Lucy's knee was found far from the rest of the skeleton (Talk.Origins)

Response ArticleThis article (Lucy's knee was found far from the rest of the skeleton (Talk.Origins)) is a response to a rebuttal of a creationist claim published by Talk.Origins Archive under the title Index to Creationist Claims.

Index

Claim CC003:

The knee of the "Lucy" fossil (the most complete Australopithecus afarensis fossil) was found over a mile away from the rest of the skeleton, so it cannot be used as evidence that Lucy walked upright. That evolutionists have never admitted this fact in print shows their dishonesty.

Source:

Willis, Tom. 1987. "'Lucy' goes to college," Bible-Science Newsletter (Oct.), 1-3.

Morris, John D. 1989. Was 'Lucy' an ape-man? Back to Genesis 11b (Nov.).

CreationWiki response:

(Talk.Origins quotes in blue)

1. The claim is false. The skeleton called Lucy does not have an intact knee. A different, isolated knee fossil was found two to three kilometers away (Johanson and Edey 1981). Confusion over the two fossils apparently led to the false claim.

2. Far from indicating evolutionist dishonesty, this claim shows how creationists fail to check their claims (Lippard 1999).

This is an admitted error and one which Dr. Morris has retracted. It resulted from statements made by Johanson that implied that the knee in question belonged to the fossil known as "Lucy."

• Reference: WAS LUCY AN APE-MAN?