AcesandEights
18-Apr-2012, 03:01 PM
Been making the rounds in the news lately (http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2012/03/120314-new-human-species-chinese-plos-science-red-deer-cave/). Are they jumping the gun, do you think?
A previously unknown type of human—jut-jawed, heavy-browed, deer-eating cave dwellers—may have been identified via Stone Age bones from southern China, according to a controversial new study.
The "mystery human fossils" might even represent an entirely new species that existed alongside our own as recently as 11,500 years ago, according to a team of Chinese and Australian researchers.
Or the fossils might represent an especially early migration of so-called modern humans out of Africa and into East Asia, the team suggests.
Or—as some critical scientists have said—the evidence may tell us something we already know: People come in all shapes and sizes.
http://images.nationalgeographic.com/wpf/media-live/photos/000/500/cache/new-hominid-longlin-illustration_50032_600x450.jpg
^ Not the guy who spilled beer on you at that Skynyrd concert in '77.
A previously unknown type of human—jut-jawed, heavy-browed, deer-eating cave dwellers—may have been identified via Stone Age bones from southern China, according to a controversial new study.
The "mystery human fossils" might even represent an entirely new species that existed alongside our own as recently as 11,500 years ago, according to a team of Chinese and Australian researchers.
Or the fossils might represent an especially early migration of so-called modern humans out of Africa and into East Asia, the team suggests.
Or—as some critical scientists have said—the evidence may tell us something we already know: People come in all shapes and sizes.
http://images.nationalgeographic.com/wpf/media-live/photos/000/500/cache/new-hominid-longlin-illustration_50032_600x450.jpg
^ Not the guy who spilled beer on you at that Skynyrd concert in '77.