Whither Goest Thou?
There are many references to this term, dating back to the time of Christ and including, as in the image above, a book published in the 1890s'. But this post is not about the origins of the term it is a question related to the Somerton Man case, just where it stands and where it's heading.
Current Status
The SA Police (SAPOL), have for some years been gathering information on the Somerton Man case and that effort increased in tempo following the exhumation of remains said to be those of the Somerton Man in 2022. The exhumation was called for by many with the effort being spearheaded by Professor Derek Abbott of Adelaide University which is now incorporated with the University of South Australia.
Shortly after the exhumation, Professor Abbott announced that he had proof that the Somerton Man was a man named Carl Webb.
This is the 3rd claim made by the Professor in relation to to the Somerton Man.
Claim 1, was that the Somerton Man had a condition known as 'Anodontia' plus he had a rare ear type in which the Cymba is larger than the Cavum, this occurs in between 1 and 2 % of the Caucasian population according to Professor Abbott. The claim stated that these were traits found in the nurse's son, Jessica Harkness. therefore, in all likelihood, Jessica's son was fathered by the Somerton Man.
This claim was incorrect because the ear type was also present in a grandson of Jessica whose mother came along after the Somerton Man's time. Regarding the man's teeth, the claim was that he had anodontia a condition where the lateral incisors were missing as an hereditary trait and their place taken by the canine teeth. However, the dental chart taken by Doctor Dwyer at the autopsy of the man shows that the man did not have the condition known as anodontia, the chart shows that the man had a total of 18 missing teeth which, even for those times was quite rare, no reason for this has been identified.
Ear Comparisons:
Dental Chart, Exhibit C2 Coronial Inquest:
The dental chart is a little confusing as the Professor was aware of the missing teeth as it is included in his Wiki which you can find here:
https://www.eleceng.adelaide.edu.au/personal/dabbott/wiki/index.php/The_Taman_Shud_Case_Coronial_Inquest
In an article published by Professor Abbott in the IEEE Spectrum Magazine in March 2023. while a rootless 5 cm long hair ample is mentioned as the one sent to Astrea Labs in the US who are regarded as being at the forefront of technology in rootless hair DNA identification. No mention is made in the article of where that hair sample came from nor when it was taken or by whom.
All previous attempts at gathering useful DNA had failed.
Other efforts have failed, and so to zero in on the 'owner, of the hair sample, Professor Abbott used a process known as 'Imputation'.
We refer to the following articles regarding the use of Imputation:
In the literature, when more than 10% of data are missing, estimates are likely to be biased (9). Source:
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8426774/#:~:text=In%20a%20literature%2C%20when%20more,to%20be%20biased%20(9).
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC10245797/#:~:text=Importantly%2C%20the%20size%2C%20data%20quality,to%20those%20more%20distantly%20related.
Scientists use the genotype imputation method to fill in missing information when they're looking at someone's DNA code. Occasionally, it's not possible to read the genotype of a specific
It has been said that our ears change as we age, this is true however, these changes do not occur until around the age of 40 years and they present as a lengthening of the ear lobe. Apparently, the structure of the ear does not change.