Comments on: Are orangutans our closest living relatives? Part II http://www.mailund.dk/index.php/2009/06/30/are-orangutans-our-closest-living-relatives-part-ii/ Computer science, bioinformatics, genetics, and everything in between Fri, 19 Aug 2011 16:35:39 +0200 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.0.4 By: rr http://www.mailund.dk/index.php/2009/06/30/are-orangutans-our-closest-living-relatives-part-ii/comment-page-1/#comment-3309 rr Tue, 30 Jun 2009 18:10:50 +0000 http://www.mailund.dk/?p=1392#comment-3309 The problem with this paper is that Jeff Schwartz has a pre-determined conclusion: Humans and Orangutans are sister taxa to the exclusion of the Chimpanzee, Bonobo, and Gorilla. He has been pushing this idea for years. Unfortunately, this approach is at its core ascientific; there is a conclusion to be reached, and data are collected and analyzed in such a way that that conclusion is reached. This approach has the same philosophical underpinings as Creation Science (and leads to conclusions that have similar validity). The problem with this paper is that Jeff Schwartz has a pre-determined conclusion: Humans and Orangutans are sister taxa to the exclusion of the Chimpanzee, Bonobo, and Gorilla. He has been pushing this idea for years.

Unfortunately, this approach is at its core ascientific; there is a conclusion to be reached, and data are collected and analyzed in such a way that that conclusion is reached. This approach has the same philosophical underpinings as Creation Science (and leads to conclusions that have similar validity).

]]> By: Jonathan Badger http://www.mailund.dk/index.php/2009/06/30/are-orangutans-our-closest-living-relatives-part-ii/comment-page-1/#comment-3308 Jonathan Badger Tue, 30 Jun 2009 17:43:37 +0000 http://www.mailund.dk/?p=1392#comment-3308 It also flies in the face of the "Out of Africa" hypothesis, which has been pretty solidly supported by studies over the last decade. As orangutans are Asian, it isn't clear how this could be consistent without hypothesizing previous undiscovered extinct African orangutan ancestors. It also flies in the face of the “Out of Africa” hypothesis, which has been pretty solidly supported by studies over the last decade. As orangutans are Asian, it isn’t clear how this could be consistent without hypothesizing previous undiscovered extinct African orangutan ancestors.

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