[extropy-chat] Human Evolution

[Mike Lorrey]

--- kevinfreels at hotmail.com wrote:
> Are there similar occurrances in the
> primate world?
> 3.) Is there a single known primate that a human is capable of
> breeding with, even if it were to produce something really weird
> looking and sterile? What about crosses between Gibbons, baboons,
> orang-utans, gorrillas, etc?

The fossil record seems to indicate that there were once a number of
hominid species, as well as many more primate species, all of which
tended to compete with one another in one way or another, leading to
cross predation and possibly limited local interbreeding that may have
contributed to todays 'racial' differences between humans. We know, for
example, that late homo erectus predated on early homo sapiens in
Spain. All of this cross predation likely caused significant selective
pressure upon homo sapiens (as well as these other species) in a sort
of evolutionary arms race which we can also see in the fossil record of
the development of brain capacity in predator and prey species.

Humans, I think, are likely too evolved to successfully interbreed with
other primates. If it were possible, I would say the most likely
candidates would be those that evolved in the same locale that homo
sapiens emerged as a distinct species.

=====
Mike Lorrey
"Live Free or Die, Death is not the Worst of Evils."
                                       - Gen. John Stark
"Fascists are objectively pro-pacifist..."
                                       - Mike Lorrey
Do not label me, I am an ism of one...
Sado-Mikeyism: http://mikeysoft.zblogger.com

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