Tattersall weighs in on orangutans

[John Grehan]

Theoretically we are probably not supposed to be influenced so much by who
supports a particular view in science, but the quality of the idea itself.
In general that is often not the case. One sees, for example, that the
opinion of Ernst Mayr carries a lot more weight with more people than the
opinion of Leon Croizat. However, I admit to not being immune to such
influences so I am not throwing any stones at glass houses.

So if such influences exist I might as well take advantage of them in the
practice of rhetoric. Thus, Ian Tattersall, a well known and respected
primate specialist at the American Museum of Natural History has weighed in
on the orangutan theory with the following observation (a personal
communication reproduced by permission):

"I have been standing back somewhat on this issue, but I think that the
general scientific unwillingness even to consider the notion that
orangutans are more closely related to us than African apes is testimony
more to the power of received wisdom than it is to the power of the
evidence. I wonder, indeed, whether resistance would be so strong if Darwin
hadn't backed the African apes in the nearest relative stakes."

So the message is that orangutan theory is not necessary something beyond
the pale by everyone in the primate game. If Tattersall can see some merit,
perhaps others will eventually as well?

One last point. One person asked me for clarification of my statement "We
will led you to confusion, but believe in us because we are right." What I
was doing was paraphrasing what I thought to be the logic inherent in the
traditional thinking about hominid origins. There is a pervasive certainty
in the chimpanzee model yet nevertheless this model appears to just lead to
confusion. So people are saying, in effect "We will lead you to confusion",
while at the same time saying "believe in us [i.e. in chimpanzees] because
we are right".


John Grehan

Dr. John Grehan
Director of Science and Collections
Buffalo Museum of Science
1020 Humboldt Parkway
Buffalo, New York 14211-1293
Voice 716-896-5200 x372
Fax 716-897-6723
jgrehan at sciencebuff.org
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