Re: New Homo Found?
Todd A. Farmerie (taf2@po.CWRU.Edu)
17 Aug 1995 03:49:48 GMT
In a previous article, mrdubious@aol.com (Mrdubious) says:
>According to the Fresno Bee on Friday, it's in "this week's" Science.
>Geologist Josep Pares is a coauthor. The Bee says 780K-1M years old, and
>that they were different enough to warrant their own name, but that they
>are the same age as a recent find in the Republic of Georgia.
>
Having pirated a look through my co-workers Science earlier today, I can
add the following:
First, there are questions about the age. The original placement of the
780KYA magnetic reversal puts it at the bottom of the entire column, making
the fossils ~500KYA, but a revised placement puts it above the fossil
bearing layer. Still, age is not the only question.
The samples have cranial features resembling (h.)neanderthal, while they
have dental (I think I am remembering this correctly) features similar to
h.egaster.
Based on this intermediate condition, as well as the age, they suggest that
it might represent a different species, and IF additional fossils confirm
the conclusions reached from this sample, then a new name might be
appropriate. I do not t hink they proposed one at this time.
Todd
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