"In fall 2009, the journal
Science dedicated a special issue to
Ardipithecus ramidus. Popularly known as "Ardi," the fossil was characterized by researchers Tim White and C. Owen Lovejoy as a replacement for Lucy as mankind's direct evolutionary ancestor. Many of those exposed to the ensuing extensive publicity were misled by the media's pro-Darwinian euphoria, when they would have been better served by a little healthy skepticism.
Several of the 11 separate papers in that issue of
Science offered pure speculations about Ardi's social behavior, sexual practices, mode of life, peculiar habitat, and walking habits. At the time, the Institute for Creation Research pointed out that these imaginative reconstructions were not based on the data.1 Now, an evolutionist has formally expressed some of the same doubts.
Also publishing in
Science, Esteban Sarmiento of the Human Evolution Foundation in New Jersey indicated that most of the earlier interpretations of Ardi were either unfounded, not borne out by data, or were premature. These were the same conclusions drawn by ICR last fall.
Sarmiento refuted the critical aspect that had placed Ardi among hominids, those imaginary ape-like possible ancestors of man that could supposedly walk upright. He wrote, "Sufficient support for this claim…is lacking."
Sarmiento, E. E. 2010. Comment on the Paleobiology and Classification of Ardipithecus ramidus. Science. 328 (5982): 1105.
Evolutionist Tosses Out 'Ardi' As Human Ancestor