Peking Man and Homo erectus

Comparison of gorilla, Peking Man, and modern human

This illustration is based on a photo in Boule and Vallois (1957). The middle figure is a model of Peking Man done by Franz Weidenreich, of which Duane Gish says:

"The reader [of Boule and Vallois, 1957] is invited to verify for himself that Sinanthropus occupies a position intermediate between the Anthropoid Apes and Man. If one accepts uncritically Weidenreich's model of Sinanthropus as a true portrayal of the real Sinanthropus, then he could hardly reject the above appraisal." (Gish, 1985) [emphasis added]

In other words, although Gish does not accept the accuracy of this model, he is saying that if it was accurate, it would be almost indisputable as a transitional fossil. Now compare the model with two other Homo erectus skulls, ER 3733 (left) and WT 15000 (right).

ER 3733 Peking Man Turkana Boy

Since these Homo erectus skulls discovered decades later are very similar to Weidenreich's model, they should, by Gish's own admission, be accepted as intermediate between apes and humans.

Creationist arguments about Peking Man

Creationist arguments about Homo erectus

This page is part of the Fossil Hominids FAQ at the talk.origins Archive.