Freethought & Rationalism Archive

Ted Hoffman · 09-04-2002, 05:32 AM

If NOT, when did mankind (homo-whatever) first exist on earth?
From where/ what?

Coragyps · 09-04-2002, 05:45 AM

Man lived alongside dinosaurs only in the town of Bedrock, in the Flintstones cartoon. The last dinosaurs (if birds are considered separate from dinos) died out about 65 million years ago; the first of the genus Homo are known from roughly 2.5 million years ago. The first Homo sapiens lived about 200,000 years ago, depending on who is doing the classifying.

Tom Sawyer · 09-04-2002, 05:45 AM

As I understand it, homo sapiens emerged as a species about 200K years ago. Ancestors to homo sapiens evolved from the apes (or chimps, I guess) about 6 million years ago.

I'm not sure the exact date that the last of the dinosuars went extinct, but it was many millions of years before that. Our two species were never even close to each other.

There's probably more detailed evidence out there than what I can give you, but many examples of cave drawings have been found showing ancient men hunting mammoths, etc. None of them ever show a hunting party going after any kind of big lizard, so by all evidence we have today, the two species never co-existed.

Amen-Moses · 09-04-2002, 05:48 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by Intensity:
<strong>If NOT, when did mankind (homo-whatever) first exist on earth?
From where/ what?</strong>

The answer is NO.

The answer to the sub question is difficult to pin down, currently it appears that the Homo line split from other Apes around 6 Million years ago but it could be slightly earlier or later depending on whether the latest findings are even related to us (they could conceivably be a completely separate linneage).

Amen-Moses

[ September 04, 2002: Message edited by: Amen-Moses ]</p>

Friar Bellows · 09-04-2002, 07:29 AM

The answer is: YES! Except they grew feathers and we call them birds.

Infinity Lover · 09-05-2002, 01:54 PM

It also depends on your definition of dinosaur.

You could say there's plenty of dinosaurs among us today.

ohwilleke · 09-05-2002, 04:38 PM

There are some animals today which are little changed from the age of the dinosaurs. Sharks and snakes, for example, were contemporaries of the dinosaurs. But the subcategory of reptiles that we commonly consider dinosaurs died out long before humans came along. Indeed, the rise of different species of mammals happened in large part because ecologial niches that were once filled by dinosaurs opened up when the dinosaurs died out, and were then filled by evolving mammals.

When a reptile effectively survives off eating fish in a river, it fills that ecological niche and an only partially adapted mammal trying to compete would soon die off. When that reptile goes exinct, a proto-bear can evolve into that a creature that eats fish out of rivers without competition and survive until it is well adapted to eating fish out of rivers.

09-04-2002, 05:32 AM	#1
Ted Hoffman Veteran Member Join Date: Feb 2001 Location: "" Posts: 3,863	Did Man Ever exist Alongside Dinosaurs? If NOT, when did mankind (homo-whatever) first exist on earth? From where/ what?

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09-04-2002, 05:45 AM	#2
Coragyps Veteran Join Date: Aug 2001 Location: Snyder,Texas,USA Posts: 4,411	Man lived alongside dinosaurs only in the town of Bedrock, in the Flintstones cartoon. The last dinosaurs (if birds are considered separate from dinos) died out about 65 million years ago; the first of the genus Homo are known from roughly 2.5 million years ago. The first Homo sapiens lived about 200,000 years ago, depending on who is doing the classifying.

09-04-2002, 05:45 AM	#3
Tom Sawyer Talk Freethought Staff Join Date: Jun 2002 Location: Toronto, eh Posts: 42,293	As I understand it, homo sapiens emerged as a species about 200K years ago. Ancestors to homo sapiens evolved from the apes (or chimps, I guess) about 6 million years ago. I'm not sure the exact date that the last of the dinosuars went extinct, but it was many millions of years before that. Our two species were never even close to each other. There's probably more detailed evidence out there than what I can give you, but many examples of cave drawings have been found showing ancient men hunting mammoths, etc. None of them ever show a hunting party going after any kind of big lizard, so by all evidence we have today, the two species never co-existed.

09-04-2002, 07:29 AM	#5
Friar Bellows Veteran Member Join Date: Apr 2001 Location: arse-end of the world Posts: 2,305	The answer is: YES! Except they grew feathers and we call them birds.

09-05-2002, 01:54 PM	#6
Infinity Lover Veteran Member Join Date: Jan 2002 Location: The Netherlands Posts: 1,047	It also depends on your definition of dinosaur. You could say there's plenty of dinosaurs among us today.

09-05-2002, 04:38 PM	#7
ohwilleke Veteran Member Join Date: Jun 2000 Location: Denver, Colorado, USA Posts: 4,834	There are some animals today which are little changed from the age of the dinosaurs. Sharks and snakes, for example, were contemporaries of the dinosaurs. But the subcategory of reptiles that we commonly consider dinosaurs died out long before humans came along. Indeed, the rise of different species of mammals happened in large part because ecologial niches that were once filled by dinosaurs opened up when the dinosaurs died out, and were then filled by evolving mammals. When a reptile effectively survives off eating fish in a river, it fills that ecological niche and an only partially adapted mammal trying to compete would soon die off. When that reptile goes exinct, a proto-bear can evolve into that a creature that eats fish out of rivers without competition and survive until it is well adapted to eating fish out of rivers.

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