs like to eat almost anything edible.

Spider Monkey
a. Spider monkeys are found in tropical forests of South America. Spider monkeys are usually found within the tropical rain forests from the southern part of Mexico to Brazil. Since spider monkeys are living in a forest, its predators are mostly jaguars, pumas, and large snakes.

b. Spider monkeys like to move around in trees using all four limbs and their tail. Spider monkeys like to hook their tails on branches of trees and swing from branch to branch using their long powerful arms. Spider monkeys use their tails as their fifth hand, so they use their tail for hanging on trees as they pick fruits or nuts. They use their tail to keep their balance if they ever stand on their two legs.

c. Just like the lemurs, spider monkeys eat fruits, but they also like to nourish themselves with nuts. So their strong arms for hanging are evolutionary product. They have been accounted to be more tree dwellers, and rarely walk on the grounds of the rain forest.    '

Baboon
a. Baboons are primates found living in Africa and Asia. The baboons found in Africa are used to living in hot and humid conditions compared to the baboons found in Japan. Baboons like to live around trees for a safe place to sleep in, and near water sources.


b. Baboons are primates who uses all fours to walk on the ground. Like the chimpanzee, it can walk up straight, but is seen more knuckle-walking. Baboons gets around trees very well.

c. Baboons also walk on their knuckles, usually on all fours. To me it is the force of nature that led baboons to walk this way. Baboons, like its other primate cousins, have bigger mammalian predators like the cheetah and leopards. Since baboons eat fruits, blossoms, plants, and insects, baboons need to be able to climb up trees to get fruits and chase insects on trees. They have very good grip for climbing.

  

Gibbon
a. Gibbons are located in the tropical and sub-tropical areas of Southeast Asia. They live among trees to eat fruits and small insects.

b. A description of your specified character trait for that primate.
Gibbons have longer arms than their legs. They are also very athletic and lively. They swing swiftly from branch to branch to get to where they need or want to go. I have also read that gibbons can walk small branches up in the air like tightrope walkers using their arms for balance. They can also jump long distance from one tree to the next.

c. Gibbons are also primates who live in trees, but in high locations of the trees. Although they do not make nests for sleep, they are just like the spider monkey and lemurs. They eat plants, fruits, and insects, and sometimes small birds. For many of the things they eat, they need to be on trees.  To be able to survive, gibbons need strong arms and legs to mingle around in trees to look for food and travel. Since they are not very large primates, predators  like leopards and large snakes are likely to go after them. Their swift movements help them avoid these predators.

Chimpanzee
a. Wild chimpanzees can only be found in the continent of Africa.  They live in rain forests of equatorial Africa.


b. Chimpanzees use all four of their arms and legs to walk. When they use their knuckles to walk, it is called knuckle-walking. They can also walk upright like humans when they need to carry something. Chimpanzees, like the gibbons and spider monkeys, use their arms and legs to jump and swing in trees.

c. As primates, chimpanzees need a way to be able to gather food and travel to where their food is located. In addition, I have also read that most of the chimpanzees’ eating are done in trees, and for this to be done, they need to have strong arms and legs and good balance.

Since there are evidence pointing that most of these primates are related, their evolution is closely related. My assignment was to look at the locomotor patterns on the five primates. From what I have read, they all have pretty much the same physical characteristics. They all have fingers and thumbs with the exception of the spider monkeys, who doesnt have thumbs. Their environments definitely influenced their locomotives. For these primates, living in and around trees is a necessity, so their arms, legs, and in spider monkeys, their tails developed to adapt to their environment.

Analogy and Homology

1a. Komodo dragons and alligators are homologous creatures to each other. Both organisms are reptiles and they both survive by eating other animals and using their strong tails and quick swimming abilities.

1b. The tail and legs of the Komodo dragon and the alligator are homologs. The two creatures are also posses thick leathery skin that protects them from outside elements.They also have strong jaws that allows them to eat their prey. Visually, they look very similar other than the alligators lumpy back, but both species are under the Phyulum Chordota and  Class: Reptilia.

1c. After doing an intensive research, I thought initially that the komodo dragon and the alligator's common ancestor was carboniferous, but further back, my research indicated it was casineria, the oldest know reptile.


1d.

2a. Monarch butterflies are analogous to the hummingbirds. Both the butterfly and the hummingbirds posses wings, so they can fly, but the two creatures are of different species and genus.

2b. The Monarch butterfly and hummingbird both have wings. They use their wings in order to survive. They use it to look for food and travel. Their wing spans are about of the same size, 4inches long. 

2c. Upon research, I have reached to a conclusion that the monarch butterfly and the hummingbird does not have a common ancestor.

2d. 

Protein Synthesis

1.   ATTGTACGCCTTACACGGCAAATGCGAGCTAAGTCTGATCGCCG

Darwin: Historical Influences

1. Initially, I thought Charles Lyell would be the person I thought most influenced Charlse Darwin to develop his theory of natural selection, but as I read more about each person ont he list, I decided that Alfred Russel Wallace may have the most influence on Darwin. Alfred Russel Wallace was not just a naturalist, he was also a biologist. I definitely think Alfred Russel Wallace was a positive influence to Darwin.

2. According to the book Introduction to Physical Anthropology, Darwin and Wallace reached to the conclusion of natural selection about the same time.  Wallace, along with Darwin, concluded that if the sources are limited there must be competition for food, therefore; it means that the best fit organism will survive. Wallace spent a long period of time in the Amazon to study the factors of evolution. Though he did not reach a conclusion about evolution while in the Amazon, he continued his journey to "the Malay Archipelago." While exploring that region, Wallace managed to collect 125,660 specimens, even discovering thousands of species not known yet to the science world at that time.
(http://people.wku.edu/charles.smith/index1.htm)

3. Wallace believed that population of the species is limited to the resources available, and with limited sources there is always the need for competition for food. There are two bullet point ideas that coincide with Wallace's findings. "Resources are limited. Our planet has a limit of much it can hold and produce. There will not be enough resources available for all organisms to reproduce as many offspring as they can." Not having enough resources mean there are only limited amount of food and water. With limited sources, comes the competition for food, water and living space which goes into the point of who is most fit to survive.  

4. I believe that Darwin could have developed his theory of natural selection without the influence of Wallace, but I absolutely trust that without Wallace, all of Darwin's findings would have taken twice as long as it did with the influence of Wallace. Darwin had other great influences, but Wallace seems to have the closest ideas and findings Darwin had discovered.

5. During Darwin's time, the church was a very powerful political influence. The church affected Darwin's publication of his findings and as a result he feared that his peers will not accept his theories about how life is created. As a result of his doubt, it took Darwin 23 years to publish On the Origins of Species.

Scientific Method...

1.  It is possible that students fall asleep in the rear end of the classroom because they are far from the teacher and other students, therefore; they are not as active in socializing and participation in class

2. To prove or disprove this hypothesis, I will ask a few students in the same class to sit around the subject (who is sitting in the farthest chair from the professor) and purposely raise their hands for discussion and speak with the subject to socialize a bit. Since the people around the subject will be more lively and social, we will see if the student will still fall asleep or not. If the student fell asleep, it would prove my hypothesis to be falsified.

3. An untestable explanation would be students purposely singing the subject a lullaby to make him fall asleep.