90 years ago: Nebraska Man suddenly disappears from the list of modern man's alleged ancestors

Professing themselves to be wise, they became fools, Romans 1:22

This illustration of H. haroldcookii, by artist Amédée Forestier, was modeled on the Java Man.

Nebraska Man (Hesperopithecus haroldcookii) is this blogger's favourite of the various hominids alleged to be ancestors of modern man. His status as such was based solely on the "million-dollar tooth," which was found in an ancient river bed in Nebraska in 1917 by rancher and geologist Harold Cook and put forward by scientists such as American Museum of Natural History President Dr. Henry Fairfield Osborn as proof that a forerunner of modern man lived in America millions of years ago. However, on February 18, 1928, the tooth was revealed to be the tooth of an extinct peccary.

At the Scopes trial in 1925, Nebraska Man was cited as proof of evolution, and William Jennings Bryan was ridiculed when he protested the scanty evidence. Unfortunately, Mr. Bryan didn't live to see his views vindicated. Nebraska Man is just one of a number of man's alleged ancestors that hasn't stood the test of time, or close examination of the evidence. Other examples include Java Man, Peking Man, and Piltdown Man. "Science" marches on.

For further reading on the subject of modern man's alleged ancestors, see Bones of Contention: A Creationist Assessment of Human Fossils by Marvin L. Lubenow (1992).