Question for Evolutionist

[Thanda]

We are the descendants and so are the apes. We are all the different species that evolved from the common ancestor. Until just 50,000 years ago, there was at least one, perhaps two, other Homo species around besides sapiens. So the question, why isn't there any other species that are related to the same ancestor, is answered by simply looking at all the living ape kinds that exist today. We're all related with that ancestor.

My question is specifically why is it that there are no Homo species other than sapiens around today. The other apes are not homo.

 

[fantome profane]

True. But still the question lingers - gorillas, chimps, orangutans are still alive. And yet not one member of the genus homo (save homo sapiens) - from 2.8 million years ago till the present- has managed to survive to this day.

It is a clumsy and vague question. People always ask "why are things the way they are and not different?", but if things were different we would still be asking the same question. Why are things this way and not that way.

If you look at all the different classifications of biological families, some include thousands of species, and some only one. We belong to the family Hominidae which includes other species as well. And we belong to the genus Homo, which includes only us. That is the way it is.

 

[Midnight Rain]

It is both sad and curious.

Indeed.

I do not pretend to have evidence against evolution but I also don't take it too seriously (for some it is the basis of their belief that there is not God). I do not study it basically either to prove or disprove it. This was simply a question that popped into my mind just as a person might have a question pop into their mind about Islam without really being interested in proving or disproving the whole religion.

Would you be opposed to being given links on the scientific study of what may have caused their extinctions?

What do you mean "we aren't purely homo sapiens". What would a pure homo sapien look like?

It is unknown. Though I doubt it would have changed our appearance in any noticeable way if we didn't have the interbreeding. But what I am saying is that we have neanderthal DNA in us currently and we have Denisovian DNA as well. There is also a yet to be discovered or at least highly debated on strand of DNA that is from neither of those two and is not innately homo.

 

[LuisDantas]

Indeed. That is a bit like asking why TV station names are usually so short.

There is no particular reason to even expect a reason.

 

[Thanda]

It is a clumsy and vague question. People always ask "why are things the way they are and not different?", but if things were different we would still be asking the same question. Why are things this way and not that way.

If you look at all the different classifications of biological families, some include thousands of species, and some only one. We belong to the family Hominidae which includes other species as well. And we belong to the genus Homo, which includes only us. That is the way it is.

Perhaps, it just seems quite odd to me. From my understanding of evolution all these homo species lived on different parts of the planet. For all of them to be killed off leaving behind only homo sapiens and other related species (like chimps) seems an odd thing to me.

 

[Thanda]

Indeed. That is a bit like asking why TV station names are usually so short.

There is no particular reason to even expect a reason.

I think there probably is a reason why TV station names are usually short though.

 

[LuisDantas]

I think there probably is a reason why TV station names are usually short though.

And there may well be a reason why the primate tree is how it is when it comes to Homo Sapiens.

The trick is in noticing how arbitrary expectations are.

 

[Thanda]

Would you be opposed to being given links on the scientific study of what may have caused their extinctions?

Sure, you can go ahead.

It is unknown. Though I doubt it would have changed our appearance in any noticeable way if we didn't have the interbreeding. But what I am saying is that we have neanderthal DNA in us currently and we have Denisovian DNA as well. There is also a yet to be discovered or at least highly debated on strand of DNA that is from neither of those two and is not innately homo.

Do we have Homo Sapien DNA?

 

[LuisDantas]

We are Homo Sapiens.

 

[Thanda]

And there may well be a reason why the primate tree is how it is when it comes to Homo Sapiens.

The trick is in noticing how arbitrary expectations are.

What I'm saying is that it is not arbitrary. TV stations have short names so that people (average people like you and I) can remember them easily. Our national broadcaster is called the South African Broadcasting Corporation. But that name is unwieldy. So they call themselves the SABC. It's about marketing.

All I'm saying is you've used a bad example.

 

[Thanda]

We are Homo Sapiens.

I know.

 

[LuisDantas]

Then what was your question about?

 

[LuisDantas]

What I'm saying is that it is not arbitrary. TV stations have short names so that people (average people like you and I) can remember them easily. Our national broadcaster is called the South African Broadcasting Corporation. But that name is unwieldy. So they call themselves the SABC. It's about marketing.

All I'm saying is you've used a bad example.

I guess I did. But really, I think you should consider how arbitrary your expectations are.

 

[Thanda]

Then what was your question about?

Read the quoted text from my conversation with Midnight Rain.

 

[LuisDantas]

My question stands as asked.

 

[Thanda]

My question stands as asked.

Okay. Midnight Rain claimed we aren't "purely homo sapiens" since we posses DNA of atleast three "other species" (other than homo sapiens, I presume).

 

[George-ananda]

That is, why are there no neanderthals or homo erectuses scattered in different parts of the world for us to see today? Why are they all dead (assuming they are all dead)?

Species go extinct all the time. What is the issue?

 

[Thanda]

Species go extinct all the time. What is the issue?

I think I have sufficiently explained the issue. Do you have any other answers?

 

[LuisDantas]

Okay. Midnight Rain claimed we aren't "purely homo sapiens" since we posses DNA of atleast three "other species" (other than homo sapiens, I presume).

My question remains exactly as asked.

 

[fantome profane]

Perhaps, it just seems quite odd to me. From my understanding of evolution all these homo species lived on different parts of the planet. For all of them to be killed off leaving behind only homo sapiens and other related species (like chimps) seems an odd thing to me.

No, mostly they lived in Africa. Some branched out slightly. But there were no Hominids in the Americas for example.