Re: The Fossil Record

On Aug 1, 6:58 pm, AC <mightymartia...@xxxxxxxxx> wrote:
(snip)
in another place he quotes an estimate by Leakey and Lewis that we have some
level of fossil record for about one species in 120,000.

Are both these figures commonly accepted?

(I realise that the 'one in a billion' figure is a bit meaningless in real
terms because of the way the record is so seriously skewed.)

Fossilization in marine environments is much commoner.

I wouldn't usually pick on this sort of thing, but since you think your the
mightiest sage on linguistics the world has ever known, perhaps you can explain
the word "commoner".

Sure: comparative of 'common'. See entry below:

"Inflected Form:often -er/-est "

"Main Entry:1common
Pronunciation:*k*m*n
Function:adjective
Inflected Form:often -er/-est
Etymology:Middle English commun, comon, from Old French commun, comun,
from Latin communis * more at MEAN

1 a : of or relating to a community at large (as a family unit, social
group, tribe, political organization, or alliance) : generally shared
or participated in by individuals of a community : not limited to one
person or special group *we, the people of the U.S., in order to T
provide for the common defense U.S. Constitution* *a sense of common
interest, a guild feeling in reaction against the extreme competitive
individualism J.M.Barzun* b : known to the community; especially :
notorious as an accustomed general vexation *a common thief* *punished
as a common scold* *maintaining a common nuisance* c : belonging to
or typical of all mankind : shared with all men *our common humanity*
*our common nature*
2 a : held, enjoyed, experienced, or participated in equally by a
number of individuals : possessed or manifested by more than one
individual *a common attribute* *a common characteristic* : calling
forth, giving rise to as source, or sending out a number of different
items : marked by the same relationship to a number of persons or
things *our common rights* *the sharp teeth common to all cats*
*streets radiating out from a common center* *we will help our allies
against our common enemy* b : marked by or resulting from joint
action of two or more parties : practiced or engaged in by two or more
equally *in the partnership of our common enterprise we must share in
a unified plan F.D.Roosevelt* *our common defense* *by common consent
the partnership was dissolved* c : open freely to the individual use
of any member of a society or group **folk-land*, the common property
of the tribe J.R.Green* *the front hall, common to all the tenants
Dorothy Sayers* d : available for indiscriminate or promiscuous use
*a common woman* *the common cup* e : belonging to or appointed for
the common (sense 6) f mathematics : belonging equally to two or
more quantities g anatomy : formed of or dividing into two or more
branches *the common carotid artery* *common iliac vessels*
3 : ceremonially or religiously unclean or unfit *eating nothing
common on the holy day*
4 a : occurring or appearing frequently especially in the ordinary
course of events : not unusual : known or referred to widely or
generally because of frequent occurrence *the common is that which is
found in the experience of a number of persons John Dewey* *the common
judgment which sets tragedy above comedy as the greater art Samuel
Alexander* b archaic : subject to or ensuing from widespread
conversation : recognized or agreed on through copious discussion
*young Arthur's death is common in their mouths Shakespeare* c
chiefly Midland : USUAL *I'm as well as common Ellen Glasgow* d :
VERNACULAR used of plant and animal names *cat is the common name
for Felis catus*
5 a : of, relating to, or typical of the majority or to the many
rather than the few : GENERAL, PREVALENT *a sentiment common, but not
universal W.G.Sumner* *this revelation has T passed into the common
consciousness of the civilized world W.R.Inge* b : characterized by a
lack of privilege or special status *the common people* *was then
forced to take on a job as a common laborer*
6 a : characteristic of a usual type or standard : representative of a
type : quite usual and average : entirely ordinary and undistinguished
especially by anything superior *the everyday man and woman, the
common people I.M.Price* *a common man, no holier than you and I
Thomas Hardy* *the great gods T were not exempt from the common lot.
They too grew old and died J.G.Frazer* b : having no claim or showing
no pretense to rank, position, polish, learning, or culture *apart T
from the common reader, there is an elite A.L.Gu*rard* c : satisfying
accustomed criteria : attaining to an ordinary standard : ADEQUATE
*the common honesty to face it W.R.Inge* *it was simply common
courtesy to help him* d : falling below ordinary standards :
INFERIOR, MEAN, SECOND-RATE *O hard is the bed T and common the
blanket and cheap A.E.Housman* *labor was scarce and common at that
American Guide Series: Delaware* e : falling below accustomed
standards of conduct : lacking polish, learning, or taste : marked by
or suggestive of the lax, crass, tawdry, earthy, or crude *a very
common girl snubbed by the others* *as Harris said, in his common
vulgar way, the city would have to lump it J.K.Jerome* f of
lumber : of or relating to several grades that are inferior to
finish lumber : DEFECTIVE, KNOTTY
7 now chiefly dialect : easily approachable : UNRESERVED, INFORMAL
*he's such a nice common fellow*
8 : frequently met with and known better than types less often
encountered *common salt* *the common fern*; specifically : most
frequent and best known of its kind in a particular region used of
plants and animals
9 a of gender (1) : either masculine or feminine *the gender of F
enfant is common*(2) : characterizing words of which in an earlier
stage of the language some were masculine and some feminine *Danish
has two genders, common and neuter* b of a substantive : belonging
to the common gender c of a syllable : either short or long *in
Greek prosody a syllable is common that has a short vowel followed by
a stop and a liquid or nasal, as the first syllable of teknon* d of a
grammatical case : denoting relations by a single form that in a
more highly inflected language might be denoted by two or more
different case forms *moon, as subject in *the moon is shining* and as
object in *I see the moon*, is in the common case*
synonyms ORDINARY, FAMILIAR, POPULAR, VULGAR: COMMON, ORDINARY, AND
FAMILIAR all describe something that is very frequently or generally
met with and hence is not at all strange or unusual. COMMON stresses
lack of distinguishing or exceptional characteristics *Norris quite
definitely identified the romantic with that which is peculiar or
special as opposed to the common M.R.Cohen* and may connote coarseness
or lack of refinement *weavers produced fine muslins, gauzes,
calicoes, and the common cloths used by the poorer population
C.L.Jones* ORDINARY applies to what is met with in the routine,
regular, or accustomed order of events; it may connote lack of
rareness or of superiority *the business of the poet is not to find
new emotions, but to use the ordinary ones T.S.Eliot* *it is not an
ordinary war. It is a revolution T which threatens all men everywhere
F.D.Roosevelt* *the mass of ordinary men, as definitely opposed to
exceptional men W.H.Mallock* FAMILIAR applies to what is well known
because encountered often and lacks any suggestion of the foreign or
exotic *the familiar arrangement of chairs and tables, always the same
Pearl Buck* *the curious impression T that she had seen everything and
everybody before. Every face was familiar to her Ellen Glasgow*
POPULAR indicates the common due to acceptance, sometimes
enthusiastic, by the people, especially commoners; it may imply a lack
of qualities pleasing to the elite, upper classes, or learned groups
*the popular faith in the omnipotence of education M.R.Cohen* *these
brotherhoods were T thoroughly popular, drawing most of their support
from the lower classes W.R.Inge* *compromise its values by publishing
work that could be described as merely cheap or popular H.V.Gregory*
VULGAR is used only occasionally to mean COMMON; it usually suggests
meanness, bad taste, crudeness, or crassness *the now vulgar opinion
that [Samuel] Johnson was more distinguished as a talker than as a
writer J.W.Krutch* *he never could have been vulgar; there is not in
the whole range of English literature quite such a gentleman George
Saintsbury* *not for the vulgar gaze but for an aristocratic and
urbane inspection* synonym see in addition RECIPROCAL, UNIVERSAL"
ã


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