Re: Letter from Reasons to Believe

>
> A new highly publicized

but with lukewarm reception from experts in the field

study by scientists at the Broad Institute of MIT
> and Harvard indicates that humans and chimps underwent an evolutionary
> split less than 5.4 million years ago, much more recently than previously
> thought.

I have yet to encounter convincing evidence that molecular clocks can be
reliable enough to give precision like that, despite the persistant use of
such calculations by molecular biologists.

>"Field studies demonstrate that hybrid populations die off. <

Some do; others form new species; others persist at low levels. Even if
they die off, this does not prevent transfer of a few genes to occur via
hybridization. Thus, the conclusions are unjustified.

Perhaps this reflects the fact that none of the spokesman's cited
qualifications were in biology or evolution.

-- 
Dr. David Campbell
425 Scientific Collections
University of Alabama
"I think of my happy condition, surrounded by acres of clams"