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Hugh Ross is an Old Earth Creationist and an Astrophysicist. He accepts the evolutionary view of history but contends that atatomically modern humans were specially created.
I highly suggest that you read the entire artice:
http://www.reasons.org/resources/apologetics/humanevolution.shtml?main
The following is an excerpt:
A Scientific and Biblical Response
"Up from the Apes. Remarkable New Evidence Is Filling in the Story of How We Became Human"
Time, August 23, 1999
The Scientific Evidence
"With two general scenarios for mans origins outlined, we now turn to the scientific evidence to determine which scenario best accommodates all the evidence.
Contrary to the claims of some Creationists, we find that there is ample evidence from the fossil and archeological evidence for the existence of bipedal primates species dating back to 4.5 million years ago.24, 25 The dates and ages of the hominid fossils are not widely disputed in the scientific community. We share this view. We do not take the position that the examples of Nebraska Man and Piltdown Man call into question the validity of the entire hominid fossil record and the existence of the now extinct bipedal hominids. In fact, we will demonstrate that the reality and reliability of the fossil record, along with work in molecular genetics provides powerful support for the biblical scenario for the origin of humans and call into question the evolutionary scenario. However, as we will demonstrate, Nebraska Man is an extreme example that, in dramatic fashion, points out the problems associated with the drastically incomplete and fragmentary nature of the hominid fossil finds.
The nomenclature used by paleoanthropologists when discussing bipedal primates can be misleading. These scientists often refer to all the members of the genuses Australopithecus, Paranthropus and Homo as human. This is unfortunate. In our experience, we have noted that those not familiar with this practice commonly misinterpret this to indicate that the scientific evidence places human beings (Homo sapiens sapiens) as far back as 4.5 million years ago. In the process, the marked morphological and behavioral differences between the extinct hominids and modern man are not clearly noted. Even more confusing is the practice of some paleoanthropologists to refer to all Homo species including Homo erectus, Homo heidelbergensis / Archaic" Homo sapiens, Homo neandertalensis as Homo sapiens. This practice reflects in part the bias of many paleoanthropologists towards a naturalistic view of mankinds origin and leads to the misperception that human evolution has a stronger basis in fact than is actually indicated by the data. In this paper we will use the term human to refer strictly to Homo sapiens sapiens, which first appear in the fossil record less than 100,000 years ago.
Appearance of Modern Man
The timing and the nature of the appearance of modern man in the fossil record are important to establishing the validity of the biblical scenario for the origin of man. The fossil evidence clearly shows that at about 40,000 years ago, there was an explosive appearance of Cro-Magnon man. Cro-Magnon man is indistinguishable from modern humans (Homo sapiens sapiens).60 Prior to the sudden appearance of Cro-Magnon man, the fossil record is extremely sparse and unclear. There is the possibility that Homo sapiens may have appeared as far back as 100,000 to 130,000 years ago based on the Omo Kibish discovery and the discoveries at Qafzel and Skhul in Israel.61,62 These specimens show some anatomical similarity to Homo sapiens sapiens, but display clear behavioral differences. The behavior of these hominids is closely akin to that of Neandertals. It is important to note that the dating of these samples has been problematic. Specimens that fall between 30,000 years ago and 500,000 years ago are not covered by the well-established 14C and potassium-argon dating techniques.63 The dates estimated for have been estimated using the newly developed luminescence and electron spin resonance techniques. These dates must be regarded as estimates, at best.
Another interesting feature of the hominid fossil record is the apparent disappearance of Homo sapiens between 80,000 and 40,000 years ago. From an evolutionary perspective it has been proposed that Homo sapiens populations plummeted to near extinction and then for some unknown reason bounced back in full force about 40,000 years ago.64 This population bottleneck is viewed by evolutionary biologists as being responsible for the high degree of genetic uniformity among modern humans. (See below.)
The sudden appearance of modern humans in the fossil record at 40,000 years ago is in complete agreement with the biblical date for the appearance of mankind. Given that the fossil record is so sparse and the dating is problematic beyond 35,000 years ago, it is uncertain as to the true identity or true time of appearance of the Omo Kibbish and Qafzeh and Skhul finds. It is quite conceivable that these specimens may not even be Homo sapiens sapiens given their behavior. If these specimens are not true humans, then the absence of Homo sapiens in the fossil record between 40,000 and 80,000 years ago may actually represent the extinction of those particular species of bipedal primates, or reflect the fact that Homo sapiens sapiens did not appear on earth until about 40,000 years ago. If this is the case, then, the sudden appearance of modern man at 40,000 years ago can be attributed to the special creation of man by the Creator.
Genetic Evidence
Up to this point, we have shown that the fossil and archeological evidence does not unequivocally establish human evolution as a fact. Moreover, there is nothing in the fossil and archeological record that precludes the biblical scenario for mans origins as being true. In fact, 1) the discontinuity created in evolutionary scenarios by assigning Homo habilis and Homo rudolfensis to australopithecines; 2) the problems with the overestimation of brain size in extinct hominids and the need it creates for identifying a mechanism to account for rapid the increase in brain size with the appearance of modern humans; and 3) the sudden appearance of Homo sapiens and complex behavior in the fossil and archeological record after a 40,000 year absence of any species closely resembling modern humans all provide support for the biblical creation model.
Additional support for the biblical scenario for mans origin comes from the lack of genetic diversity of humans. As biologists studied humans and species of apes in the 1970's and 1980's, some rather surprising information was being discovered that distinguished modern man from apes and other primates. Surprisingly, scientists discovered that human genetic diversity is far less than what one would predict from Darwinian theory.75, 76, 77 The genetic variation among the different human races has been found to be much less than that for isolated populations of chimps, orangutans and other primate species. In addition, an analysis of the genetics of populations of apes reveals that different population groups possess fixed novel mutations that characterize each population. In contrast, there are no novel mutations or genetic alleles that specifically characterize any one human race from another. Dr. Maryellen Ruvolo (Harvard University) has noted, "It's a mystery none of us can explain".78 Moreover, examination of the genetic sequences of diverse modern human populations reveals minor differences.79 All of this evidence suggested a recent origin for modern humans.
In the late 1980's and early 1990's a number of studies examined the mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) of women all over the world. These studies suggested that the last common ancestor of modern man (actually women) appeared within the last 200,000 years which is much more recent than previously thought.80, 81, 82, 83 Refinements in the measurements lowered the original estimates to 135,000 years and finally to 100,000 years (and as discussed below even possibly 50,000 years).84,85 Scientists chose to examine mtDNA because, being enclosed within the subcellular organelle called the mitochondrion, there is no genetic recombination (males make no contribution of mtDNA to the fetus). All mtDNA comes from our mothers and is passed down from mother to daughter, since only mitochondria from the egg are used to make up the fetus. By tracing the differences in mtDNA from peoples around the world, scientists have calculated the probable date of the last common ancestor of modern humans at 100,000 to 200,000 years ago. Recent studies on the frequency of heteroplasmy (the possession of different mitochondrial biochemical types within a cell) indicates that mutations occur in mtDNA at a higher rate than initially thought. Re-calibration of the mtDNA molecular clock to take into account the higher mutation rate places the most likely date for mans appearance near 50,000 years ago. 86, 87
In 1995, scientists examined human origins from the perspective of male genetics. 88, 89 Scientists have examined a gene (ZFY), which being on the Y chromosome, is passed down only from father to son. Thirty-eight men were chosen from all over the world (Africa, Asia, Australia, Europe, and Northern, Central, and South America). Scientists determined the actual genetic sequence in each man for this gene, which is 729 base pairs long. To their surprise, all men had identical genetic sequences (over 27,000 base pairs analyzed). Scientists have calculated the most probable date for the last common ancestor of modern man, given the sequence diversity from modern apes. Using two different models this date is either 270,000 or 27,000 years ago. However, both these models assume that the male population during this entire period of time consisted of only 7,500 individuals. The date estimates from these models would be significantly reduced if the male population were higher than 7,500, which is very likely. Two separate studies using similar techniques looked at larger pieces of the Y chromosome, which would reduce the uncertainty in the calculation of dates. One study examined a gene which was 2,600 base pairs and determined a last common ancestor date of 188,000 years ago (minimum of 51,000 and maximum of 411,000 years ago). 90 The other study used a very large piece of the Y chromosome (18,300 base pairs) and calculated a last common ancestor date of modern man of 43,000 years ago (minimum of 37,000 and maximum of 49,000 years ago). 91 This latter study also examined mitochondrial DNA from women and determined an origination date of 90,000-120,000 years ago.
A study published in 1996 examined linkage disequilibrium at the human CD4 locus (a T-cell associated antigen) as a means to establish the date of modern human origins.92 This study determined a maximum origin date of 102,000 years ago based upon the assumption that the Alu (-) allele arose 5 million years ago, or almost immediately after mankind's split from other primates. As they stated, "It is likely that the Alu deletion event occurred more recently, in which case our estimates for the date of founding of the non-African populations would also be more recent." Preliminary studies from chromosomes 19, 11 and 8 show similar results to that seen on chromosome 12 (the locus of the CD4 gene). 93
The mutation rate among humans also suggests a recent origin for man and creates problems for the evolutionary models for the origin of man. A just completed study examined the mutation rate for humans. Using "conservative assumptions" the authors found that the overall mutation rates was 4.2 mutations per person per generation, with a deleterious rate of 1.6.94When using more realistic assumptions the overall mutation rate for humans become 6.7 with a deleterious rate of 3.1. Such a high rate should have resulted in extinction of our species long ago. They stated in their conclusion:
"The deleterious mutation rate appears to be so high in humans and our close relatives that it is doubtful that such species, which have low reproductive rates, could survive if mutational effects on fitness were to combine in a multiplicative way."
The authors had to rely upon a rare association of mutations, termed synergistic epistasis to explain why the numerous hypothesized deleterious mutations have not overwhelmed our genome. Instead of postulating the obvious (that the human genome is not as old as evolution would teach), evolutionists must rely upon the improbable to retain the evolutionary paradigm.95"
http://www.reasons.org/resources/apologetics/humanevolution.shtml?main
May peace be upon thee and with thy spirit.
I highly suggest that you read the entire artice:
http://www.reasons.org/resources/apologetics/humanevolution.shtml?main
The following is an excerpt:
A Scientific and Biblical Response
"Up from the Apes. Remarkable New Evidence Is Filling in the Story of How We Became Human"
Time, August 23, 1999
- Fazale (Fuz) Rana, Ph.D. (Vice President of Science Apologetics)
- Richard Deem, MS (Apologist)
- Hugh Ross, Ph.D. (President, Reasons To Believe, Pasadena, CA, 91117)
The Scientific Evidence
"With two general scenarios for mans origins outlined, we now turn to the scientific evidence to determine which scenario best accommodates all the evidence.
Contrary to the claims of some Creationists, we find that there is ample evidence from the fossil and archeological evidence for the existence of bipedal primates species dating back to 4.5 million years ago.24, 25 The dates and ages of the hominid fossils are not widely disputed in the scientific community. We share this view. We do not take the position that the examples of Nebraska Man and Piltdown Man call into question the validity of the entire hominid fossil record and the existence of the now extinct bipedal hominids. In fact, we will demonstrate that the reality and reliability of the fossil record, along with work in molecular genetics provides powerful support for the biblical scenario for the origin of humans and call into question the evolutionary scenario. However, as we will demonstrate, Nebraska Man is an extreme example that, in dramatic fashion, points out the problems associated with the drastically incomplete and fragmentary nature of the hominid fossil finds.
The nomenclature used by paleoanthropologists when discussing bipedal primates can be misleading. These scientists often refer to all the members of the genuses Australopithecus, Paranthropus and Homo as human. This is unfortunate. In our experience, we have noted that those not familiar with this practice commonly misinterpret this to indicate that the scientific evidence places human beings (Homo sapiens sapiens) as far back as 4.5 million years ago. In the process, the marked morphological and behavioral differences between the extinct hominids and modern man are not clearly noted. Even more confusing is the practice of some paleoanthropologists to refer to all Homo species including Homo erectus, Homo heidelbergensis / Archaic" Homo sapiens, Homo neandertalensis as Homo sapiens. This practice reflects in part the bias of many paleoanthropologists towards a naturalistic view of mankinds origin and leads to the misperception that human evolution has a stronger basis in fact than is actually indicated by the data. In this paper we will use the term human to refer strictly to Homo sapiens sapiens, which first appear in the fossil record less than 100,000 years ago.
Appearance of Modern Man
The timing and the nature of the appearance of modern man in the fossil record are important to establishing the validity of the biblical scenario for the origin of man. The fossil evidence clearly shows that at about 40,000 years ago, there was an explosive appearance of Cro-Magnon man. Cro-Magnon man is indistinguishable from modern humans (Homo sapiens sapiens).60 Prior to the sudden appearance of Cro-Magnon man, the fossil record is extremely sparse and unclear. There is the possibility that Homo sapiens may have appeared as far back as 100,000 to 130,000 years ago based on the Omo Kibish discovery and the discoveries at Qafzel and Skhul in Israel.61,62 These specimens show some anatomical similarity to Homo sapiens sapiens, but display clear behavioral differences. The behavior of these hominids is closely akin to that of Neandertals. It is important to note that the dating of these samples has been problematic. Specimens that fall between 30,000 years ago and 500,000 years ago are not covered by the well-established 14C and potassium-argon dating techniques.63 The dates estimated for have been estimated using the newly developed luminescence and electron spin resonance techniques. These dates must be regarded as estimates, at best.
Another interesting feature of the hominid fossil record is the apparent disappearance of Homo sapiens between 80,000 and 40,000 years ago. From an evolutionary perspective it has been proposed that Homo sapiens populations plummeted to near extinction and then for some unknown reason bounced back in full force about 40,000 years ago.64 This population bottleneck is viewed by evolutionary biologists as being responsible for the high degree of genetic uniformity among modern humans. (See below.)
The sudden appearance of modern humans in the fossil record at 40,000 years ago is in complete agreement with the biblical date for the appearance of mankind. Given that the fossil record is so sparse and the dating is problematic beyond 35,000 years ago, it is uncertain as to the true identity or true time of appearance of the Omo Kibbish and Qafzeh and Skhul finds. It is quite conceivable that these specimens may not even be Homo sapiens sapiens given their behavior. If these specimens are not true humans, then the absence of Homo sapiens in the fossil record between 40,000 and 80,000 years ago may actually represent the extinction of those particular species of bipedal primates, or reflect the fact that Homo sapiens sapiens did not appear on earth until about 40,000 years ago. If this is the case, then, the sudden appearance of modern man at 40,000 years ago can be attributed to the special creation of man by the Creator.
Genetic Evidence
Up to this point, we have shown that the fossil and archeological evidence does not unequivocally establish human evolution as a fact. Moreover, there is nothing in the fossil and archeological record that precludes the biblical scenario for mans origins as being true. In fact, 1) the discontinuity created in evolutionary scenarios by assigning Homo habilis and Homo rudolfensis to australopithecines; 2) the problems with the overestimation of brain size in extinct hominids and the need it creates for identifying a mechanism to account for rapid the increase in brain size with the appearance of modern humans; and 3) the sudden appearance of Homo sapiens and complex behavior in the fossil and archeological record after a 40,000 year absence of any species closely resembling modern humans all provide support for the biblical creation model.
Additional support for the biblical scenario for mans origin comes from the lack of genetic diversity of humans. As biologists studied humans and species of apes in the 1970's and 1980's, some rather surprising information was being discovered that distinguished modern man from apes and other primates. Surprisingly, scientists discovered that human genetic diversity is far less than what one would predict from Darwinian theory.75, 76, 77 The genetic variation among the different human races has been found to be much less than that for isolated populations of chimps, orangutans and other primate species. In addition, an analysis of the genetics of populations of apes reveals that different population groups possess fixed novel mutations that characterize each population. In contrast, there are no novel mutations or genetic alleles that specifically characterize any one human race from another. Dr. Maryellen Ruvolo (Harvard University) has noted, "It's a mystery none of us can explain".78 Moreover, examination of the genetic sequences of diverse modern human populations reveals minor differences.79 All of this evidence suggested a recent origin for modern humans.
In the late 1980's and early 1990's a number of studies examined the mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) of women all over the world. These studies suggested that the last common ancestor of modern man (actually women) appeared within the last 200,000 years which is much more recent than previously thought.80, 81, 82, 83 Refinements in the measurements lowered the original estimates to 135,000 years and finally to 100,000 years (and as discussed below even possibly 50,000 years).84,85 Scientists chose to examine mtDNA because, being enclosed within the subcellular organelle called the mitochondrion, there is no genetic recombination (males make no contribution of mtDNA to the fetus). All mtDNA comes from our mothers and is passed down from mother to daughter, since only mitochondria from the egg are used to make up the fetus. By tracing the differences in mtDNA from peoples around the world, scientists have calculated the probable date of the last common ancestor of modern humans at 100,000 to 200,000 years ago. Recent studies on the frequency of heteroplasmy (the possession of different mitochondrial biochemical types within a cell) indicates that mutations occur in mtDNA at a higher rate than initially thought. Re-calibration of the mtDNA molecular clock to take into account the higher mutation rate places the most likely date for mans appearance near 50,000 years ago. 86, 87
In 1995, scientists examined human origins from the perspective of male genetics. 88, 89 Scientists have examined a gene (ZFY), which being on the Y chromosome, is passed down only from father to son. Thirty-eight men were chosen from all over the world (Africa, Asia, Australia, Europe, and Northern, Central, and South America). Scientists determined the actual genetic sequence in each man for this gene, which is 729 base pairs long. To their surprise, all men had identical genetic sequences (over 27,000 base pairs analyzed). Scientists have calculated the most probable date for the last common ancestor of modern man, given the sequence diversity from modern apes. Using two different models this date is either 270,000 or 27,000 years ago. However, both these models assume that the male population during this entire period of time consisted of only 7,500 individuals. The date estimates from these models would be significantly reduced if the male population were higher than 7,500, which is very likely. Two separate studies using similar techniques looked at larger pieces of the Y chromosome, which would reduce the uncertainty in the calculation of dates. One study examined a gene which was 2,600 base pairs and determined a last common ancestor date of 188,000 years ago (minimum of 51,000 and maximum of 411,000 years ago). 90 The other study used a very large piece of the Y chromosome (18,300 base pairs) and calculated a last common ancestor date of modern man of 43,000 years ago (minimum of 37,000 and maximum of 49,000 years ago). 91 This latter study also examined mitochondrial DNA from women and determined an origination date of 90,000-120,000 years ago.
A study published in 1996 examined linkage disequilibrium at the human CD4 locus (a T-cell associated antigen) as a means to establish the date of modern human origins.92 This study determined a maximum origin date of 102,000 years ago based upon the assumption that the Alu (-) allele arose 5 million years ago, or almost immediately after mankind's split from other primates. As they stated, "It is likely that the Alu deletion event occurred more recently, in which case our estimates for the date of founding of the non-African populations would also be more recent." Preliminary studies from chromosomes 19, 11 and 8 show similar results to that seen on chromosome 12 (the locus of the CD4 gene). 93
The mutation rate among humans also suggests a recent origin for man and creates problems for the evolutionary models for the origin of man. A just completed study examined the mutation rate for humans. Using "conservative assumptions" the authors found that the overall mutation rates was 4.2 mutations per person per generation, with a deleterious rate of 1.6.94When using more realistic assumptions the overall mutation rate for humans become 6.7 with a deleterious rate of 3.1. Such a high rate should have resulted in extinction of our species long ago. They stated in their conclusion:
"The deleterious mutation rate appears to be so high in humans and our close relatives that it is doubtful that such species, which have low reproductive rates, could survive if mutational effects on fitness were to combine in a multiplicative way."
The authors had to rely upon a rare association of mutations, termed synergistic epistasis to explain why the numerous hypothesized deleterious mutations have not overwhelmed our genome. Instead of postulating the obvious (that the human genome is not as old as evolution would teach), evolutionists must rely upon the improbable to retain the evolutionary paradigm.95"
http://www.reasons.org/resources/apologetics/humanevolution.shtml?main
May peace be upon thee and with thy spirit.
