"skeleton reverses the common wisdom of human evolution"

[Hux]

Stuff like that it had a foot that had a very opposable "thumb" for use in trees, IIRC even more so than the chimps, but it still managed to be ok for bipedal walk. It's as if evolution first tried to produce a better hybrid, before giving up entirely on the idea of living in trees.

ETA: but when you factor in that where they discovered it there used to be a forest at the time, I guess it's not very surprising that it was still an advantage to be able to live in trees.

There is every reason to think Lucy and her Australopithecines could hightail it up trees when necessary. All this can tell us is that Ardi and those hominids earlier than her (that we havent found yet but they must have existed) had the propensity to walk upright when it suited them. It about the only way we can distinguish an early Hominid from a Proto-chimp.

 

[UndercoverElephant]

Why is this thread in the religion and philosophy section? It has nothing to do with either of them.

"skeleton reverses the common wisdom of human evolution" isn't supposed to imply "evolution is wrong." It just means that something is a bit different to how some people thought it might have been. I think the opening poster misinterpreted what the headline was trying to say. I don't believe there was a religious motive, just a need to sell newspapers.