Sunday, April 12, 2009

Anatomy FAIL

Posted at CARM on April 12th, 2009. Creationist: Dr.K (we see a lot of him because he's....not bright in the science department.)

Discussion background:
Male and female skeletons have distinct differences.

Anthropologist:
Indeed they are. If a forensic anthropologist has to figure out the sex of a pile of bones, he or she hopes for the pelvis. Failing that, the skull is the next best way, with about an 80% reliability.

(Adults only: it is much harder to tell the sex of children reliably because of a lot of the differentiation comes with maturity. OTOH you can tell the age of children within months, but adults only within a decade, once the third molars have fully erupted.)

Dr.K:
Is that a professional forensic opinion?

Anthropologist:
Forensic anthropology borrows methods developed from the academic discipline of physical anthropology and applies them to cases of forensic importance. These techniques can be used to assess age, --->sex<-----, stature, ancestry, and analyze trauma and disease. Forensic anthropologists frequently work in conjunction with forensic pathologists, odontologists, and homicide investigators to identify a decedent, discover evidence of trauma, and determine the postmortem interval.

Dr.K: (heer comz teh stoopid!)
I have it on good authority that it is impossible to determine the gender of a human skeleton.

*facepalm* Look...I realize that large pieces of anthropological evidence is missing. Much the same with paleontological differences.

But...arguing that you cannot tell the difference in sex of a skeleton of the species you BELONG TO?!

New low, Creationists, new low.

-Erin

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