Since the 1859 publication of “On the Origin of Species” by Charles Darwin, the theory of evolution has ignited a tumultuous debate on the genesis of mankind, climaxing in intense confrontations between creationists and evolutionists. Creationists believe in the intelligent-design theory, that life did not arise by chance, but was created by some intelligent entity (God), referencing religious text as evidence. On the contrary, evolutionists believe in Darwinism, that through the process of natural selection in humans over millions of years evolved from the great apes. Despite their brilliant claim, in 1859 there was insufficient physical evidence to prove that man evolved from ape, evolutionist lacked the “missing link” fossils of transitional species between ape and human that would validate the theory of evolution. However, through centuries of archeological discoveries, evolution obtained credibility. In the 1970’s, this process was expedited when two groundbreaking archeological finds were made. In 1974, Dr. Donald Johanson found Lucy (Australopithecus Afarensis) a 3.2-million-year-old fossil who
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I do not agree with the methodology of the reconstruction of Lucy’s pelvis. In the Origins of Man Lovejoy states, “The bones fit together so well that they are in an anatomically impossible position” and then he takes the liberty of restoring the pelvis into its “natural” position. I believe that Lovejoy needed more proof to support his theory. Since Lovejoy assumed that the pelvis was not in its natural position he gives critics the benefit of the doubt to the idea that he doctored up the Lucy’s pelvis to support Johanson bipedal theory. If Dr. Johanson had found an in-situ pelvis fossil of Lucy in the same position as Lovejoy’s reconstruction it would have given more credence and proved beyond doubt that the classification of Lucy as the oldest most complete bipedal human ancestor is
I do not agree with the methodology of the reconstruction of Lucy’s pelvis. In the Origins of Man Lovejoy states, “The bones fit together so well that they are in an anatomically impossible position” and then he takes the liberty of restoring the pelvis into its “natural” position. I believe that Lovejoy needed more proof to support his theory. Since Lovejoy assumed that the pelvis was not in its natural position he gives critics the benefit of the doubt to the idea that he doctored up the Lucy’s pelvis to support Johanson bipedal theory. If Dr. Johanson had found an in-situ pelvis fossil of Lucy in the same position as Lovejoy’s reconstruction it would have given more credence and proved beyond doubt that the classification of Lucy as the oldest most complete bipedal human ancestor is