Piltdown Man

     In 1912, a small town in Lewes, England called Piltdown was home to the discovery of a fossilized piece of an ancient human skull. The find was credited to an amateur archaeologist named Charles Dawson. The reason why this fossil was highly regarded was due to the fact that it could have been the missing evolutionary link between humans and apes. After the discovery, Dawson convened with Arthur Keith, Sir David Woodward, and Telihard De Chardin in order to present the fossil to the scientific community at large. Widespread groupthink occurred amongst the scientists throughout England and perhaps even the world. No one doubted the findings since Dawson's group then went on to find several other fossil pieces to supplement his initial discoveries. As well as the fact that fossil dating technologies were essentially non-existent during that time period. However, discoveries of ancient human fossils surfaced in Asia and in Africa. These fossils were much older and were inconsistent with the composition of Piltdown Man. This led to widespread skepticism of Piltdown's legitimacy and in 1949 a fluorine test was conducted and determined that the fossil was no more than 100,000 years old. Further thorough testing revealed that the fossils were: artificially stained, cuts were made throughout the fossils with a steel knife, and that the teeth belonged to a orangutan which later revealed that the fossil was less than 100 years old. The overwhelming amount of evidenced led to the conclusion that the Piltdown Man was nothing but a mere product of clever forgery. 

     The scientific process was clouded in this case due to national pride, hubris, and groupthink. Dawson was an ambitious man, he wanted nothing more than prestige within the scientific community. Apart from the Piltdown fossil, it was also discovered that many of his archealogical findings were also products of forgery. Scientists are humans too, which means that they are not immune to the forces of desire and greed. Another fact to consider is how the scientific community did not have any skeptics (perhaps Hinten was), and their decision to accept the fossil as true evolutionary evidence was due to the overwhelming amount of national pride and general jubilance everyone at the time incurred. England wanted to prove that they were also scientific pioneers and did not want to fall behind other European countries like France. 

     

     Where there is darkness, there is light. That light definitely shined when the skepticism of the Piltdown fossil grew. Advances in scientific technology like the fluorine dating test was developed and resulted in the exponential growth of said skepticism. Chemical tests and technologically advanced microscopes showed that a lot of what made the Piltdown fossil "authentic" were artificial. The utilization of the scientific method in order to answer the question "Is this truly a connection between humans and apes?" was used and further research and testing led to the conclusion that Piltdown man is simply a hoax.

     Scientists are the backbone of the entire subject of science. Without scientists, our understanding of science would not be as comprehensive as it is today. The fact that scientists are human means that is nearly impossible to remove the human factor out of science. However, as we advance technologically, so do our means of authenticating the discoveries made in the field of science. Countermeasures are in place in order to combat the human factor and the enforcement of the scientific method as well as peer-reviews are well implemented. Although it would be great to have an autonomous way to procure scientific data, I feel that the human factor is simply something that can not be removed.

     The life lesson here is, always be skeptical. Keep an open mind but do not be impressionable. It should take more than mere words and shoddy evidence to influence one's mind. Never succumb to hubris and groupthink, always think outside the box.

Homology

1.

a) Human beings are bipedal mammals meaning they stand on two feet and have an erect posture. Humans are omnivores and are innately social creatures. These two traits are major contributors towards the versatility of human beings as a species. The ability to adapt to any environment and being able to alter their environment to cater to their needs is the reason why homo sapiens is the apex predator of the global food chain. Cats are carnivorous mammals that have been domesticated through years of selective breeding. Their bodies are adapted towards killing small prey, i.e rodents and serve a predatory niche in the wild (feral cats).

b) The human arm and a cat's legs are homologous. Humans use their limbs for a variety of activities, they're used for defense, nurturing, building, climbing and a lot of other things. The versatility of human limbs comes from the evolutionary advantage of opposable thumbs which opened a wide variety of opportunities for humans to take advantage of their environment. Cats on the other hand (no pun intended) have much more specified roles for their limbs. Movement is probably the biggest deciding factor regarding the differences of limb structure between humans and felines. Cats are incredibly nimble and flexible creatures. Despite having similar bone content (humures, ulna, are thicker), structurally they are different due to the fact that the anatomy of a cat's limbs are specialized. A cat's "arm" is essentially a spring loaded mechanism that can; withstand falls from certain heights, be used for pouncing on prey (birds and rodents), jumping etc. Thus

c) Through some research I discovered that the common ancestor of these two mammals is a particular placental mammal. I know this ancestor possessed these homologous traits because it is the only possible explanation as to how homology exists between these two very different species.

d)

2.

a) Butterflies are colorful flying insects, some species pollinate plants and some serve as carnivorous predators who feed on smaller insects They belong to the same group as moths from an evolutionary and taxonomical standpoint. Birds are considered to be the last living dinosaurs on earth as indicated by fossil records. Birds have reptilian evolutionary origins and a large majority have the ability to fly. They serve a variety of different roles amongst a myriad of niches. Some are predatory (birds of prey), some are nocturnal, some are herbivores, and some are carnivorous. 

b) The wings of a bird capable of flight and a butterflies are quite similar in function. Despite not sharing a common ancestor, they both developed the ability to fly thanks to convergent evolution (living within the same environment). Flight is a major evolutionary advantage, the development of wings between these two species largely contributed to their survival. Most notably the bird, as previously stated, they are the remnants of dinosaurs and it is heavily theorized that dinosaurs capable of flight were the ones who managed to survive numerous mass extinction events. 

c) In the butterflies' case, yes, their common ancestor possessed the ability to fly (caddis flies) and through changes in their environment the butterfly we know today was conceived through years of gradual evolution. It is largely speculated by the scientific community that the common ancestor of birds were theropods (think of raptors), who clearly lacked the ability to fly. This fact alone is proof that the traits of these two species are analogous. Birds developed wings through evolution as it was an imperative tool for their survival within their environments.

d)

Protein Synthesis

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