Man's Missing Link

Let the debate begin again! The long-standing debate between the believers of Darwin's theory of evolution and the more 'traditional' religion based view that man was created by God got a new bone to chew over (excuse the pun) this week when scientists unveiled the skeleton pictured herein as the 'missing link' between man and ape. According to scientists this nearly 95% intact fossilized skeleton was unearthed near Frankfurt back in 1983 however there was no realization at the time (or since) at the significance of this finding.

According to scientists and archaeologists, the skeleton represents a cat-sized creature which is believed to have existed close to 47-million years ago. What sets this primate's bones apart from others however is that there are signs of more human like characteristics in them than in any previous fossils of similar nature that were unearthed. In addition to opposable thumbs, these primates apparently also had fingernails as opposed to claws; a major finding that could once again stir the debate as to whether we have evolved or were formed from the primordial ooze so to speak.

Whatever your belief system you have to admit that it's fascinating to be able to look at evidence of life from so long ago and think that if nothing else, this life has gone on to evolve into something. Perhaps it isn't representative of man and perhaps scientists will later conclude that it's actually an ancestor to the lemur monkey as opposed to man but still, I find it fascinating that over the course of millions of years, some things have remained consistent in some forms of life. Certainly it's one thing to see the bones of dinosaurs and stare in wonder at the size and magnitude of them but it's certainly another to see the bones of something that resembles man in many different ways from so long ago.

I can't help but think back again on the fact that this lifeform existed 47-million years ago; that's about 20-million years removed from the dinosaurs. If indeed man-like creatures have inhabited this planet for that long then it stands to reason that there would be other such civilizations on other planets. There has to be. I mean according to people who believe in the Big Bang theory, all matter once resided in a very compact and tiny environment which then exploded outward. Accordingly the universe continues to grow outward. That being the case, it's like a dropping a water balloon onto the ground. It's all in one space and then expands outward so then perhaps there are other similar signs of life elsewhere.

I would hate to think that all life-bearing matter would have ended up here and no place else. I would hate to think that in all the universe there's nothing else except emptiness and pockets of matter and gas that come together to form the occasional planet. It's a wonder what train of thought something as simple as a collection of bones can get you going on but it's something worth thinking about. Perhaps you don't believe that man has evolved from apes. Perhaps you think that there is some higher reason behind why man 'showed up'. That's all well and good but then why would every other form of life out there suddenly step aside at some point. It doesn't seem to make sense and hopefully this new fossil finding will help explain things a little better.