Laetoli footprints were human

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Contents 1 Claim 2 Source 3 Responses 4 Fallacies contained in this claim 5 External Links 6 References 7 See Also 8 Acknowledgments

Claim

The Laetoli footprints, dated 3.7 million years old, appear to be those of modern humans.

Source

• Williams A. R. ‘Oldest’ hominid footprints show no evolution! Creation 15(4):32 September 1993

Responses

1. Creationists may think they are human, but paleoanthropologists don't. There is absolutely no reason why Australopithecus afarensis could not have made those tracks. The tracks do, however, resemble human tracks more than tracks of any other living hominid. Not very surprising if you consider that we are the only living hominid (in fact the only living primate) that lacks opposable toes.
2. The only disagreement that have arisen among anthropologists about the Laetoli footprints was the identity of the hominid species that made them. Most anthropologists suspect that individuals of A. afarensis made the tracks(reviewed by Foley 2004), while R. H. Tuttle (1990), suggested that they were made by an early member of the genus Homo.
3. add more responses

Fallacies contained in this claim

• Equivocation ("appear to be" taken to mean "are the same as" rather than "resemble")

External Links

• Foley, Jim, 2002. Creationist arguments: Anomalous fossils. [1]

References

1. Foley, Jim, 2004.
2. Tuttle, R. H., 1990. The pitted pattern of Laetoli feet. Natural History (March): 61-64.

See Also

• Why is Creationism not a Scientific Theory?
• Theory of Evolution

Acknowledgments