Please explain the apparent discrepancy

Gordon Simons (simons@stat.unc.edu)
Mon, 28 Aug 1995 07:43:19 -0400 (EDT)

Glenn:

It seems you disagree with the time-line given by Jim Foley in his FAQ
"Fossil Hominids" (May 16, 1995) when you suggest that Adam was Homo
erectus. (See below.) According to your Harmonization, Adam is placed at
about 5.5 billion years ago - more than twice as old as "allowed" by the
oldest part of his time-line. Please comment, Glenn (or Jim). - Gordie

TIMELINE (as given by Jim Foley)

This diagram shows roughly the times during which each hominid
species lived. Ages are in millions of years, with each character
position representing 100,000 years. This resolution is a little
coarse to accurately represent the most modern species.

5.0 4.0 3.0 2.0 1.0 0.0
|---------|---------|---------|---------|---------|
| | | | | |
| | A.robustus ****** | |
| | A.boisei ***********| |
| A.aethiopicus **** | | |
| | | | | |
A.ramidus * | | | | |
A.afarensis ************ | | |
| A.africanus *********** | |
| | | | | |
| | H.habilis ********** | |
| | | H.erectus **************** |
| | | archaic sapiens *****|
| | | | Neandertals *|
| | | | modern sapiens **
| | | | | |
|---------|---------|---------|---------|---------|