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Dental Variability in the Domestic Dog (Canis familiaris) Implications for the Variability of Primates

García-Pozuelo-Ramos, Celedonio (1998) Dental Variability in the Domestic Dog (Canis familiaris) Implications for the Variability of Primates. Creation Research Society Quarterly, 35 (2): 2.

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Abstract

The dentition of a sample of Canis familiaris, the domestic dog, has been statistically analyzed using methods that have been employed by other workers to determine variability in other species. The results presented here suggest that the dog sample includes several species. If the domestic dog were extinct and we did not know all that we do about its progressive variation in historical times, we would probably view it as a group of species. Our knowledge about dog dentition may therefore be useful in determining the boundaries of other holobaramins (created kinds). My results obtained from dog teeth suggest that the extinct Australopithecines and Homo habilis (which I have also analyzed here) manifest a variability in the first and second molar that is less than the variability found in dog molars. By these standards, therefore, the Australopithecines and H. habilis can be included as part of one and the same holobaramin. Several Homo erectus fossils of diverse origin have likewise been subjected to similar analysis of variability. The H. erectus results do not support the division of H. erectus fossils into two or more different species but are compatible with the belief that they are all part of one species. It has been possible here to use the variability in the dentition of a living monobaramin (the domestic dog), to show that the Australopithecines and H. habilis should be lumped into one kind and that a Homo erectus is in a holobaramin distinct from them. I intend to carry this analysis of dentition further to study the affinities between the extinct Homo erectus kind and living Homo sapiens. Whether these two groups would appear distinct or united by this method remains to be determined. The degree of variability in domestic dog dentition (a living monobaramin) can thus become an important tool for creationists in assessing the limits of extinct kinds.

Item Type: Article
Subjects: Q Science (General) > QH Natural History. Biology > QH103 Variation, Adaptation, and Speciation
G Geography and Anthropology > GN Anthropology > GN281 Human Evolution. Hominid Fossils
Depositing User: Admin
Date Deposited: 18 Mar 2025 21:43
Last Modified: 18 Mar 2025 21:43
URI: https://crsq.creationresearch.org/id/eprint/868

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