The Piltdown hoax is perhaps one of the most infamous hoax’s to have been made and is infamous for two reasons. The attention that it gained to the issue of human evolution and the length of time it took from its discovery to its time to of being exposed as a forgery. Which took more than forty years to be exposed. The Piltdown Man hoax was a hoax in which bone fragments were thought to be the fossilized remains of an unknown human, not a modern human. The fragments consisted of parts of a skull and part of a jaw-bone. They were said to have been found in 1912 from a gravel pit at Piltdown, East Sussex, England. It was finally exposed in 1953 as a forgery. It  consisted of the lower jaw-bone of an orangutan that was combined with the skull of a fully developed modern human.

        The Piltdown man Hoax affected research on human evolution because it led scientists to believe that the human brain grew in size before the jaw adapted. Many scientist believed that this was the “missing link”. This hoax sparked a debate and was used as an example of the dishonesty in the study of human evolution. Scientists were skeptical because it proved inconsistent with the findings of hominid evolution with fossils that were found from other places. 

        It was said that in 1908, Charles Dawson had discovered the first Piltdown fragments. In February 1912, Dawson contacts Arthur Smith Woodward about the skull fragments. Woodward was thought that the Piltdown man was an evolutionary “missing link” between apes and humans. However, Woodward's theory of the Piltdown was challenged by some researchers. Woodward believed that he had stumbled upon the missing link between us and apes and therefore wanted to prove that the fragments were connected to our ape ancestors despite inconsistencies of the bone fragments. He was prideful and ambitious. This negatively affected the scientific process because it lead to a false belief and also lead scientists down the wrong path of evolution. 

        In 1949 scientists had discovered that measuring the fluoride in fossils, you were able to tell how old the fossil was. When the Piltdown Man was tested, it was shown that the fossils were not that old and that these fossils were actually pretty recent. In 1953 scientists did a little more research into the fossils and they found that the fossils were only around a hundred years old. When the teeth were observed under the microscope, they discovered that the teeth had been filed down and made to look like human teeth. 

       The human factor cannot be removed from science because it’s human nature to always have a biased opinion. You can never ensure that another mistake won’t happen. By removing the human factor from science, it would be easier to make it all about science and less about your “feeling” about it. 

       I’ve learned that scientist are just as likely to make mistakes as we are. Although they are scientists and one would think that they never make mistakes, they have faults just like us. It is important to test your theory and do research. Scientists use factual evidence to support their ideas. In the case of the Piltdown man Hoax, it was a fraud and shows that one should always verify from the source where the facts are coming from and from who.

For Homologous: 

Briefly describe the two different species that posses the homologous trait. 

• Gorilla and Chimpanzee. Both chimpanzee’s and gorillas have thumbs that are very similar, along with climbing trees and a similar diet.

B. Describe the homologous trait of each species.

• Gorilla’s are much bigger in size and a lot stronger compared to chimpanzee’s. Both are vegetarians, but while the gorilla feeds mainly on stems and leaves, the chimpanzee eats mostly fruit. Gorilla’s can climb trees but chimpanzee’s spend most of there time in tree’s. 

C. Who was generally the common ancestor of these two species and how do you know that ancestor possessed this homologous trait? 

• The ape was generally the common ancestor of these two species. I know the ape possessed the homologous trait because homologous traits are evidence of shared  ancestry, and they share a genetic code.  

D. 

  For Analogous:

A. Briefly describe the two different species that posses the analogous trait.

• Dolphins and Sharks. Although they may share the same shape, underneath their skin, sharks and dolphins are very different.

B. Describe the analogous traits of each species. 

•   Sharks' and dolphins' similarities such as their body’s shape, their fins, and flippers are analogies. Traits that each evolved independently. Structure and function include, sharks skeleton is made of cartilage while a dolphins skeleton is made of bone. A shark uses its gills to get oxygen from the water in which they swim, dolphins go to the surface and breathe atmospheric air in through their blowholes. 

C.  Could the common ancestor of these two species have possessed this analogous trait? How do we know these traits are analogous na not genetically related from common decent?

• The ancestor could have possessed this analogous trait. The tail fins and dorsal fins are analogous because the terrestrial ancestor of the dolphins did not have a dorsal or tail fin. 

D.

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