Then I see various intermediates between them. I see no distinct barrier between the two groups - no gaps. So why is it that all these anti-evolutionist organistions claim there is a distinct barrier and gaps between ape and human with no intermediatery fossil forms?
Because the dates don't line up with the skull details....
WILLIAM A. DEMBSKI:
"The fossil record contains several extinct species within the genus Homo:
most recently Homo neanderthalensis (the Neanderthals); then Homo
erectus; and, going even further back, Homo habilis. Each of these had
many distinctly human characteristics (for instance, the ability to make
tools whose sophistication far exceeds any tools employed by apes). And
yet, there is no clear genealogical evidence demonstrating the evolution
from Homo Habilis to Homo erectus to Homo neanderthalensis to
ourselves, Homo sapiens. To be sure, there are similarities. Homo
neanderthalensis is, by any criterion (anatomical, physiological, cultural)
closer to Homo sapiens than Homo erectus, and the same goes for Homo
erectus in relation to Homo habilis. At best, this shows that if humans
evolved, then the common ancestor of Homo sapiens and Homo
neanderthalensis is more recent than the common ancestor of Homo
sapiens and Homo erectus. And this common ancestor, in turn, is more
recent than the common ancestor of Homo sapiens and Homo habilis. But
such an argument presupposes rather than establishes that humans
evolved.
The same problem recurs when we try to argue for human evolution at
the genus level. The usual date for the formation of our genus, Homo, is
about 2.5 million years (Homo habilis and Homo rudolfensis get the ball
rolling). Moreover, the usual date at which the line leading to our genus,
Homo, is said to have diverged from the line leading to our closest ape
cousins, the chimpanzees, is at least 5 million years. In the interim are the
Australopithecines, which constitute an extinct genus within the
Hominidae. There's Australopithecus anamensis (circa 4 million years
ago), Australopithecus afarensis (circa 3.5 million years ago), and
Australopithecus africanus (circa 2.5 million years ago). As before, one
can argue on the basis of structural similarity in the fossil record that our
common ancestor with Australopithecus africanus is more recent than our
common ancestor with Australopithecus afarensis, and that this common
ancestor, in turn, is more recent than our common ancestor with
Australopithecus anamensis. But, again, this reasoning is based on the
assumption that humans evolved in the first place. Structural similarity, as
exhibited in the fossil record, is by itself not enough to establish this."
