Image
credit: Answers In Genesis
Ardi, an australopithecine, is another
discovery that is being touted by evolutionists, or so they hope, to be a
missing link between apes and men but Ardi is even less complete than the famed
“Lucy” find which was a compilation of bones scattered miles away from each
other and embedded in different depths of the ground. But Ardi is not exactly a new and recent
discovery. Fossils of the creature were
actually discovered in 1994. [1, 2]
Ardi is also known as a species of extinct
ape called Ardipithecus ramidus which means “ground root ape.” [3] but it was first
known as Australopithecus ramidus; [4] the reason for the name change was based
upon further study of the fossils that suggested that the finds were distinct enough
from Australopithecines to be declared a different species of ape. [5]
The find predates the famed “Lucy” fossils
by a little over a million years (Lucy dated at 3.2 MA while Ardi is dated at
4.4. MA---MA standing for “millions of years).
Ardi possessed grasping feet that clearly
showed it to be a tree climber and dweller [6-7] but evolutionists point to her talus
bone, the trochlea in particular, which is a bone connecting the ankle bones to
the foot bones as evidence that Ardi was in a transitional phase between an arboreal
quadruped and a biped The trochlea part of the talus, which is the body of the
talus, is situated behind the head and neck sections of the talus bone.
A publication called Popular Mechanics,
which was also syndicated by MSN, went on to state that large monkeys
and apes with long forefeet, that is the part of the foot consisting of metatarsal
bones, have wide trochleas whereas apes with shorter forefeet would have
narrower ones [8] which would
include most apes, meaning the only ape with a wide trochlea would be
orangutangs. Monkeys possessing a wide
trochlea would include macaques, baboons, drills, and mandrills. Like orangutangs and large monkeys, Ardi possesses
a wide trochlea. Wide trochleas appear
to be associated with longer forefeet which means that Ardi had more in common
with monkeys and orangutangs than with other apes.
The MSN item stated:
In Ardi, the talar trochlea is wide
relative to her estimated body mass, while the width of this bone in the back
is similar to that of chimps and humans. There are aspects of Ardi’s talus that
appear in extant chimps, gorillas and monkeys. In apes and monkeys, these
features indicate plantigrade quadrupedalism, or the ability to walk on all
fours with the soles of the feet. While Ardi displays some of these qualities,
her feet had evolved further. It showed improved mechanisms for propulsion that
would become necessary for us to walk on two feet. [9]
Breaking the aforementioned down, Ardi’s
talus carries features of an arboreal quadruped but at the same time also
carries features held in common with chimps and man, but the item does not
explain as to how Ardi’s feet were any different from that of any known ape or
monkey extinct or living or how this makes it a transitional form between apes
and men. It must also be noted that
monkeys and apes do stand and walk upright for short distances, but all move
primarily on all fours which has led some to reject the talus as being an
indicator of bipedalism or quadrupedalism.
Scientific Reports states:
To reconstruct locomotor behaviors of
fossil hominins and understand the evolution of bipedal locomotion in the human
lineage, it is important to clarify the functional morphology of the talar
trochlea in humans and extant great apes. Therefore, the present study aimed to
investigate the interspecific-differences of the talar trochlear morphology
among humans, chimpanzees, gorillas, and orangutans by means of cone frustum
approximation to calculate an apical angle and geometric morphometrics for
detailed variability in the shape of the talar trochlea. The apical angles in
gorillas and orangutans were significantly greater than those in humans and
chimpanzees, but no statistical difference was observed between humans and
chimpanzees, indicating that the apical angle did not necessarily correspond
with the degree of arboreality in hominoids. The geometric morphometrics
revealed clear interspecific differences in the trochlear morphology, but no
clear association between the morphological characteristics of the trochlea and
locomotor behavior was observed. [10]
If the talus bone is not a good indicator
of whether or not living creatures possessing are quadrupeds or bipeds or even
whether or not they are arboreal or ground dwelling, then how can it ever be trusted
to be an indicator of the movements of an animal that is extinct?
But there are other reasons why not all
are sold on Ardi being a biped.
Anatomist William Jungers said of Ardi at the time of the fossil find:
This is a fascinating skeleton, but based
on what they present, the evidence for bipedality is limited at best…
Divergent big toes are associated with
grasping, and this has one of the most divergent big toes you can imagine…Why
would an animal fully adapted to support its weight on its forelimbs in the
trees elect to walk bipedally on the ground? [11]
Even those who believe Ardi to be a
transitional form between ape and man have admitted that even if Ardi was able
to walk upright, it was still a “lousy biped” [12] and likely not much better at it
than known monkeys and apes. It has also
been suggested by skeptics of Ardi’s claimed transitional form status that Ardi,
at best, was what is called a “facultative” biped [13] which means it
only stood or walked upright on occasion and was primarily a quadruped
tree-climber just as existing monkeys and apes are, whereas obligate bipeds
primarily move about on two feet instead of four. It was also pointed out by anatomy expert
Carol Ward that the knees of Ardi may have been spaced too far apart from each
other for it to be an obligate biped. [14]
But a unique thing that set Ardi apart
from other apes was the amount of dexterity that it had in its wrists and a
dexterity that superseded that of even human beings [15] which indicates
that it probably had more in common in that regards than it did with apes. It is also believed that even if Ardi was not
an obligate biped, it probably did not walk on its knuckles [16] which would mean
that if it was primarily a tree-climbing quadruped that did not walk on its
knuckles as apes are known to do, then it probably, like monkeys, was a palm
walker.
But to complicate things even further, Ardi
was not just one specimen that was studied, but was one of several dozen, none
of which were complete, with the main focus being on a specimen with as many as
125 bones recovered [17] but even these
were so poorly preserved and so heavily damaged that most of its reconstruction
was digital or virtual based [18, 19] which involved a substantial amount of
guesswork [20] and not on a
study and compilation of the fossils themselves. In other words, Ardi is a theoretical reconstruction. Anatomy expert William Jungers noted that
when it comes to theoretical or hypothetical reconstructions, and perhaps even
the fossils themselves, “It's very difficult not to make them look like
something you have in your mind if there's any chance of play.” [21]
If Ardi is just mostly a theoretical or
hypothetical reconstruction, then it technically may never even have existed
for all that anyone might know and if it did exist, it was nothing more than a
lesser ape species or a giant monkey.
But despite the skepticism, even amongst
evolutionists, about its status as a transitional form between ape and man,
there be those who are still, once again, bringing attention to Ardi and insist
on claiming that it may be another link to an alleged common ancestor between
men and apes; seems like they regurgitate the same lie in hopes that if they
tell the same lie often enough that the public will start to believe them, not
that there are not any that believe this lie but what comes down to is that the
spirit behind this lie is doing everything he can to discredit in the minds and
hearts of as many as he can the authority of scripture so that they will be
blinded to the Gospel of salvation delivered by the divinely inspired
scriptures and kept blind those who might otherwise believe and embrace Christ
Jesus to their need of redemption, the danger of everlasting damnation that
they are in, to the very inward and inherent corruption within them that places
them in danger of the everlasting torments of Hell, and if need be, to the
existence of a Creator to whom all men must give an account some day and one of
the many lies by which he does this is that elaborate lie that we are not
created beings but that we, along with everything else that has ever existed
and continues to exist, are nothing more than products of chance that have
formed and evolved over long gradual period of time and it is a lie that has
been made to be so convincing and believable that it has cast doubt upon and
has overthrown faith in the authority and testimony of scripture by deceiving
multitudes that the Genesis account of creation, origins, and evil itself, is
but a myth and in doing so, the spirit behind this lie has deceived untold
numbers into believing that the death, suffering, and evil that we see and
experience in the world today is not the consequence of a fateful
transgression, but is as much a part of nature and the natural cycle of life as
those things that are good and pleasant and that the inward corruptions within
ourselves and with which we are born are not passed down from a man into whom
it entered through a certain transgression through the eating of a fruit from a
certain tree that he was warned not to eat from lest he surely die but are just
as normal and a part of nature as our capacity to do that which is good and
right thereby making meaningless in the minds of many any concept or notion of
good and evil, right or wrong, justice or injustice, truth or falsehood,
corruption or purity because we are by this lie made to think that we bear no
more or less significance than an insect and this lie has been used by the
spirit behind it to hold multitudes in a bondage and captivity that will lead
to the eternal damning of their very souls by blinding them to the very truth
that could set them free from it (Jn. 8:32) which is that there is redemption
provided for us in Christ Jesus our Lord who came into this world to offer
Himself up on our behalf as a sacrifice for our sins and then afterwards, was
raised again from the dead so that anyone calling upon Him for the forgiveness
of sins in sincere repentance would be justified in Him. (Rom. 4:25)
The very truth by which the adversary of
our souls has fought hard and still fights hard to this day to blind us to,
suppress, and keep from us is the truth that neither this universe nor anything
in it is a product of time nor chance but was actually created and when it was
created, it was not what it presently is today, but was actually a much better
world, an immensely better world in which there was no death, no evil, and no
suffering but was a world created to a world in which there was only life,
light, contentment, happiness, and peace, and which there had existed a perfect
uninterrupted harmony between God, man, and nature and it was a world over
which man had initially been given dominion (Gen. 1:26) and there was nothing
withheld from them except for one thing and that was a certain fruit from a
tree called the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, having been warned of
God that in the day that they ate thereof, they would surely die. (Gen.
2:16-17) but the spirit of lies crept into this newly created world in the form
of a serpent and with false assurances and empty promises, Satan caused the
first man Adam whom God had created and the first woman Eve, being Adam’s wife,
to eat of that forbidden fruit (Gen. 3:4-5) and instead of receiving the
greatness that they were promised, they were reduced to an inferior state (Gen.
3:7 and just as they had been warned of God, the sentence of death was placed
upon them (Gen. 3:19) for it was in that day when Adam and Eve ate of that
forbidden fruit that sin entered into them and from them, the sin which entered
into them and brought about their eventual deaths, was also passed down to all
of mankind for all of us are descendants of that first man and that first woman
and because we are their descendants, we have also inherited the sin that
entered into them (Rom. 5:12) and because of that sin which we have inherited,
we all sin in some form or fashion and as a consequence we all die for as it is
written, the wages of sin is death (Rom. 6:23) but sin is not merely confined
to outward behavior or performance or even the words we speak, but it is rather
the inherent inward corruption of our very nature defiling our thoughts,
hardening and darkening our hearts, and corrupting our very motives which is
why it is written that we are not defiled from that which comes from without,
but that which comes from within (Mt. 15:11, 18-20) and which is why it is
written that all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God (Rom. 3:23)
which demands of us nothing less than moral perfection and not just in our
outward acts but also in our inward as well which is why it is impossible by
our own efforts and our own goodness to enter into the Kingdom of Heaven, for
sin taints, corrupts, defiles, twists, and distorts more than we can comprehend
and the effects of sin are not merely confined to mankind, but all of creation
is subjected to a curse because of sin which is why it is written that the
entire creation groans and travails in pain to this day. (Rom. 8:19-22)
The spirit responsible for the lie which
led Adam and Eve into this fateful and consequential transgression used to be a
covering cherub named Lucifer who had once served at the throne of God until he
had become so lifted up in his pride that he thought to make himself equal with
God and as a consequence, he and all who sided with him against God were cast
from Heaven (Is. 14:11-21, Ezek. 28:12-19) and what he was not able to accomplish
in Heaven, he was able, through subtlety and deceit, to accomplish on the
earth. After having deceived Adam and
Eve into eating that forbidden fruit, he then used their disobedience to justify
claiming lordship over all the nations, kingdoms, and empires of the earth,
(Mt. 4:8-9, Lk. 4:6-7) which is why he is called the prince of this world (Jn.
12:31, 16:11)
By that transgression which, Satan, by a
lie, led Adam and Eve to commit, did darkness and evil come into the world by
which all of creation was subjected to the unprecedented and unimagined tyranny
of sin and death which would be followed by a multitude of other oppressions
and tyrannies which would be built upon a multitude of lies that would follow
that very lie that brought about that fateful transgression which brought sin,
death, evil, and darkness into the world and which made Satan the father of lies
(Jn. 8:44) and by that lie, he is also a murderer (v. 44) for it was by that
first lie, that sin and death came into the world through the first two people
into whom it had entered and then was passed down from them to the rest of
mankind, subjugating all of humanity to the sin which brings eventual death to
all who are born into this world; the effects of both not confining themselves
to humanity, but also subjugating all of creation to a slow and painful
destruction thus making Satan a destroyer (Jn. 10:10) and not only does the lie
by which he deceived Adam and Eve into eating the very fruit by which sin and
death came into the world and infected all of creation make Satan into a
murderer and destroyer, but he is also a thief and usurper for by way of the
transgression was the dominion over the earth initially given to Adam (Gen.
1:26) diminished by way of Satan claiming lordship over the nations and
kingdoms of the earth but not only is Satan a destroyer of lives and of
creation, he is also a destroyer of souls for by way of the lie which brought
about the transgression which brought sin and death into the world and which
subjugated all of creation to pain, misery, and suffering that would have
otherwise not been, a separation and estrangement stands in between God and man
and it is because of the sin into which we are born that we are estranged from
our Creator with whom there would otherwise be a perfect and uninterrupted
harmony and fellowship, for that which is in sin cannot be allowed into His direct
presence or into His Kingdom lest Heaven itself be defiled just as the earth
has been defiled and a day is coming when sin will reach its full measure and
will have to face eventual judgment and that includes all who remain in their
sin and they who remain in their sins have nothing to look forward to but a
terrifying and everlasting punishment in the never-ending torments and darkness
of Hell and it was in the day that sin and death had entered into mankind and
into the world that the age-long war between God and Satan became a war for the
souls of men to this day and that war for the souls of men has resulted in a
multitude of other wars and conflicts that have taken place throughout our
history but there is good news.
And the good news is, is that though the
Lord God Almighty be holy and perfect and though He be a God who must, in His
holiness, goodness, and righteousness, eventually punish all evil and all
wickedness, He is also a God of unmeasurable love and mercy who is not willing
that any should perish in their sins and face eternal damnation, (2 Pet. 3:9)
but that all would come to repentance, and therefore has done for us what we
could never do for ourselves in that He, in His graciousness has purchased
redemption on our behalf in Christ Jesus, His only begotten Son, (Jn. 3:16) who
came to us in the flesh, (Jn. 1:14) and being without any sin (2 Cor. 5:21) was
made that perfect sacrifice (Heb. 7:26-27) that was needed to take away the
sins of the world and because of His perfect goodness, He was able to offer
Himself up on our behalf to satisfy the demanded penalty for all sin and
granting mercy and grace through the shedding of His blood on the cross and
after having died, rose again from the dead three days later that we might be
justified in Him (Rom. 4:25) if we will but call upon His name so that we might
be saved from what would otherwise be a terrifying everlasting punishment if we
will but call upon His name (Rom. 10:9, 13) and believe in our hearts that God
raised Him from the dead (Rom. 10:9) for it is by calling upon His name in
sincere repentance that salvation is granted and our souls made clean from sin
thereby liberating us from the threat of eternal damnation and with that
cleansing comes a new spiritual transformation (2 Cor. 5:17) that causes us to
no longer desire to follow after selfish and worldly pursuits but after those
things that pertain to the Kingdom of Heaven,
to no longer take pleasure in those things
that are evil and displeasing in the sight of the Lord, but in that which is
good, right, and pleasing in His sight,
to no longer desire to walk in the lies of
this present world, but only in the truth that comes from Christ Almighty who
is the source of all truth, (Jn. 14:6)
no longer placing our hopes in the things
of this present world, but looking forward to that new and better world to
come, (Rev. 21-22)
to no longer rely on worldly resources,
men, or even our own power, abilities, skills, and wisdom for our needs and
provision but upon God who is able to meet all of our needs, recognizing that
the resources of this world and even the people He brings into our lives are
but instruments and vessels through which God meets our needs and that the
skills, power, knowledge, and wisdom by which we might acquire our provision
are provided and instilled in us by God, (Mt. 6:25-33)
to no longer fear what men can do to us,
but rather fearing the God before whom we will have to one day give an account
for how we lived our lives, (Mt. 10:28)
to no longer look to corruptible
institutions within our society for direction and order in our lives but to God
who, by His written Word has given us laws and precepts to be applied to our
lives and which serve to produce and maintain an ordered life, and who, by His
Holy Spirit which comes to dwell within us upon repentance, establishes in our
lives a course and direction in our lives to pursue for His glory,
to no longer seek our own glory but the
glory of God,
to no longer rally behind corruptible men,
but instead behind the incorruptible God in Heaven bearing in mind that those
men and women God raises up for our edification are but instruments and
servants of His for that respective purpose to which He has called them,
to no longer seek to align ourselves with
the things of darkness but only with the things of the light,
to no longer trust in the wisdom of the
world but only on the wisdom and knowledge that comes from above, (Jas. 1:5)
nor depend on corruptible earthly authorities to swiftly administer justice,
but only in the power of God to deliver us from evil.
And it is this new inward transformation
that reconciles us to our Creator (2 Cor. 5:18) from whom we had once been
estranged and just as our souls are cleansed from sin and our spirits
regenerated in Christ Jesus thereby liberating us from the eternal tormenting
punishment that must come upon all who remain in their sins, so one day we look
forward to the liberation of our bodies from death itself when our mortal and
corruptible forms are transformed into that which is immortal and incorruptible
and from that which is imperfect to that which is perfect (1 Cor. 15:51-55, 1
Thess. 4:13-18) and lastly, creation itself will be delivered from the curse
placed upon it because of sin when it is made into a new and better world (Rev.
21-22) and liberated from the hand of our adversary Satan, who presently claims
dominion, when he is given his final sentence and cast into an everlasting
tormenting fire prepared for him and his followers (Mt. 25:41, Rev. 20:10-15)
and in that new world which will be made, there will be no sin, no death, no
decay, nor any curse, nor any evil, or violence, suffering, misery, grief,
sorrow, mourning, pain, or hardship of any sort for all of these will pass away
with this present world. Instead, there
will only be light, life, happiness, joy, contentment, peace, and rest before
the Lord God Almighty.
If your eyes have been opened to the truth
of the Gospel message, then I urge you reader to call upon the name of the Lord
Jesus for the forgiveness of sins. It is
but a sincere prayer of repentance away:
"Lord Jesus I need you.
I realize that I am a sinner
who has fallen short of the glory of God
and that my goodness falls short
of your standard of Moral perfection.
Please forgive me of all of my sins.
Come into my heart and into my life
to be the Savior and Lord of my life.
Make me into the servant and follower
that you want me to be.
In your name Lord Jesus, I pray.
Amen."
Know that God is not concerned with the
words that you use to call upon Him forgiveness, but with the attitude of your
heart and if you have, with all sincerity, have asked Christ to forgive you of
your sins, placing your trust in Him only for your salvation and in nothing
else, then your sins are forgiven and your place in Heaven is certain.
End notes:
1.
Elizabeth Rayne, “She Was Half Ape, Half Human—and She May Hold the
Secret to What Makes Us Who We Are,” Popular Mechanics, syndicated by MSN,
October 28, 2025
https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/technology/she-was-half-ape-half-human-and-she-may-hold-the-secret-to-what-makes-us-who-we-are/ar-AA1PlsEC?ocid=msedgntp&pc=DCTS&cvid=6902047c294b46dc80e4208bf179973e&ei=16
2.
Jamie Shreeve, “Oldest Skeleton of Human Ancestor Found,” National
Geographic, September 30, 2009
https://web.archive.org/web/20210302095637/https://www.nationalgeographic.com/science/article/oldest-skeleton-human-ancestor-found-ardipithecus
3.
Fran Dorey, “Ardipithecus ramidus,” Australian Museum, April 11, 2018
https://australian.museum/learn/science/human-evolution/ardipithecus-ramidus/
4. Rayne,
“She Was Half Ape, Half Human—and She May Hold the Secret to What Makes Us Who
We Are,” October 28, 2025
5. “Ardipithecus Ramidus,” Archeology
Info.com
https://web.archive.org/web/20120308171256/http://archaeologyinfo.com/ardipithecus-ramidus/
6. Rayne,
“She Was Half Ape, Half Human—and She May Hold the Secret to What Makes Us Who
We Are,” October 28, 2025
7. Thomas C. Prang, Matthew W. Tocheri,
Biren A. Patel, Scott A. Williams & Caley M. Orr “Ardipithecus ramidus ankle provides evidence
for African ape-like vertical climbing in the earliest hominins” Communications
Biology; syndicated by Nature, October 15, 2025
https://www.nature.com/articles/s42003-025-08711-7
8.
Rayne, “She Was Half Ape, Half Human—and She May Hold the Secret to What
Makes Us Who We Are,” October 28, 2025
9.
Ibid.
10.
Shuhei Nozaki, Motoharu Oishi & Naomichi Ogihara, “Talar trochlear
morphology may not be a good skeletal indicator of locomotor behavior in humans
and great apes,” Scientific Reports; syndicated by Nature, December 15, 2021
https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-021-03429-y?fromPaywallRec=false
11.
Shreeve, “Oldest Skeleton of Human Ancestor Found,” National Geographic,
September 30, 2009
12. “Our ancestor Ardi walked tall,” New
Scientist, October 1, 2009
https://www.newscientist.com/gallery/dn17894-ardi-an-in-depth-look/
13.
Katherine Harmon, “How Humanlike Was "Ardi"?, Scientific
American, November 19, 2009
https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/ardi-hominid-human-ancestor/
14.
Ibid.
15.
Katherine Harmon, “Long-Awaited Research on a 4.4-Million-Year-Old
Hominid Sheds New Light on Last Common Ancestor,” Scientific American, October
1, 2009
https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/how-humanlike-was-ardi/
16.
Ibid.
17. Shreeve, “Oldest Skeleton of Human
Ancestor Found,” National Geographic, September 30, 2009
18. “Our ancestor Ardi walked tall,” New
Scientist, October 1, 2009
19.
Dorey, “Ardipithecus ramidus,” Australian Museum, April 11, 2018
20.
Harmon, “How Humanlike Was "Ardi"?, Scientific American,
November 19, 2009
21.
Ibid.
Scripture references:
1. John
8:32
2.
Romans 4:25
3. Genesis
2:16-17
4.
Genesis 3:3
5.
Genesis 3:4-5
6.
Genesis 3:19
7.
Romans 5:12
8.
Romans 6:23
9.
Matthew 15:11, 18-20
10.
Romans 3:23
11.
Romans 8:19-22
12.
Isaiah 14:11-21, Ezekiel 28:12-19
13.
Matthew 4:8-9
14.
Luke 4:6-7
15.
John 12:31
16.
John 16:11
17.
John 8:44
18.
John 10:10
19.
Genesis 1:26
20. 2 Peter 3:9
21.
John 3:16
22.
John 1:14
23.
2 Corinthians 5:21
24.
Hebrews 7:26-27
25.
Romans 10:9, 13
26.
2 Corinthians 5:17
28.
John 14:6
29.
Revelation 21-22
30.
Matthew 6:25-33
31.
Matthew 10:28
32.
James 1:5
33.
2 Corinthians 5:18
34.
1 Corinthians 15:51-55, 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18
35.
Matthew 25:41
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