This page is part of my efforts to show that Homo erectus, and other alleged hominids are only an sophisticated apes(created by God on Day 6 to live with man) and not human or human ancestors.
Humans have flat ribs when viewed in cross section. What shape does erectus have?
The rib cages of Australopithecines, and Homo erectus all display a pattern that is distinctly non human in form.
| Prior to the discovery of KNM-WT 15000 (Nariokotome), there were few rib fragments of Homo erectus available. Using the fragments of KNM-ER 1808 Alan Walker reconstructed the rib cage into a human (barrel shaped) pattern (Nature Vol 296, 3/18/82 and also in his book "Wisdom of the Bones").
Walker gave erectus a barrel shaped chest because he assumed an evolutionary ancestor this recent in time should have a less cone (ape) shaped rib cage. |
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They did this because it fit their preconcieved notions that erectus would have to have a rib cage more human like than the Australopithecines, and Homo habilis. So when they did find a complete rib cage in KNM-WT 15000 it is easy to see how they forced the data to fit their conclusions again.
Many authors say different things about the shape of erectus' rib cage. Some say they are barrel shaped, others say they are not. You can see the contradictory claims below.
In reference to the Nariokotome Homo erectus child, Ian Tattersall says: "He was not barrel-chested, as we are, but had a somewhat upwardly tapering thorax (though less so than in Lucy or in an ape). His shoulder joints would thus have been closer to the mid-line of the body than ours are, and this is particularly interesting because it is helpful to be built like this when you are suspending yourself from tree branches, but it's not at all favorable in a striding biped that swings its arms for balance." (pg. 188 "The Fossil Trail" by Ian Tattersall)
(emphasis mine. Also please note that the picture above is not in the book "The Fossil Trail")
In his book "The Nariokotomoe Homo erectus skeleton" the authors (Jellema, Latimer, Walker) state that: "The Homo erectus speciemen clearly had a barrel-shaped chest." (Walker pg 304)
So which is it? It can not be both barrel shaped and non barrel shaped at the same time.
I wrote to Dr. Walker on 3/16/01, and asked him which it was. He replied: "The thorax looks like a human"
This didn't satisfy my curiousity. I have just recieved a replica of this skeleton (6/18/01). I will examine the ribs and post pictures here soon.
Also on page 243 of his book "Wisdom of the Bones" Walker states:
"After studying the anatomy, curvature, and declination of the boy's ribs, we concluded that his rib cage was indistinguishable from that of a modern human in almost every respect. It was entirely unlike the rib cage of a chimpanzee or gorilla (or Lucy). Like us, his thorax was barrel-shapped..."
| How do we know the ribs are being reconstructed accuratly? It appears from the picture in the Nariokotome book that the ribs have been pushed in, in an unnatural position. Leaving little room for the cartilage that connects the ribs to the spinal cord. Doing this makes the ribs appear more human like than they actually are. It is easy to manipulate the ribs into whatever shape fits your preconceptions. |  |
Since evolutionists believe we evolved from creatures like the Australopithecines, Homo habilis, Homo erectus etc we should see a gradual change in one leading to the other. The thorax should gradually become more human like and less ape like as time goes on.
The problem is, we have no rib cage for Homo habilis, and there is a huge gap between the Australopithecines and Homo erectus. Because the rib cage of an intermediate needs to be human shaped by the time we get to Neanderthals, or Archaic Homo sapiens the evolutionist needs erectus to have a thorax transitional between the two.
I believe they are forcing the evidence to fit a conclusion.
The rib cage of erectus when reconstructed properly should be like that of a chimps, or like Lucy's.
This means there is still a huge leap needed to get from the ape-shaped erectus rib cage to the barrel shaped human one found in Modern humans and Neanderthals.
When we compare the ribs of Homo erectus, a chimpanzee and a human we see some interesting things.
The ribs of Homo erectus are very similar in their angulation to the ribs of a chimpanzee.
For example the second rib of a human has a mean of .20 the Homo erectus skeleton (KNM-WT 15000) has a measurement of 14, while chimps have a mean of 18 (source: "The Nariokotome skeleton" by Walker and Leakey).
This is true whether you compare the mean of juvenile or an adult Homo sapiens.
Now tell me which is closer to humans? the chimp or erectus? It is the chimp. I am not saying that chimpanzees are in anyway related to man. I am saying that if Homo erectus was human, we would expect the angulation of the ribs to be very close to, or identical to the human angle.
While it is important to look at the anatomy of Homo erectus as a whole, the fact that the ribs of Homo erectus are closer to a chimpanzee than they are to a human is just one more piece of evidence that Homo erectus was a bipedal primate and not a human being.
"Another interesting difference is in the thoracic vertebrae, in which, unlike the modern human pattern, the laminae are small and do not overlap and the spines project straight out rather than slope down. Functional anatomy of this area of the vertebral column is not particularly well understood in modern humans" –
Roger Lewin. Source: Science, Nov 2, 1984 v226 p529(1). Title: Unexpected anatomy in Homo erectus. Author: Roger Lewin
The lumbar vertebra help distinguished Homo sapien from Homo erectus and other alleged hominids.
The lumbar vertebrae of KNM-WT 15000 skeleton were also recovered. Unlike humans who have usually have only 5 lumbar vertebrae ( Pg 48 "Physical anthropology" Lab manual and workbook Third edition, Diane L. France), The WT 15000 skeleton had 6.( pg 136 Lucy to language. / and also "The Nariokotome Homo erectus skeleton" book pg 112(?) and "Wisdom of the Bones" pg 250.) Something it shares in common with the partial skeleton belonging to an Australopithecus africanus female STS 14. (pg. 136 Lucy to language. / and also Nariokotome book pg. …..)
In 1947 Robert Broom and John T. Robinson found Sts 14 in Sterkfontein, South Africa. (pg. 136 Lucy to language.)
I noticed in Walkers book on the Nariokotome skeleton that there are 6 lumbar vertebra attributed to the WT-15k skeleton.
When I asked Walker about this (3/01), he said that this is true.
| Since then I have purchased the Turkana boy skeleton (cast) and you can see from the picture I took of the spinal cord the location of the lumbar vertebra. I have also numbered them so you can see that there are 6 lumbars in Homo erectus. One area of interest is how the people at the museum reconstructed the spine. It is a straight line. Human spines have a curve to them. |
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Why is this important?
Most humans only have 5 lumbar vertebra, on rare occasion they have 6.
The odds that the only erectus skeleton found would have 6 (if only a small percentage of the erectus population had 6) would be very small. It is safe to assume that 6 is the normal number found in erectus.
So this is another way to distinguish between Homo erectus and Modern humans. Also the Australopithecus africanus skeleton shows 6.
The Kow Swamp remains only have 5 lumbar vertebra (Personal letter from Peter Brown, May 8,2001)
I have wondered if Neanderthals had a 6th lumbar vertebrae. Perhaps this was the number God gave us in the beginning. It could be that Adam had 6, and then when sin entered the world and we began to degenerate, the 6th lumbar was lost. Appearing only in 3 percent of the population today. Where as in the beginning it would have been 100 percent.
Neanderthals:
A letter to me from Erik Trinkaus (8/13/01) stated that Neanderthals do not have a 6th lumbar vertebra.
| The Kebara Neanderthal skeleton has 5 lumbar vertebrae. |  |
Is it that not enough full skeletons of Neanderthals have been found which were complete enough to determine this, or are they simply not there in Neanderthals. What are the implications?
In his debate with Jack Cuozzo, Dr. Mann admitted that he wished he had a 6th lumbar vertebra. He said it gives you a stronger back, and we wouldn't have as many back problems.
If the Australopithecines, Homo erectus and the Neanderthals had a stronger back than we do - why would evolution select against this? Evolution is supposed to make you better fit - not less.
Becoming worse off than what you were fits the degeneration model of the Bible better. We were created perfect, but are falling apart and declining due to the effect of sin on the world.
| Here are the first ribs (right) of a chimpanzee and Homo erectus. |  |
| Here are the first ribs (left) of a chimpanzee, Lucy and Homo erectus. |  |
| Here is a picture of the 6th lumbar vertebra in the skeleton from Lake Turkana (Homo erectus). |  |
| red row 1 box 1 | yellow row 1, box 2 | light green row 2, box 1 | light blue row 2, box 2 |
