Posted: Oct 14, 2016 12:46 am
I need some help which is why I have come to this site. I have tried explaining to a creationist that the fossil record does not comport with the notion that all species (or "kinds") disembarked Noah's Ark - presumably somewhere in the Middle East - and then migrated to all corners of the earth. The obvious example to draw is the kangaroo whose fossils are found only in Australia.
The creationist has responded to me by claiming that orangutans living in Sumatra and other places in SE Asia have no fossil record in Africa where the other great apes live. He asserts that orangutans were never related to chimps and gorillas and did not originate in Africa at all. Rather, when the waters from Noah's Flood receded, some apes headed towards Africa through the Sinai while others headed deep into Asia. He notes that in India fossils have been found of putative ancestors (pongids) of the orangutan who may have taken such a route on their migration from Ararat (the resting place of the Ark) to Sumatra.
I am a little stuck. If chimps, gorilllas and orangutans share a common ancestor where did it live? And why are orangutans so far removed in physical distance from their evolutionary cousins in Africa?
The creationist has responded to me by claiming that orangutans living in Sumatra and other places in SE Asia have no fossil record in Africa where the other great apes live. He asserts that orangutans were never related to chimps and gorillas and did not originate in Africa at all. Rather, when the waters from Noah's Flood receded, some apes headed towards Africa through the Sinai while others headed deep into Asia. He notes that in India fossils have been found of putative ancestors (pongids) of the orangutan who may have taken such a route on their migration from Ararat (the resting place of the Ark) to Sumatra.
I am a little stuck. If chimps, gorilllas and orangutans share a common ancestor where did it live? And why are orangutans so far removed in physical distance from their evolutionary cousins in Africa?